Waking Up To Nature

Raven's Call

Experiencing the natural beauty that surrounds me is one reason I enjoy living a deliberately slow, less complicated lifestyle. I like to have time to notice, and appreciate, the efficiency and beauty of nature. The raven's call is a reminder to wake up to the natural splendor.

I live in a small coastal village of 10,000 transplants, misfits, malcontents, rebels, and revolutionaries. I fit right in. The thing that these self-reliant, hearty souls share is a love of the natural environment. A suit and tie is of little use out here, but if you have a good pair of rubber boots and a thick wool sweater, you are ready.

Out here, on the far western edge of the continent, you know the folly of feeling like an omnipotent, highly evolved organism separate from, or above, your surroundings. In comparison to the vastness of the stormy sea on one side, and the impenetrable, dark, mossy forest on the other, the affairs of humans are mere scurryings of ants.

Here, nature rules, and over the past few long nights it has been the ravens that have been orchestrating the elements from their lofty laboratories in the tree tops. In their black on black cloaks they are the early risers of the rain forest.

Each morning, just as a faint light washes over the sky, I have been woken by the ravens' guttural and commanding call. It carries through the fog, and echos among the cathedral pillars of trees. It celebrates the new day, and the power of nature.

When I lived in the city new days were started with the sounds of revving car engines, squealing tires, and tooting horns.

I much prefer waking to the still and quiet, broken only by the ravens' morning announcements. I enjoy laying in bed and listening to the rain forest rooster's admonishment to rise and acknowledge the magic and the beauty of nature on this very, very day.