Nature as Revelation - John Burroughs

John Burroughs wanted people to go outside and enjoy whatever nature existed around them, whether this was a forest, farmland, or a city neighborhood. He was concerned that people were staying indoors too much, and he wrote about this in the late 1800s and early 1900s. I think he’d be more concerned now when we drive everywhere. Our houses don’t have porches for sitting, our children don’t go outside to play, and new neighborhoods don’t have sidewalks.

We go into nature to be renewed by the fresh air, the openness, the quiet sounds.

We use the outdoors as a place to get much needed exercise—hiking, riding bikes, canoeing on the river, baseball, soccer, golf.

We consider the outdoors scientifically, measuring the developments of global warming and pollution, and work to minimize our impact on the ecosystem that sustains us.

We go into nature to be in a neutral place where we can think about our lives, a place away from the struggles at work and home.

We go into nature to be inspired by the beauty and wonder. Sometimes we see sparks flash off mountaintops during storms, tiny trout swimming in the river in spring, and a two-foot-tall owl sitting on a branch in the woods that doesn’t mind our presence.

We go into nature to touch the remnants of Creation, become aware of the presence of the natives’ Great Spirit, and to experience awe.

All of these reasons are good. There are more.

We can develop a relationship with nature, rising with the sun and going to bed when it sets. We can adjust our daily life to interact differently with each season. We can make nature a friend and share with it through the day.

We go into nature to encounter an entity that exists outside of us and outside our control. There is power in nature that we don’t control, a power that commands our respect, what moves us to awe and sometimes to fear. Nature reminds us that we live in its home, and we would do well to treat it with respect. The concept of Mother Nature comes from this. Nature will give us many of the things we need, but if we ignore its warnings, it will knock us down and paddle us good.

We also go into nature for revelation, to feel transcendence, to be transformed and reminded that we are part of something much greater.

Outdoor City

Dawn rises over our city. Newspapers plop on cool, concrete steps. Joggers and dog walkers nod and pass each other on streets waking up. Buildings catch the early sun and fill the dark alleys with light. Lovers rise and hold hands as they walk along the shore, remembering the sweetness of night. Street vendors open their carts, warm hot dogs and chorizo, Italian sausage, satay, and burritos. They ready ice cream bars and shaved ice cones. Cars bring people in from the suburbs to fill the large open fields by the lake. City buses bring people in. Trains bring people in. The river flows through the city and joins the lake downtown. And the happy sounds of the city grow as the people come in. Children race across the grass as their parents spread picnics out on blankets. There are pick-up games of basketball and soccer. Frisbees hover on the air. Musicians gather under the trees and play the sweet and sad songs from their neighborhoods. The rhythms of steel drums and bodhrans, guitars and Andean flutes. Shuffleboard and chess, dashikis and yamulkes, laughter, dreadlocks, the smell of corn roasting in the husk fill the warm afternoon air. People dance as couples. They dance in groups, and some just spontaneously dance alone. Kites soar up on the breeze, and boats with orange and yellow sails go by, rowboats and red kayaks go by. Faces are painted with imaginary blue creatures with whiskers and toes painted a rainbow of colors. The city dances and sings today for this glorious weather. Old folks and young people dance. People of many cultures sing and dance together on this beautiful, beautiful day spent outdoors.

Nature Poetry - John Burroughs

April is Poetry Month. Go outside and find something that moves you. Describe the images you see. Say why the scene moves you. Connect the two worlds. Don’t think too much, just start jotting thoughts down, like: “Corn stumps molder in the ground. / Birds fly in, pick up remnant seeds / in their beaks. Warm breezes walk / Spring across the field. / The caw of crows call me home.”

That’s not very good, but it’s a start. Then tinker with your words, letting them guide you. Substitute, change, rearrange. Use the sounds you hear in the rustling branches and the singing of the birds. Capture the cadence of running water, and the running of coyotes in the meadows in the rhythm of your words.

Poetry is about observing the world and describing the moments when your perceptions sharpen, insights come, and your life changes direction a little. Nature poets connect people’s emotions with what is going on in the mountains, the rivers, and the forests.

More important than writing is to experience those moments. Even if you don’t intend to write, go outside and pay attention to nature. Make John Burroughs happy.

Vision

Progress happens when people take blind steps into the unknown. They notice that something is missing and set out to fill in the gap. They turn their lives over to figuring out how to make their vision happen, moving by trial and error through possibilities, and putting up with people unable to see what they do, or who are trying to protect their special interests.

John Muir saw sheep destroying the flowering wilderness meadows of the Sierra Nevada, worked to save them, and help create the National Park system in the process. Rachel Carson discovered the devastating effects of pesticides and alerted people to the problem. Aldo Leopold tried out different strategies for reclaiming barren land in Wisconsin and kick-started the ecology movement. Sigurd Olson worked to save the wilderness, especially the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota. Wendell Berry figured out how one could do sustainable farming, feeding people while doing minimal damage to the land. John Burroughs wanted people to see nature that exists around them, even in the city.

Stepping into the unknown involves taking risks because we don’t know where we’ll end up. Yet trying something new uncovers paths into the unknown areas of our abilities. The witness of the land prophets and elders who have gone before us tell us that this is the only way that change happens.