Reflections on Nature

 

I’ve become closer with Nature since living with my parents in the suburb of Seoul.  Jogging, I pass by on average 5-10 dogs, 5-10 ducks, 1 heron, 1-2 cats, and countless magpies, sparrows, pigeons. During my childhood, living in a metropolis that is Taipei, my brother and I could observe ducks for hours on summer breaks, pet the cats, evade the pups, laugh at the single legged heron looking philosophical. Now at the outdoors gym less than 10 min away, I hear the cawing of the birds, the cooing of the pigeons and frogs, the village cats’ begging cries, each louder than its partner, sending signals in the sky. Dogs on their walk bark and the dragonflies mate too strong too close.  The cock crows in full throttle, and the ducks dip their head in water one too many time and too vigorously, getting ready for flight. Through the sounds the leaves of the maples are not rustling as in a breeze, but still in the sun, too exhausted to move in friendly gestures. 

During my childhood, in the stable peace of my parents’ home, the chirp of the birds and rustle of the trees produced a harmony that was a barrier to the street noise that I could push to the back of my mind anytime , but now Nature sings to a higher pitch, each cry a battle to itsneighbor’s, atonal and grating. It is a constant reminder that I'm not in a Garden any more. I think of the terrified faces of Adam and Eve, without a shroud, leaving the everlasting and prolific Garden. Like them, I look for a resting place but I'm in a place of constant strife, somewhere where my worries and concerns are everyday battles that must be fought, win or lose, to eat and to breathe, with the head above the ground.