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Written By: Deena Bouknight | Issue: Whats News
If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living. – Henri Poincare
If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living. – Henri Poincare
Although evidence of spring might be just around in the corner, in the hint of warmish days and a peek at blooms, winter’s ways remain on the plateau at least through March. And sometimes an April-occurring frigid frost reminds us we are not in control of the weather.
Lover or despiser of the white fluffy stuff (a.k.a. snow), there is no denying how it changes perspective on the landscape. While we might not normally notice the shape of that holly leaf and the way the prickly points face upward or the intensity of a burning bush’s red foliage – we do so when set against stark whiteness.
And take prints. Creatures from birds to mice to racoons to pets regularly hop or scurry or prowl all around homes and through yards and woods. But in snow, the glaring details of the minute-to-large impressions fascinate. We pause – or we most certainly should – to marvel at the curious outlines. Our eyes roam to where the prints begin and end. We take photographs, for no particular reason at all.
Yes, nature’s details delight. The Irish duo of Keith and Kristyn Getty sing, Don’t Let Me Lose My Wonder, with such lyrics as: “I’ve watched a spider spin a star between the window box flowers …” A Bascom Center for the Arts writers’ group wordsmith shared a poem with the lines “Crack down pine spine oozing resinous sap … queen wasp on grass …”
May we never stop seeking and seeing and appreciating nature’s details year-round, whether they are revealed against a palette of unadulterated snow or are obscured by camouflaged surroundings.
Henri Poincare was a late 19th-to-early-20th century French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and philosopher – all generally less-than-poetic pursuits. Yet, his prose prompts us to pay attention: “It is the harmony of the diverse parts, their symmetry, their happy balance; in a word it is all that introduces order, all that gives unity, that permits us to see clearly and to comprehend at once both the ensemble and the details.”
