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I live about 40 miles away from the nearest major city; most of the city's bigger suburbs are still about 15 miles away from my house. Because of this, and because I work from home full-time, I rarely have a chance to go on walks around the city. I used to walk with my friends quite frequently in my university days, and I miss it.
Yesterday I found myself in town while my wife was busy with appointments. I took the opportunity to explore the streets near one of the core interstates in the area. This was a commercial area, dotted with office buildings and apartment complexes--a world of professionally-maintained landscapes and large parking lots.
After an unusually long and cold winter, the trees in the American Midwest are finally fully covered with leaves again. Several flowers are still blooming, and berries adorn bushes and shrubs. Even among the buildup, scents of greenery and healthy wood rushed into my head. The sun shone, the sky gleamed, and I could not have been happier.
During my walk, little things triggered unexpected memories in my mind. The shape of a tree branch would make me think of a similar tree I saw on my college campus. The smell of a freshly-excavated pile of dirt brought back thoughts about a house I lived in as a child, or fields where we had recess in primary school. Flowers reminded me of my grandmother's garden. There seemed to be no end to my recollections.
I thought about this phenomenon as my wife finished up her appointments and we headed home. Why do the outdoors make me think of such varied points in my life? I soon realized the answer: nature is timeless.
In certain parts of the world, buildings are put up and torn down almost with the seasons. But the life that fills the spaces in between doesn't change much. A maple tree I find in a park will give me the same comforting aromas as the maples that adorned my neighborhood in kindergarten. Grasses underfoot will always bring me joy, no matter where I find them. Generations of robins and doves may come and go, but their cries endure. Even the local insects remain from my childhood days, though individual specimens are long gone.
When I go on walks in the same part of the world I grew up in, I know the creatures of nature that I'm going to find. And that provides a kind of stability I don't often think about unless I step outside again and seek it out. In a rapidly-changing society, nature is one of the few constants I can rely on.
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[Last updated: 2024-05-04]