The scarlet oak. You have to be willing to see the scarlet oak in order for it to be seen. One man may see just a tree, and this is true of all landscape. I would be mightily impressed with a view of the Sierras, or Uluru, or Victoria Falls or some other, any other natural phenomenon or beautiful scene I had not witnessed before. Yet no doubt the delivery driver goes past these things without a second glance. He is used to them and does not notice even such an extreme example of natural beauty. How can a lowly tree fare then, or a simple hill in bonnie Scotland?
The answer is to look inward at how we look, how we perceive the things around us and what we can do to change our attitudes to the natural world. For in a child’s view the world is fascinating. And it’s not just the big stuff, it’s the immediate. The leaf on the ground, the tree they are standing next to, the stick in their hand. Having children has been a huge learning curve for me. M plays this game at school called ‘The Interesting Game’. She made it up, and it involves finding something interesting in the playground then collecting them all together. Adults would struggle with that game. I think its genius.