Nature, Art and Culture

I remember times when I was growing up watching movies of the old west. I remember watching Quigley Down Under, Maverick, John Wayne movies, etc. My father was a huge fan of westerns and his father was as well because I remember seeing paintings of old cowboys sitting on a stool looking to their left or having a beer. I also remember my grandfather having little statues of cowboys too. So I guess it was only a matter of time that I would pick it up. I didn't totally get into the cowboys but I found that I have a love for the desert and the old west setting. I loved watching movies like Young Guns and Tombstone and Desperado and even the new Mask of Zorro. And who could forget about the 3 amigos? So anything that had to do with the desert I fell in love with. It's something about the cactus and rattlesnakes and other desert life that fascinates me!! So growing up when I think of nature most of the time the desert is what comes to mind. When I got into junior high and high school, I still had a love for the desert but found myself loving the ocean scene more and more. Something about the deep blue catches my attention and makes me want to be a part of it. And now I just see myself enjoying all of it because each part of nature has a different importance and I like adventures and new explorations so I end up out in nature more often than I give myself credit for. But as a youth, I would say that I was more partial to the desert setting.
I believe that art and culture can truly change a perspective if a person is able to catch it. Some things are so humbling and they seem to catch you almost off-guard. It's like that oceanic feeling that Freud talks about. You realize that creations on earth are so massive sometimes that it really puts a deeper perspective on life. As for art, I think it can if the respective person allows it to. Some people fight it but as we grow older and understand more about life, I think most people end up enjoying art in its different forms. Not necessarily pictures, but music and paintings and other art forms that connect with that individual. Culture also plays a role of how nature can be viewed by how different people treat the land and their perspectives on it.

Thoughts on Nature

I enjoy nature and I have loved it for as long as I can remember. The way that it can take a person put of everyday life and cleanse that person speaks wonders of its power to give life. It is so easy to get caught up in everyday metropolitan life and forget who we are individuals most of the time. We find ourselves questioning things often because we don't have the opportunity to think things out. There's always something to do or somewhere to be. And that can take its toll after awhile because I feel that I sometimes don't know what I want or what I'm doing. People have different ways of letting off stress. My way has always been to get away and be around nobody. I take the privilege of what God has created for what I think is pure relaxation. And that would be nature.
When life gets hard and confusing, I take time to go out and see what's outside of the city. Or I'll grab a book and sit next to the lake or river and ponder about life. In Arizona my favorite place to do this is Saguaro Lake. So don't even think about taking my spot! I enjoy going up there because at night time, nobody is really ever out there. I can listen to the water, see the moon reflecting off of it, and gather my thoughts to think them out wisely. It gives me a chance to communicate with God as well in an uninterrupted setting. And like it says in our book by Nash, many men from the biblical times, even Christ himself, would go to wilderness to commune with God. I'm not saying I'm like them but I can understand more why they went and did that. So all in all, it's my way out of life when I really need to find myself.
I grew up in Utah. It is a very beautiful state. If you aren't an outdoors person, then I wouldn't recommend going up there...unless you happen to be a Mormon. It offers so many different ways to enjoy nature. It has beautiful lakes and rivers and mountains all over the place. I have many childhood and adolescent stories of fishing, camping, hiking,hunting, and being out of the house. We often, my high school friends and I, went camping on the weekends to go and enjoy ourselves away from everybody else. We would bring our guns and fishing poles and have a great time. So many memories from those days. But when I really learned to love nature was in my youth with my father. He wasn't really an outdoors kinda guy but he would every now and then take me out fishing and on hikes. I remember hiking to Sundance Falls as a family when I was probably around 12 years old. After we reached the falls and relaxed for a little bit, we packed our stuff and started the hike back. We were maybe about a mile into the hike when right in the middle of the trail there stood a huge moose. It just stared at us as my father told us to get behind him. Luckily for us it wasn't aggressive and didn't feel threatened by us because behind the moose stood its baby. It was a awesome! I'll never forget that one. But after a minute or so it and its baby took off down the side of the hill and we continued on. So my father was the one that really planted a seed of appreciation of nature in me and I have allowed it flourish ever since.
Another great thing about nature is that it's never constant. I mean that there re so many variations no matter where I go. I have done numerous hikes, even some of the same ones, and found that, even the same ones, they change. Whether the water falls are smaller or bigger, or the trail has eroded, or whatever it may be, nothing is ever the same twice. And I really love that. I enjoy adventure and consider myself an adventure seeker. If there's a possibility I could get hurt, I'll do it. That's how I have always been. I have my limits of course but there aren't very many of them. So I always keep an ear open for new hikes or places to see.
I love animals and wildlife as well. I'm not one of those PEDA dudes or anything but I really love to see animals in their natural setting. Sometimes I'll mess around with them, actually pretty much every time I'll mess around with them but like I said, I still have some limits. You wouldn't catch me messing around with that moose and her baby...but other things I definitely will be checking out. A good friend of mine and I love to go out to Fountain Hills. There is so much wildlife out there it's unreal. We've caught things like rattlesnakes, scorpions, javelina, rec racer snakes, Texas blind snakes, tarantulas, etc... We really have a great time going out and looking for stuff like that. I guess it may be childish but I love it nonetheless. We even go around chasing Bobcats. I know, we're retarded. But I love it the same. And over the summer I went out to Hawaii as tradition. When I went out this time I wanted to swing with the sharks. Unfortunately a friend with a commercial fishing boat wasn't able to take us out so we had to go to a tourist one on the North Shore. As we were going out to the spot, the captain turned off the boat and told us to look to the left side of the boat. We looked and there was dolphins out there doing flips and spins and stuff. It was pretty cool to see and I did get it on video but I'm not sure if I can upload it...I'll try to. But when we finally got to our spot they turned off the boat and chummed for sharks. About 5 minutes in there was probably 30 to 40 Galapagos White Tip sharks swimming around. They were awesome. They weren't too big maybe 10 to 11 feet most of them but it was cool to see them that close. When our turn came to get in the cage I pretty much jumped in! They told us not to stick our hands out of the cage and touch the sharks but there was no way I was gonna be that close and not touch them. It as a great time. And those suckers feel like rubber. Pretty cool if you've ever touched one.
I really love to get out and enjoy God's creations. I love nature and often find myself out there more than I give myself credit for.