How by design it’s impossible to unplug. How difficult it can be to immerse yourself in nature as a working person. Where is nature ? Can natural places coexist with civilization? Although human artifacts litter the ground around me, the supreme beauty of my surroundings outweigh the garbage and pollution mixed with fog seeping into my lungs and bloodstream killing me slowly. The beauty and stillness of a sweeping landscape is enough to make me forget about the diseases we both harbor. We, being the natural environment as well as my body. Both carrying man made toxins in our veins and micro plastics embedded in our skin
Currently residing in Chicago, I recently took a trip to the Indiana Dunes. On two cloudy, ethereal days I took photos of and with my good friend- the last minute vacation was prompted by mid winter despondency that can personally often be remedied by the inspiration and stillness found in nature.
Gray fog, which was maybe composed of smoke from a nearby factory whose tall towers peaked through the clouds not too far in the distance, was beautiful. The potentially harmful haze made the state park coast look like somewhere from outer space.The factory was spotted in the distant background, symmetrical pillars strewn across the western horizon.Billows of smoke poured into a pink sunset mixing with an already heavy fog; a combination that I’m sure was poisoning us and the surrounding ecosystem in some way. These pointed metal monuments mirrored the similar sprawling, cluster of lethal towers miles away that I called my home. A home filled with love and excitement, yes, but at the moment I was grateful that the only towers present were of this chemical plant. If it wasn't for the noxious plant, hundreds of footprints and the remnants of human debris in the sand I would have forgotten I was not so far from Chicago or the surrounding shore line towns and sprawling freeways of Nw Indiana.
I also hail from the land of sprawling freeways and strip malls, living in the suburbs of Minneapolis -a watery land. Even the patch of trees behind my town housing development, no more than a block by block radius, served a profound purpose in regards to the beginnings of my relationship with nature.Years later, I was blessed to live on 10 acres with my grandmother where formative memories of canoeing, bird watching and playing in brush. Along with frequent trips Up North. Nature is where I, like so many others, know I can turn for peace and rejuvenation. Communion with the natural environment that feels innate and ancient. An ancient stillness.
Day to day life consists of being bombarded with advertisements, screens, noise and light pollution well into the night. Especially if you are in a city. To stave off the blinking traffic, construction, lights and crowded streets we retreated to the closest patch of natural desolation is a forty-five minute drive from Illinois to the Indiana coast. The dunes contain 15 miles of sandy peaks, prairie and deciduous forestry. 15 '000 acres of snow dusted woodland awaited the arrival of weary patrons seeking stillness.whether one traveled from out of state or walked through one of the dunes coastal developments, this mid-western wood was a haven. A haven where one could come to play, rest and reflect. There were a lot of people on the beach this weekend but the coast remained peaceful. Quiet conversations and the murmur of seagulls were in this seemingly boundless natural arena where gray fog mostly obscured the view of any buildings, electrical lines or air traffic.
Tall dunes covered with patches of yellow grass dry from winter sloped onto the sandy plots of beach stretching on and on. The gray sky merged into the land and water beneath it; tinged an orangey pink by a setting sun, the foggy atmosphere was almost indistinguishable from the swath of shoreline that pressed forward. Although the park was just a moment amongst the bustling network of roads and tollways connecting the Midwest, it felt like I was in the middle of nowhere.
I spent a lot of time outdoors growing up; if I did not have the privilege to know the calmness provided by the light peaking through the canopy at dusk while walking through an imperfect forest path.The literal grounding that happens to my being when I am in the midst of messy brown and green earth as opposed to cemented, mathematical existence of city life I would genuinely be a totally different person; unknowing that the uncomfortable facets of my character can really only be tamed by a silent wood .
