Mother Nature and Human Nature

After a long time we were doing nothing on one of the Saturday afternoons. The kids were bunched up as usual peering at the DVD player, while husband was glued to the TV and I was marveling the sun. I love to be home alone during the day. Just to sit on the sofa and gaze outside at the light and brightness of a summer afternoon. But that never happens.

Today was a rare afternoon that I was home although not alone. I kept thinking of finding some way of getting everyone away from the idiot box. I am myself not a very outdoor-active person, but I definitely love to watch the outdoors. As I put on my sneakers and walked out of the house, no one noticed.

We have lived in this apartment for the past 3 years and I had never been around to look closely at the trees and vines that provided our living such a scenic look. I thought of my father who while visiting his daughters in the US would always ask the same question year after year: Do you know the names of the trees that surround your home? And we had the same answers every time: No! And then he would say “You need to know the nature that surrounds you. How shameful that you don’t know these trees by their names!”

So today I looked around but as always I was at a loss. They all looked so alien except for the pines. No easily identifiable Neem Trees or Krushnachudas or Coconut or Mangoes here. For the umpteenth time I thought of googling the differences between Oaks and Chestnuts and Maples and Cedars. As I watched the trees swaying in the spring breeze, rabbits scampered by and squirrels ran past. It was idyllic. I walked around our appt, close to the edge of a thin forest that separated the quiet residences from the roaring I-95 just beyond it. And then I reached a slim beaten track that led steeply into the forest. I took some gingerly steps in and suddenly noticed a tiny stream that was gurgling its way, right under my feet. It was so beautiful and sudden that I scampered out of the brushes to run home to get the kids out. After some coaxing and pleading while I never told them what we were going to see, I managed to get the Ray brood out.

We slip skid along the wet pathway and reached the little stream. The large pebbles under the water looked nice and rounded. As we hopped across them to cross the stream, the pathway lead to a small quaint bridge. Our little stream ran right under it. There were no fishes in there, it was just very clear water and looked beautiful. We crossed the bridge into the forest of trees. May be they were mostly Pines and Oaks. I pitied my knowledge. The kids ran around the place jumping on upturned logs, while my husband broke into a song. The kids brought back some wild flowers from the bushes and my husband bent down to clip them to my hair. Mother nature was getting the better out of human nature I thought!

We walked the trail and noticed some beautiful logs of wood (that I wanted to carry home!) and lovely mushrooms that looked like citadels or Siva lingas or may be like a king’s crown. I wanted to bring them to my front yard!

We reached the end of the trail. It ended in Anu’s elementary school. The kids played a bit in the school playground and Abhijit and I monkeyed around too.

As we traced our way back with the kids racing down the trail and reached the bridge, I noticed it. I know that tree, I thought. It was a Dogwood tree. Among the many times that I had wanted to memorize some American trees after my father queries, this one had stuck in my mind. The flowers looked splendidly white against the dark background as if there were a hundred white butterflies flying in the air at the same time. I asked the children to remember the name.

We took some pictures around the bridge and returned home with Anu pleading “Mama, can we come here everyday?” I said ‘Yes’ to her and wished it to be true.

To know the trees in and around MD go to this link:

http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/html/trees.html