Dear Bill, Thanks for your kindness. Your timing is excellent: I needed a
good word today as I adjust to my oldest son going off to the Marines this
morning, and it's raining so no Fill for me and no comfort. (I always go to
the Fill when I'm feeling out of sorts, and there I find peace of mind.)

I've been struggling to articulate to myself the role that nature plays in
the lives of humans. I took a UW class one time about wilderness, and I
still remember what the professor said about how humans interact with the
wild. He believed that our concept of wilderness is a totally human
construct that we can control. Our concept can change over time. It can vary
among different groups. For example, believers in the bible conceive of the
wilderness as our human dominion, something that God gave to us to rule
over. Pioneers conceived of the wilderness as a dark enemy, or at least an
opponent, something to be brought under control. I saw this in one of the
Laura Ingalls Wilder books, when Pa was kicked out of Indian Territory in
Oklahoma because he and some other settlers were trying to move in on the
Indians' reservation. The settlers simply could not understand why the
government was favoring the Indians, who did not use the land for farming
but let it stay wild. Walt Disney seemed to think of the wilderness as a
place where bad things (or at least one bad thing per movie) could happen -
usually off-stage - but where everything always ends happily. Hakuna Matata
and all that.

For me, the Fill - although not a wilderness - is my temple. I go there for
spiritual renewal and solace. But I wish I understood why it is a spiritual
experience for me when I go there. My husband, who is a great believer in
E.O. Wilson's ideas about sociobiology, says that our need for nature is
inborn, stemming from our genetic history. We like nature because it's in
our genes to like it. Furthermore, the nature we like the best is the kind
that most closely resembles the African savanna where we evolved, a mix of
open woodland and grassland. (Perhaps this explains why the CUH likes to mow
the Fill so much, and why people spend so much time and money perfecting
their grassy lawns, and maybe even why people put plastic flamingoes in the
front yard!)

I certainly would appreciate your thoughts on these matters. Perhaps if we
all understood the need for nature better, we could become more effective
advocates for its preservation. - Connie

on 9/7/03 5:00 PM, William Applegate at applgate at whidbey.net wrote:

> Connie,
> You write wonderfully well! Thank you for your description of "The Fill" as
> it was this AM.
> Bill A.
> William Applegate
> applgate at whidbey.net
> 2780 David Lane
> Oak Harbor, WA, 98277-8912
> (360) 679-1410
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Connie Sidles" <csidles at isomedia.com>
>