A
Gallery Tour in Nature 10 May
2009
Art is significant, giving humans chances to
reflect, dream, and create direction in life.
Nature’s art is no different. A
walk through a natural landscape, slow and sauntering with senses tuned in to
the surroundings, reveals an endless pallet of textures, colors, sounds, and
meanings.
Northern Cardinal
On this day, the old were joined with the new. Saint Croix River fossil beds mingled with
migrating birds, and I picked up a very deep sense of time in the day’s
gallery. All moments in nature have
meaning, and it is the accumulations of these vast meanings that result in the
day we have. This is true on many levels
from genetic molecule to multi-cellular organism to our own sense of place in
the universe. The fleeting moments of a
living bird, thriving, migrating, or declaring territory depict the urgency of
the new day. The fossils afoot are a
reminder that time is vast and that we are both witness of time’s continuum and
caretakers of today.
Live richly and be inspired. There is no boredom. The gallery is just outside. Rich biological diversity exists on many
levels…and in many ages. Look closely. When you discover something new, it often becomes a common and beautiful reality, accessible for the rest of your life.
The fossils depicted are from an ancient sea cliff
and sea bed dating back more than 400 million years. To touch the smooth shell of a brachiopod and
to realize that its preserved likeness is almost a half of a billion years old
is staggering to the mind. Looking up
into the trees to see migrating warblers, to be scolded by a nesting Northern
Cardinal, to see the dance of light in the wings of a female Yellow-rumped
Warbler, and to see a Nashville Warbler amid freshly unfurling maple leaves, I
am reminded to remain bewildered and fascinated by my own gift of time.
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