when i first read the blog prompt for this week, i actually laughed aloud.
why? because for the last few weeks, mother nature decided to be cruel and treat us to an abnormally cold winter.
-35oC and mountains of snow aside, i dolove appreciate nature (to an extent.)
why? because for the last few weeks, mother nature decided to be cruel and treat us to an abnormally cold winter.
-35oC and mountains of snow aside, i do
how can you not appreciate this:
edmonton, as a larger urban city, has done a decent job of maintaining its balance with nature and increased infrastructure. however, sometimes i feel that other than the river valley, nature in the city doesn’t really get any attention...from anybody. and after reading mike davis’ piece, i feel as though there is either a) lack of awareness on our aggressive impact on nature in the city or b) we are aware of it, but simply don’t care.
for me, nature in the city appears to be just a part of background – on the periphery if you will. i don’t really pay too much attention to it nowadays, but i do remember when i was a child, going outside and to the park was the most important thing to me. i remember walking around my neighbourhood, counting all the trees and begging my dad to let me camp in the backyard or to build me a treehouse so i could live outside instead.
it makes me wonder, what happened to my love of the outdoors? why did it dissipate in the way that it did?
edmonton, as a larger urban city, has done a decent job of maintaining its balance with nature and increased infrastructure. however, sometimes i feel that other than the river valley, nature in the city doesn’t really get any attention...from anybody. and after reading mike davis’ piece, i feel as though there is either a) lack of awareness on our aggressive impact on nature in the city or b) we are aware of it, but simply don’t care.
for me, nature in the city appears to be just a part of background – on the periphery if you will. i don’t really pay too much attention to it nowadays, but i do remember when i was a child, going outside and to the park was the most important thing to me. i remember walking around my neighbourhood, counting all the trees and begging my dad to let me camp in the backyard or to build me a treehouse so i could live outside instead.
it makes me wonder, what happened to my love of the outdoors? why did it dissipate in the way that it did?
I think that what you are describing is the unfortunate process of 'growing up'. When we are kids nature is a symbol of all the things that are possible; it's where we want to play, to live, to go on adventures. But as we grow up our attention is drawn to more practical 'urban' things; School, sports, friends, work. Unfortunately, the excitement we feel for the outdoors often gets lost in the process of growing up. There are many people who never lose that feeling. These people spend their time camping, hiking, canoeing, mountain climbing, cross-country skiing, etc. etc. I am not saying that it's impossible to be an urbanized nature lover, it just seems rare. I think most of the urban nature lovers soon move to places where they can focus less on the urban and more on the nature (small towns etc.) it's just the way life goes.
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