peg it board
There is a stillness and quiet in nature, even with howler monkeys and buzzing insects(maybe mosquito's that attack not so), however the experiences I've had in very cold countries, and two very hot countries were for me very revealing.
The most evident was the absence of traffic, TV, Radio and mobile /cell phones, actually the first analogue phones were in the pipeline.
The stillness without neighbors only in one case a farmer some miles away was stunning. There was no distraction only at first the acclimatising to the new environment.
When I settled in and did the daily chores it seemed like the whole of nature was still and yet moving, like a natural meditation, it was if the very nature of nature was tuned to the quiet state even when an activity took place that was apparently violent such as an animal predation, a natural weather event, although tragic in consequence, it was as locals told me, this is how nature works, its exhilarating, uplifting, healthy and supplies the daily diet, other than that life and death go side by side.
In the city this is not so apparent, vehicle accidents, bad diet and illness, pollution and terror, TV, computers and distraction 'turn off the survival mode' and doctors, pills and drugs save many its true. Those in nature far away from help like this have to live with the uncertainty nature throws at them, yet this provides a challenge and there is a saying 'necessity is the mother of invention'.
Alone I had to face myself there was no running, I had to innovate and at times faced real danger and learn from the mistakes.
I walked miles in the baking heat and the locals thought me mad, when I got too hot I walked into the sea with shorts, tee shirt and sandals. After a while the salt in the sea water caused holes in my shorts and shirt, I was in the fashion as this tattered fabric is a fashion statement now. I then started to dip naked on secluded beaches.
There were many chores to do, in fact not chores but keeping house and I did that gladly and those moments of drawing water from the well, cooking, getting supplies from the village three miles away over unmade old cart rutted stone tracks, used long ago, carrying a large load of supplies in two back packs and two hand held carriers to last me a month so I could live alone was my exercise workout along with climbing hills and steep cliffs and endless long walks, and on some days just basking in the sun and swimming. In the colder climates snow walking, admiring the Aura Borealis and building snow men, looking for elk(moose) and keeping out of the way of bears and wolves. I did not trap I bought supplies from the local dog team sledges, a sort of grocery supply enterprising business.
My companions were scorpions, lizards, tortoise, snakes, wild bore, and in one of the places bears, wolves and lynx. In the hot climate the stillness was to me the same as the cold, just my adjustment was needed. There was a great joy in the survival and the needs of society in towns spoilt me on returning. I felt more alive with hardly any distraction or the need for conversation.
On returning to the city my health declined, I felt restless and I had to return because of family problems---had this not been so I might have ended up in the wilds.
Interesting in the cold experience many a local person would tell me ' we might come across a person who was old and just died in their remote hut, some frozen and some on the loo or gone fishing and just died, this was not uncommon, we just dug a hole and went on, this could happen to one of any age'. In the hot climate I heard much the same about life and death as a natural part of nature and no big deal.
Often said Life and Death are opposites---Life has no opposites.
Tread the Earth softly because you never know when the tap on the shoulder comes and when you turn round you realize death has been stalking you all your life and Death has a gift for you, birth somewhere else in someplace-------the essence of oneself can be seen, a corpse can feed animals, on death maggots appear, when one defecates in the wild dung beetles make use of excretia, a dead tree is host to all manners of bacteria, nature is the creme de la creme of recycling and transmuting, nothing is ever lost.
Fear not you never know where the Universe and its Creation Nature will take you and you might end up a dung beetle or an angel or just nothing like one thought.
SHACK
No comments:
Post a Comment