Listen to nature

By CONNIE MERTZ

If you have been a parent, you know the endless “whys” our toddlers asked us. A lot of the answers still remain a mystery. “Why is the sky blue? Why does a turtle have a shell?” I remember being asked these, and similar, questions while my daughters and I explored the realm of nature years ago.

As an adult, I find myself still asking questions. I wonder how the snapping turtle arrived in one of our wetland ponds sunning himself atop a muskrat lodge. Where was he during his lifetime? And the spring peepers were never present on the farm; now they are there in hoards during early spring. What journey did they make to arrive here? And the aquatic life that exists in the ponds—how did they suddenly appear out of nowhere? Then there are the aquatic plants that were never seen before until the wetlands were developed. Where were the seeds all those years?

One morning this week, I listened to the awakening of birdsong. What makes the birds sing? Is it done on impulse at dawn like we brush our teeth and comb our hair? Is it done for socialization like we greet family members every day? Is it because they are happy and content with their daily lives despite the circumstances, which may have destroyed nests or young? Nature spoke to me on this morning, for regardless of their hardships, they still sang and their melodies gave me a renewed strength to face my day.

Nature speaks to all of us; we just need to pause long enough to listen.