Nature's Playset

I just returned home from having a nice dinner. We had planned to go see a movie, but decided to grab a coffee and drive around the local park instead.

It was beautiful. The weather here is clear and cool, and the stars were clearly visible. As we drove through the wooded silence of nature, the bright yellow lines on the road and the glaring road signs seemed to invade the sanctity of the trees. As the lights streamed across the strong and sturdy trunks of the trees, I felt as though we were merely guests in this place.

We came accross three white tailed deer, one buck and two does. They stood just a few feet from the road, posing in their majestic form. They seemed cautious of us, but unafraid. They are one of the few animals in my area that we, as humans, have regular access to, yet have never found a way of domesticating nor exploiting them. The only exception is the hunters who aid in thinning their numbers. I have always thought that people are what is overpopulated, not the deer. But for some reason, there is not a license or designated time of year for killing them. Go figure.

I became lost in the beauty of nature, and had completely forgotten about people, and then there was an obnoxious "play area" that disrupted the natural setting. I looked around at the trees and the undergrowth, the animals and the stars...and I thought....why do we need this stupid playset?

When I was a kid, the woods were my sanctuary. I would go there to forget the chaos of being a "person". I remember falling asleep on the springy moss that looked like little evergreen trees. There was one log that was rotted out in the center, and I would curl up in there and just listen to the sounds of the leaves rattling in the breeze, and the sounds of birds communicating with each other..and the occasional rustling of a woodland creature tromping past. I would gather every single seed, berry, pod... or whatever I could find... and see what it was, and where it came from. What was it's purpose here? Caterpillars in the fall were a wonderful find. They seemed willing enough to play with me, and never ran away. LOL. The trees were my jungle gym, wild grapevines were my swing, and a slippery moss covered slope after a hard rain was my slide. There was no chainlinnk fence to keep me "safe". I knew my boundaries because I knew better than to go where I was not allowed. I did not have a convenient little travel size water bottle with a strap and a squirt nozzle. My hand sanitizer was creek water and the leg of my pants. Trail mix was composed of whatever berries and seeds I could find, and taste. I don't think I should have eaten some of them! hahaha I didn't need a baseball bat, and a ball with a logo on it, just a fallen branch and the trunk of a tree. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't break that branch. So, then it was time to see how far I could hit a black walnut with the fallen branch that seemed indestructable. Then it would break. Geeeesh, just when I was about to hit a homerun.

I looked at this play area, and I noticed that the ground all around the playset was a springy rubber material. HA! The only padding with any spring in it, when I was a kid...was your ass. I don't know about you, but I was never severely injured from a tragic butt injury coming off of a swing....but now, they are REALLY safe from THAT potential disaster. *eye roll*

The colors of the play area were garish and offensive. Bilious reds, yellows, and oranges screamed "LOOK AT ME!" I wondered how these children could possibly see the beauty of what surrounded them, in light of what was clearly designed to capture their attention. How could the subtle tones of green possible draw them to leave their structured playtime, and beg to explore the wonder of nature? Well, I guess that it can't. After all, how can mom keep an eye on them while texting on the phone and chatting with her friend, whose child you MUST play with, if they are off exploring the world around them? Besides, they only have an hour to "play" and then, it is time to pile in the minivan and head off to soccer practice or music lessons, or dance class, or bible study, or mom's hair and nail appointment, their weekly therapy session, and mom has to squeeze in a trip to the pharmacy to pick up her hormone supplements and their Ritalin.

Time is a wastin', folks....so much to do, and so little time.

I don't now what I am bitching about, they can learn about nature by simply Googling it.....

I am not kidding. They do it.

or there wouldn't be this.... Nature via Google

I DEFINITELY learned more from the woods than I could ever learn from a machine...but times are changing, and I just sound like a bitter old woman.

bad news, I am only 35.