Lions bridge encounters

Tim Dronfield

        I often find myself thinking about nature and the complexity of it. Nature is a very beautiful thing to behold and it can be very soothing. There is a peacefulness that comes from looking at a sea of trees swaying in the wind. But, there is also a great amount of violence within nature. Storms can come through the woods and rip through the beautiful forests and create an extremely dangerous place. Strong trees can be ripped down and branches break off and fall crashing to the earth. Life can also be like this. Storms can come into your life and if they are strong enough even the strongest of people can be torn down by hard times. 

        There is a lot of beauty in human life as well as in nature. Interactions with both can be incredible, but some things are toxic. Poisonous plants litter the forests and are often very beautiful on the outside, but harbor deadly toxins on the inside. It is important to be able to recognize these types of people and plants and to avoid them. 

        Vines can create lovely ground cover and that is why English ivy was brought to the US. But it is a strangling vine, it was beautiful and we wanted it here but it took advantage of that and spread. It grabs hold of trees and slowly drags them down and often kills them in the end. Just like toxic or parasitic people will latch onto unsuspecting victims and drag them down.

        There are countless lessons to be learned from nature and it is foolish to assume people are above nature and the interactions observed there. We are after all just animals at the core. We are still subject to struggles, and as hard as we try we can never truly escape from the fragility and violence of the natural world.