The beauty of nature

[Meier Link]

So Pete has finally inspired me to make a thread about this. I thought about making a similar thread a while back and over time it slipped my mind.

In every day life it is easy to neglect the beauty of nature. I took it for granted for years upon years; my first divorce ( a while back ) gave me time to reflect upon myself and it was then that I realized how awesome that nature really is.

I took a look at the world around me and realized how amazing the world around me was. The grass was green and the Oklahoma sky was blue. I found myself driving out into the middle of now where and parking just to take in the sights as I sat there deep in though of the events that had happened in my life.

Over time I have got busy with life again and lost grasp of the vision that I once had. I really don’t want to limit this down to scenery because there is a lot more to nature to talk about then just that but as for now I am going to place that limitation.

I still try to take a moment out of my life, especially when I am on vacation out of time to stop and take a look around and see how beautiful this world really is. Personally I love the Ozarks in Arkansas. I have spent a lot of time up there and taken a lot of time to take in the sights. The air is crisp and my mind is free to roam wild while I am there. The drive up there is spectacular and there is a lot to be seen along the way. The mountains and valley’s are awe-inspiring.

So here is where this thread is going. I want to know:

Do you take the time every once in a while to just stop and take a look around?
Do you have a favorite / special place you go to just to take in the sights?

Also I don’t want this thread limited to these 2 questions. I feel that there is potential conversation that is to be had here.

Lastly if you have any pictures of nature scenes that you would like to share feel free to do so.

[Sinister]

Nothing so symbolizes the heart of a Taoist's belief, nothing is as vital to an understanding of every facet of the workings of this world, nothing is as beautiful as nature.

Eagle falls, Kentucky. A place I was raised for two weeks of every year since the day I was born. I was there on September 11th, 2001. I've hidden in it's banks of rocks and fished days away. I've done everything from swim in the plunge pool, camp in the cave behind the falls and sit underneath the falls themselves.

I'll always have a piece of my heart in that countryside.

-Sin

[Taco-Calamitous]

Not as often as I would like. I go on a lot of walks, but I tend to not take my surroundings in, most of the time. Maybe because I'm walking on a concrete path now (the one I was taking during the summer is likely all muddy now.) I did, however, have a similar epiphany at one time, sitting out back at a house I was sitting. The back yard is huge, and is a bit wooded, too. I sat there looking up into the trees, and realized that I don't take the time to take that kind of thing in often enough. It was relaxing and spiritually replenishing. Seriously. Part of that was that I sat there and prayed, (I'd felt spiritually led to sit there and look) but yeah.

If you ever get the chance, you should all visit Yellowstone. There is a lot of unique and pretty scenery out there. Lots of hiking paths, lots of animals, lots of nature. Here's another unique and beautiful sight: Craters of the Moon in northern Idaho (just below the thin part, I think.) You drive through this strange, rocky area on some highway (I don't remember which one; only been through there once.) Actually, I really love the Pacific Northwest. It's beautiful out here. Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

[Unknown Entity]

Do you take the time every once in a while to just stop and take a look around?
Living in a City, it's a little hard to see the beauty of nature. Yeah, sure there are parks everywhere, but they're not the sort of thing to gawk at. I go past a park when I go to college, and quite a few trees in certain areas. When the bus stops, I take a look for squirrels. Slowly seeing less and less of them as the weather gets colder though. ;-;

Walks along the canal, even though still very Cityish, are still pretty. You have the trees and shrubs growing along the walls, sometimes a squirrel, the ducks in the water, people walking their dogs... it's kind of pleasant.

Do you have a favorite / special place you go to just to take in the sights?

Usually the canal. It's easy to get to from where I am. If I could drive though, I'd make the journey to a place I spent many a weekend in Henley. There is a caravan site there called Swiss Farm. At the back of the camp site is this very steep hill. It's quite a workout if you go up and down it a good few times a day. At up this hill is a small wood. Me and my brother used to sneak up their loads when we were younger, and build secret hideouts and dens. Somewhere nearer the middle was this deep pit like thing, and we used to sit in the trees and watch the wildlife down there; foxes, pheasants, squirrels, smaller birds, sometimes someone's cat or a duck from the pond.

