A love-hate relationship with nature ❤️

My relationship with nature... A love-hate relationship? This sounds a bit rude 🤔. Definitely not a toxic relationship, but also not all sunshine and roses 🌹.

From a young age, nature fascinated me. I think it's something passed down in my family. My grandparents on both sides loved nature, in different ways.

I never knew my grandfather on my dads side, but I got my love of rocks from him. My grandmother enjoyed gardening and took care of fruit trees until she passed at a very young age. Even though I didn't know either of them, I share that love and excitement for rock formations and fruit trees.

This is rock formations at Fransmanshoek in South Africa. It is one of my favourite places on earth.

As for my grandparents on my mother's side, I had the privilege of knowing them. My grandfather believed that nature was something one should fear. He loved the ocean but never dared to go near it. It's a power far greater than us mere mortals are capable of understanding.

I can't find the original photo that I planed to include. I have drone photography from Danabaai where sharks are visible just past the wave.
Source: https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/conservation-concerns-as-big-groups-of-rare-sharks-found-along-perth-coast-20220222-p59ymm.html

My Ouma would always tell stories about the insects around us, the wind in the trees, the tiny yellow flowers (that's other see as a weed). Running streams is there to calm us down, and birds sing to remind us that a new day has arrived... She still believes nature is there to remind us just how small, but special we are.

I took this photography around 3 years ago. I was on a field trip for biology and remember smelling like fish. We stopped to watch the sunset over the lake even though we were extremely tired.

A little "skilpad" just grazing around our yard in Danabaai.

And so with no surprise, I ended up a geographer (and planner) 😅. My work is connected to nature. Protecting it, finding better ways, planning for nature, planning with nature, telling people no.

Not only is it linked to my job, but it is also linked to my mental health. A walk outside calms my anxiety within minutes. If I'm facing writers' block I'll move my office outside. If I'm sad I'll listen to the birds. I once had a student ask me why I always look at the sky when I'm walking; "Because it's something to be grateful for".

This was taken at our university last year. The clouds look like a nuclear explosion over the library.
Source: Technically me, with a friend's camera.

We also tend to forget that nature feeds us, gives us a place to call home and even when we destroy her, she still sings her songs and shares her colours.

This is why I love nature. She takes care of me and my loved ones. She teaches me, and reminds me to take breaks and nurtures my body. She's been keeping us all alive for all these years!

Saved this little guy the other day. It was trapped inside a building.

But nature also destroys... Floods, death, fire, death, drought, death, hurricanes and plagues and tornadoes and more diseases! And death.

Flooding in Germany destroyed houses and infrastructure, taking the lives of 42 people.
Source: https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/at-least-42-dead-after-flash-floods-hit-western-europe/

I fear her.

Kīlauea volcano in Hawaii in 2018.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/22/record-rain-triggered-2018-kilauea-volcano-eruptions-hawaii-study

She has so much power and we believe that we own her. The sweet sunrise can change into a burning horizon that will not pass by you without notice.

Love-hate? I think more down the line of "Thankful, yet extremely afraid..."

But this is one side of the story. How does mother nature feel about me?

Is she thankful for my attempt at protecting her and all the creatures she loves? Are my efforts at recycling keeping her from getting ill? The clear blue sky greeting me in the morning her way of thanking us that we kept her alive another day...

Or does she fear me as much as I fear her? Does she beg me every day to save a few drops of water for her thirsty soil? Is the falling rain her cries over lost creatures? The cracking of the crust her plead for us to stop exploiting her resources?

Does she view us as no more than parasites?

Source: https://ownquotes.com/quote/18129

I remember asking my students "if we continue the way we do what will happen?" You see without people nature will flourish, but without nature, society is doomed.

"Thankful, yet extremely afraid..."

I know it sounds confusing 🧐. I adore nature and I'm thankful for every beautiful sunset, but I fear the day that she has had enough of us. It is our responsibility to love and protect her as best we can, for her safety and our own.

A golden sunset at home. You can see the little birds were also pleased with what mother nature had given us that day.

Thanks once again to @anttn for the challenges and the community. Glad to be a part of this journey of growing the community opening my mind to new ideas, as well as finding out more about myself. The community is already a beneficiary on the post, but I increased it to 5%. Let's grow the community and promote unity amongst society.