DISTANT SOCIALIZING IN NATURE

NATIVE ARROWHEAD, Kansas Flint Hills

Ironically as I write this post, I’m joined by most of the world this April 2020 as we shelter in place and social distance from one another in hopes of slowing the COVID-19 viral pandemic.  The virus primarily spreads as humans come in close contact with one another by coughing, sneezing, hugging and shaking hands.  But there is no danger in venturing outside by ourselves and experiencing the spirit of our creator on the winds.

As a youth, I loved to roam outside in the Kansas Flint Hills amid the wind blowing unchallenged through the tall grass prairies and along the rim rock edges of the grassy hills where grazing Herford cattle had replaced wild buffalo.  That experience nurtured a new found love of the land that has stayed with me all my life.  Many of these adventures included having a shotgun over my shoulder in anticipation of the exploding rush of pheasants, prairie chickens, ducks, and coveys of quail.  I spied a flint arrowhead on the ground on one outing that had possibly been launched by a lone kindred spirit onto the south wind, flying on a feathered wooden shaft in pursuit of the same small wild game that I was hunting.  I always admired the native Indians’ respect and stewardship for the land and their ritual of offering up a prayer for the spirit that had given its life to sustain theirs.  Their existence was entirely outside in nature, enabling them to relate to the oneness of the universe and possess an acute appreciation for the gift of life. 

These native people living in a rather pristine land had no concern for pandemics.  The diseases that later decimated their tribes were carried and transmitted by intruders from across the oceans.  Those people had lived in crowded areas during a period with no means to stop a pandemic from spreading.  Fortunately, we have now evolved into a time of scientific knowledge with the ability to develop vaccines and therapeutics and even social apps like FaceTime and Zoom.   And one of the best ways of coping with this quarantine is to venture out into nature and distant socialize with our creator.