My Naturalist Studies

Since childhood, I’ve gathered my thoughts and walked into the woods. Being in nature soothes my soul and reinvigorates the part of me that longs for peace. I’m not sure when it started. My dad was a hunter when we lived in Cold Lake, AB., but I never hunted with him.

We did have woods near our home there, as well as when we lived in Trenton, Ontario. Those woods I spent a lot of time in, just being outside surrounded by trees became my favourite thing. I grew to like Jacques Cousteau’s many books about the world during that period too. So it’s something I grew into and I’m glad I did.

I love the natural world and the many creatures we share our planet with. Today I walk near our home in Ottawa and at my brother’s cottage on the Rideau Lakes. These are some of the creatures I’ve crossed paths with on my journey and some are from years ago while I traveled in other countries.

“Constantly regard the universe as one living being, having one substance and one soul; and observe how all things have reference to one perception, the perception of this one living being; and how all things act with one movement; and how all things are the cooperating causes of all things that exist; observe too the continuous spinning of the thread and the structure of the web.”

— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, iv. 40