New Meadows, ID.
It is tempting to say, "Be careful what you wish for..."
But I was only wishing for rain, not for the high winds that go along with thunderstorms. Of course at this time of year you only get rain with a thunderstorm.
When one started kicking up, I couldn't help looking at these massive trees standing around my campsite -- and they were all leaning! I am just not used to being 'ground zero' for heavy trees.
So I moved to what should be a safer place.
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| from bedore.org |
Along with the high winds came forest fire smoke!
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How do people think and feel about the environment around them? A modern person hears the word "environment" and thinks of butterflies and rainbows, colorful sunsets, and which angle their retirement McMansion should face in order to maximize financial gains. But that hardly matters, because a modern person is a fraud about nature.
Go back a couple generations and ask what "sea peoples" thought and felt about the sea. Gratefulness -- since they made their living from the sea? What about fear and loathing?
I suspect there was always an element of fear. After all, most people could not swim. They could not run to the internet and check out weather advisories.
Or think of a farmer and the daily possibility of too little rain, too much, crop and animal diseases, etc.
And then there's the "mountain man", the backwoodsman. He too resides on the shore of a vast ocean of sky, which presents real danger to him several times per year.
A modern camper can feel just a little bit of that. It is real.
Because risk and danger have been removed from our lives, we can no longer deal with it like the sane, courageous adults of yesteryear. So we put on our seat belts, airbags, and mask. And hide under the sofa.
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