Nature’s Calling

Bonnie Sladek, Certified 2010.

I grew up in the small town of Taylor, but I spent weeks at a time at my grandfather’s farm.

I love spending time alone outside, especially in spring and fall and summer mornings. I love vegetable gardening, flowers, and wildlife.  My hobbies are cooking and playing dominos.  Since I lost my last dog, I haven’t gotten another pet.  They’re so hard to lose.  We have chickens and guineas, and some cats have recently taken up residence. If I could have been anything I wanted to be, I think I would like to have been a microbiologist.

But I honestly don’t think I loved science as a kid.  It has been a long time ago and I only remember dissecting a worm.  I became interested in soil health when we had our nursery and I’m concerned that not enough attention is paid to this problem. I liked working with our vericompost, but no thanks to the dissecting!

The coolest wild animal I can think of is the sea otters we saw in Alaska.  They floated in the rough ocean on their back so calmly with a baby on their stomach.  The puffin was also amazing.

I’m very concerned about what our planet will look like in the future. We are creating so much trash and pollution that I feel we must stop this madness and take care of Mother Earth.  I hope we can keep wild natural areas, and I believe that every living thing is part of the web of life.

Recycling is important, and green spaces are necessary so we can open the eyes of our children and adults to the heartbeat of nature. Education and outdoor experiences are most important.  If we get the understanding and tune in to nature, we will want to take care of it.

Nothing is as comforting as experiencing the outdoors, whether it’s birdwatching, learning native grasses and flowers, soil biology, or whatever involves the natural world around us.  So many discoveries have been made by observing nature.