Escape

Malachite 3Lessons & Reflections from the National Butterfly Center

I know I am not alone in thinking the world’s gone crazy…but am I the only one who fantasizes about running away?

Truth be told, I do flee—and always to the outdoors.

Forget the nasty headlines, the horrors of foreign affairs, the despair and degradation of all we should hold dear.  Today, I walked to the mailbox and took some time to stare at the almost-translucent moon, lingering in the western sky. I watched the vultures rise, swirling hypnotically higher, from the treetops. I noticed something furry in the wildflower refugium, and got closer and closer, until I was able to reach out one finger and pet the young rat who seemed to enjoy having his back scratched.


At times like these, I feel my heart beating. I mean, I am actually conscious of breathing, of seeing and feeling. My senses return and on days like today, I cry.

I cry out the anger and the sadness along with the fear and frustration, some of which comes from family, work, things in my immediate realm; although most of it comes from the horrible headlines and the awful “news.” 

Ancient wisdom says there is nothing new under the sun. Strangely, this comforts me when I hear about another atrocity. The world can be a cruel, cruel place. That is why we need Nature.

In 2003, W.E. Hamilton and D.Y. Sillman of Penn State University wrote a prize-winning essay titled, “Do We Need Nature.”  In their words:

Not for everything. We have spent the better part of 10,000 years trying to insulate ourselves from nature. We don’t need nature to love our fellow humans or to win the wars we fight. We don’t need it to satisfy all of our comforts or for all of our entertainments…

We do need nature, though, to repair the damage from our dreams and from our actions.
 
If it’s midnight and there’s a campfire fire burning at the NBC, chances are it’s me. I escape to this place a couple of times a year with a 6-pack of beer, to lick my wounds or catch a buzz, whatever it takes to recover, because a night spent under a canopy of stars is good for my spiritual alignment.

From Hamilton and Sillman:

We also need nature for its perspective on our existence. We need it for its timeless pauses. We need it for the miracle of the water strider and the improbability of the flying beetle. We need nature to surprise and amaze us…We need nature for its billions of years of possibilities and experiments. We need it to teach us how to survive.  We need it for its peace and for its presence. We need it for its future, and we need it for its power of forgiveness.

I couldn’t have said it better.
 
 

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Inside the National Butterfly Center

Hours of Operation

Open 7 Days a Week 
8:00 - 5:00
364 Days / Year

Closed Easter Sunday

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National Butterfly Center
3333 Butterfly Park Drive
Mission, TX 78572
956-583-5400
GPS Coordinates:
26.180243 -98.364973

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