” The naturalist is a civilized hunter. He goes alone into the field or woodland and closes his mind to everything but that time and place, so that life around him presses in on all the senses and small details grow in significance. He begins the scanning search for which cognition was engineered. His mind becomes unfocused, it focuses on everything, no longer directed toward any ordinary task or social pleasantry.”
Edward O. Wilson, (1984), Biophilia
To appreciate nature, to me, is to dedicate time and attention to the brilliance of even the smallest living organism. I am amazed and humbled by how many species of grasses, beetles and peas there are. I am saddened by the loss of diversity, the environmental changes made by humans, and the lack of interest in both by the common man. How does one dedicate their life to nature in homage. I get overwhelmed at the enormity of it, so I start small. I get outside. I tread lightly. I begin by learning all the ferns.
“Wherever they grow they give a dreamy quality to the scene….Nature was surely in a gentle mood when she created the ferns.”
Henry and Rebecca Northern, Ingenious Kingdom, 1970
FOLKMASSES 