For my 2019 writing challenge and in preparation for the Pacific Crest Trail in 2020, I am spending the entire year reading and writing about books focused on a journey. For my fourth book, I dove into “Wild by Nature” by Sarah Marquis.

Nature and Being in the Moment

I am guilty. I am guilty of not being in the moment. On countless occasions, I’ve arrived at the ridgeline on a trail, reached for my cellphone in my pocket, and/or my camera in my bag all in an effort to capture the sweeping vista before me. Instead of being in the moment, I stole it for later; one more thing I get to brag about when I come back to reality. After reading this book, this is a habit I desperately want to break. Instead, I want the power of the moment to wash over me in a realization of the luck I possess to be before such beauty. After that feeling is given its proper due, I can capture it, but never before.

Our Power

I’ve heard it said, “That if only we had the faith of a mustard seed, then we could move mountains.” While I am unsure about the power of faith, I know we have damaged the air, sea, waterways, and land with our power. A force like climate change will create even more chaos in our eco-system. Within us, is the power to destroy and the power to create. It is my solemn hope that we will hear the alarm bells ringing and decide drastic measures are needed. Failure to do so will be met with unimaginable consequences to the natural escapes we hold dear.

Nature’s Power

Nature doesn’t care for us. It stood long before we escaped from the primordial soup of our birth. Scarred by our presence, it will stand long after we are gone. It operates through chaos and finds order in it all. It is powerful and demands our absolute respect. To treat it any other way is collectively foolish on our part.  Yet, here we are, testing her very limits like some high school bully that doesn’t know when the victim has had enough. Well friends, if John Muir has taught me anything it is this, I am rooting for nature. When she punches back, it will be a force to be reckoned with.

National Parks

I have never been on a playground as freeing as our national parks. Here, the world is mine. Those rivers, trails, streams, and mountains are like slides, swings, monkey bars, and sandboxes for me. They are my absolute favorite thing about America and are places most worthy of our protection. Reading Muir, this sentiment is intensified within my being. After each visit, I am forever changed, and John Muir knew that; his whole gospel is built on that concept. I now count myself as a believer.

Be good to each other,

-Nathan

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