I guess that's my favourite place to go. It's a shame it's so far away. ;-;

Also, there is a pond (well, quite a few over there actually) at Victoria Park, with a few jetty's going into the water for the people who like to fish. There's a concrete one I've chilled out on a couple of times. When the sun is out, you can see the fishes swimming around, and you get loads of birds flying in and out the trees on the island in the middle of it.

[GypsyElder]

I've always enjoyed taking the time to look up at the sky at night, the stars are my favorite thing to look at (when they're there.) I honestly haven't seen a star in the sky for like a Year....why is that? I've been wondering that for a while now, either they're hidden behind clouds all the time now or something is wrong. I used to like trying to find constellations here and there whenever I would walk around at night. I'm actually thinking of taking an Astronomy class for an elective just for the fun of it.

I miss the Stars

Also the Beach has become something I like, I never used to like the beach, but it's the only place I can just sit outside in nothingness and be happy. It's calm for me there.

This is kind of random, but The one thing I was amazed to see was an actual Rainbow that literally curved across the sky, Like how you see it in cartoons or movies. It was the coolest thing because I didn't know they could really get that big, I was the only one outside two, since it was really early in the morning, and it was just beginning to brighten up. It just finished raining too ^^ I got lucky. It was huge, I have a picture of it but it's hard to see because it was becoming brighter and less visible by the time I took the picture

I'm such an idiot! I missed my chance to get the pot of gold at the end, I should have ran for it *stupid stupid* I didn't even think about it at the time...! >.<

[Govinda]

When I need to think at uni, I go to the place in the first photo. A 20 minute bus ride, half an hour on foot, and you've completely left the city centre behind. The castle is called Dunnotar Castle. That's what I love about nature in Scotland - try as we might, we just can't get around it. Our cities can be as loud and advanced as we like, but there'll still be a castle, silent for all but the sea, close by. When I'm at home home I go to the place in the third photo - Queen's Park, Glasgow. A very high hill with a very lovely view.

Trees make me happy. They're so ****ing weird, once you look at them properly. The sky too. But the sea is my favourite. It just goes on and on, reminding you that any problem or stress you have is miniscule and as steadfast as a single wave. The sea is like the wind; it never sticks true to its shape or form. To be able to just go to the cliffs by Dunnotar makes me feel very lucky indeed.

Here, in France, I've found a nice spot by the river where two herons and their baby live. I like to watch them, and will take photos after winter.

[Josh_R]

Do you take the time every once in a while to just stop and take a look around?

Oh yes almost everyday, I mean I live in Kentucky damnit. You walk outside you are bound to see something beautiful happening with nature. Beautiful sunset's, like yesterday god it was beautiful, unfortunately I was running so I didn't have my camera on me. It was a mixture of purple and red, then it quickly turned yellow as the sun set. It was the most beautiful thing I have seen in a while.



Do you have a favorite / special place you go to just to take in the sights?

Not where I lve, but on my grandparents farm in Oklahoma there is a hill that I always go to when I visit. From there you can see so much stuff, the site's in Oklahoma are amazing, even during the winter is still so beautiful there.

[Dodie16]

Posted by Meier Link
The grass was green and the Oklahoma sky was blue.

Don't you mean the dirt was brown? Actually, I mean red, because you guys have a bunch of goddamn clay in your dirt, especially in the Dover area. I've been to the western part of Oklahoma and let me tell you, it's flat and boring and the grass is pretty sparse. And trees? Pretty sparse as well. At least any good sized ones. I suppose you're more in the Central part though. The further out west you go, the flatter it gets. Also, it's windy as hell.

In conclusion: Eastern Oklahoma > Western Oklahoma



Anyway, back to business at hand.

