In response to a question....

Hi Casey and Norseman,

With a good nights rest and a somewhat clearer mind I've given the question some thought. After yours and Norseman's pieces and their comments have been fully digested I've come to add my tuppence worth, although I'm probably the least qualified in experience to add to the discussion here!

The people that I follow or indeed do myself the greatest of honor in following my ramblings all seem to have a common thread in their lives no matter what they blog about, and that is a deep, sometimes understated, love of the outdoors and of mother nature. My reasons now for blogging have surprised me after the initial tentative escape into this blogosphere which was in all honesty supposed to be filler to while away some time whilst I recovered from an operation and was unable to pursue my love of just being ‘out there’. Now far from filling in some time whilst I wait to be outside the blogosphere has become an important piece of being ‘out there’, it’s where I come to learn from others about many different aspects of the out doors and also about being more environmentally aware and friendly (although I think you all know that I’m not some ‘away with the fairies’ eco warrior). Without the information shared and lessons taught by so many of you I for one would have been much less of a person, even in the short time that I’ve ‘been here’.

So for me the fact that so many genuine people share their out doors has been of terrific benefit to my awareness and understanding of what is truly out there. As to the question ‘by highlighting the outdoors do we, in around about way, encourage its demise?’ It’s a difficult one, yes I love the outdoors and I love the solitude that it offers at times. Yes I hate to see sign of man upon the trails that I walk because usually the sign is discard manmade detritus polluting pristine areas. So do I want to encourage people to get ‘out there’ crowd my walks and despoil the trails with their rubbish? What I want to do is share with people the wonder and beauty of nature, to encourage them to feel the wind, rain, sun and frost on their faces, to smile as the smallest of animals grace them with a fleeting glimpse as it pauses, crossing the paths ahead, to stare open mouthed as a falcon ends it’s vertical stoop clutching that unlucky pigeon in it’s talons, to hear and feel deep inside the call and pull of the buzzard's cry as it circles the thermals above, to feel the peace and at ‘oneness’ when sitting or standing in a sun kissed forest glade whilst nature flows around you. If I and others can impart these feelings into just a few people and they respond by looking at nature with open eyes and in awe of her, then maybe, just maybe they will walk the trails taking want they need, whether that be food for the table or food for the soul, showing this natural world the respect and awe it deserves and once their journey is done and they sit beside their hearth there is no trace of their passing upon the trails, no man made crap to pollute the woods, no discarded filament to snare birds along the river’s banks, no stench of an discarded carcass left rotting, its spirit taken for ‘fun’ then its body not used for the table, and no desecration of the wild and wonderful places that are still out there.

So for me the simple answer to a less than simple problem is yes; write your tales of the outdoors, talk about the wonder and awe felt ‘out there’, share with and teach others the shear joy of being at one with nature and if just one more person changes their views and actions to respect this fragile world then it’ll be a start because I’m damn sure that with the writers and outdoor people, folk certainly far more capable than I, here on this blogosphere more and more will become more in tune with the outdoors and nature and show it and her the respect it deserves.

Well so much for a five minute comment, time to ready myself for tonight’s ghost shift upon ‘the grind’, till next time thanks for reading and take care.

Your friend,

John