The reds, yellows, and browns stand out so vibrantly that you can almost forget that they signify the final closure of all warmth and life. I am in awe at how peaceful it is with the hum of crickets in the background like a lullaby. The scuttle of squirrels preparing for winter are heard every so often with the drop of hickory nuts plummeting from the hands of the nimble creatures jumping in the trees above. The only thing disturbing this solitary peace is the slicing squeals of tires on pavement.

The evidence of human destruction and stupidity.

We are trees rising up from the loam of the earth as the majestic creation of Mother Nature, though it seems we believe our strength derives in industry and technology instead of the soil that we have now paved over. If you rip the roots of a tree from its place in the ground, it will die. It is as if society wants to escape the familiar earth that they take for granted, forgetting that if they pull too far, the roots will come free and the life giving essentials cannot be delivered anymore.

No one appreciates nature, today. You cannot hear the crickets if you have your radio blasting and your engine roaring. You cannot see the red shades of maple leaves if all you look at is the blue icon of Twitter. There is so much to see, to hear, to study just outside the door and I do not know when or why this lost importance to the world.

I am struck by the surprising sense of relief I feel once detached from technology. Outside, alone, among the wildlife I feel free: no longer prisoner to the ever-growing amount of available industrial tools. While there is still that lingering sense that I am missing out on something, the longer I remain outside and focus on what is around me, the more my necessity for technology fades.

People are so idle and ignorant. No one goes outside and breathes in the pure essence of the earth anymore. No one studies the vast destinations this world has to offer or the nature of the people existing within it. We have become so numb, content with ignorance, settling for just knowing what is instead of understanding why it is. No one explores or goes on adventures. No one tries to find the meaning of life and philosophizes. No one publishes books that completely changes the public’s way of thinking or starts movements to enlighten the rest of the world. There is always more to be discovered but we have become so accustomed to the way life is that we feel as if we don’t need to search any further. It seems that no one even has the motivation to understand the society and the culture we grew up in. No connection to what is ours, where we came from, how we got here, and why things are the way they are. People have no depth and no substance. It is pathetic and sickening that we’ve become so shallow.

And the only question I ask myself is why?