Do you take the time every once in a while to just stop and take a look around?

Not really. I would like to do it more though. Maybe I'll make that a part of my New Year's Resolution, and then immediately NOT do it, because I never do any promises I make for myself. However, I do appreciate a beautifully landscaped yard or campus. The college I used to go to had some of the best landscaping in the area where I live.

Oh, here's a story: One time I saw a really pretty sunset, and I was like "Hey Marc, isn't the sunset pretty?" His response, "The sun sets everyday and you're just NOW saying something about it?"

Douche...

Do you have a favorite / special place you go to just to take in the sights?

I like going to Devil's Den. It's kind of nice there, and there's a bunch of nature stuff to do. Never really been anywhere else that's special that I can think of at the moment.

Posted by Gypsy Elder
This is kind of random, but The one thing I was amazed to see was an actual Rainbow that literally curved across the sky, Like how you see it in cartoons or movies

This reminds me of the time I once saw a double rainbow. I was lifeguarding at a pool, and it had rained earlier that day. I look up and see two rainbows. One was really bright and the other not so bright, but it was still pretty awesome.

I haven't seen another one since then.

[Alpha]

Nature is amazing. I love how resilient it is, after all we do to try and modify it to our whims, if we were just to die out tomorrow, in a few years entire cities would be hidden behind brush, car horns replaced with bird song.

It's hard to notice nature, living in a city, and some of it actually makes me sad. I see pigeons walking around with ****ed up legs, or no legs at all; victims of the poisons that nature is forced to absorb. Some of it reminds me that we are never going to be as able as nature itself. Weeds growing through cracks reminds me of this.

At times it helps to recognise that humans are part of nature. Planting trees helps me reconnect. The garden at my house is just full of native plants, carefully selected to attract a range of native birds. Yesterday I saw a tui (first picture) on a powerline overhead an Australian bottlebrush tree in my front yard (one of the few non-native plants). When I looked up at it, it leaned forward, and hung upside down from the powerline, then it moved backwards and forwards, remaining upside down, before plunging at high speed right into the tree. It was then I noticed that there was it's nest. Hopefully there will be some baby tuis once summer starts to get underway properly.

A tree in our backward produces some really large fruit. Plum-size fruit, but we rarely eat them, because they're a favourite of the New Zealand wood pigeon, or kereru (second image). These birds are giant, and they make a really loud fluttering sound when they move.

I like how human systems and non-human systems interact in weird ways, although much of it negatively, some is purely creative, usually on part of the non-human animals. The kea is a good example. It's a NZ-native alpine parrot, perhaps best known for stripping that plastic seal around car widows when they are parked in parking lots. Many a skiier or snowboarder has returned from a day out to find that their car has no windows, or their side mirrors have been detached. The birds have no use for this aside from pure entertainment.

People who don't see existence value in nature make me feel ill. People who perform cost-benefit analysis with nature are playing God, and do not have the smallest idea of what they are truly doing. Nothing can replace nature; we need to protect it everywhere, for little reason other than 'because it is there'.

EDIT: The worst thing ever said with regard to nature is this:

"If you've seen one redwood, you've seen them all."

*stretch* hehehe..heh... sorry

[Che]

A lot of people seem to think of nature as living things that aren't human. Why? There is much nature involving humans as well. We are a product of nature, are we not?

That being said, I do like to get away from it all. It seems like I'm always near a gaming console or computer, or at the very least a TV (even though I hate television).

Every couple months or so I go on 1-3 day hiking trips. So far I've only been to places in Arkansas, but I really enjoy it because there's hardly anyone there. That's what I look for when I go. You can really just enjoy a walk through the forest knowing you're miles away from everyone. It's also a kind of scary feeling as well. If you get hurt and need help, there's no one around to save you.

I have a huge folder of wallpapers on my computer that contain various parts of nature on them. They're my favorite wallpapers to use because nature can be pretty freakin amazing. I can stare at some of the pictures forever and never get bored.