A WALK IN NATURE

Nature has been understood and misunderstood throughout the centuries. Early on, our ancestors worshiped it as a god. Later, poets and pantheists concluded it was only god-like. Today, modern science considers it a chorus of dynamic cosmic laws which they seek to understand and perhaps even orchestrate.

Frankly, it seems safe to presume nature has no interest in what we think of it. It simply is, and we must simply accept its reality. Be that reality the rhapsody of a spring sunrise over the Grand Canyon or the cacophony of a sudden earthquake in the Caribbean. How best to accept it...? That can either be the wailing resignation of a childless mother in the wake of a catastrophe or the silent ecstasy of a climber reaching the summit.

When still a youngster, the enormous forces of nature whiplash us with feelings ranging from might to mystery. When older, the might remains, but perhaps the mystery lifts. We now know more about its capricious ways, ways we can mark and chart and sometimes even anticipate.

A modest suggestion... During nature's more benign moments -- a spring rain, a summer moonlight, fall's funeral of colors, even winter's avalanche of white -- we might do better to put aside our charts and barometers. Simply walk in it.

Oh, and sometimes rejoice in the unexpected ways it helps. For example, take the way its 30 inches of snow blessedly shut down all Washington DC!