The Little Things

 I watch as a single bird flies in and out of the dead branches that cover the inner layer of the tree and quietly think to myself how oblivious people must be to the life forms that live within this tree. (Field Notes 9-21-14) If someone were to ask me if I thought anything was living in the branches I would have said that I highly doubt it and not given it a second thought at all. This made me realize how no one seems to pay attention  to the little things. I don't necessarily mean the exact color or design of something I mean the big things that in todays world would be considered something small. For example, asI said before, I had honestly paid no attention to the tree that I am observing before I was assigned this project. But now that I am observing I know that most of its pinecones are placed at the top, and how if you go under it and look up you see a bunch of dead branches that stack up like a puzzle, I also notice how when the wind blows only the side north says still while the rest of the tree violently shakes. If I had been under the tree a few weeks ago when I wasn't doing this observation I wouldn't have given it any time of day.

I got to thinking, we are so lucky to be able to have opportunity to have nature and to be able to enjoy it and even write about it. Most people in other countries may not have the opportunity to write about nature or even have time to view it up close. And in other countries they may not even have nature because of the conditions they are in, whatever they may be. It is sad how so many of us take the big and little things for granite and don't live in the moment. I am guilty of not paying attention to many things and I know most of my peers could say the same thing. But it only gets harder as we get older to fond time to appreciate the little things and pure beauty of nature.

This made me realize that it's the little things that matter most in life. Its not the pictures of trees on Instagram or Twitter that will keep you connected with nature its the little things of the actual nature that mean the most and have the most value to them. "Enjoy the little things for someday you'll look back and realize they were the big things"-Kurt Vonnegut.