I found this somewhere. I dont think it was actually found in a box in the woods somewhere, but it's interesting, nonetheless.
"Found in a Box on a Hilltop
Dear traveler,
I dont know, you, and you dont know me. We know nothing about eachother. I dont know if you are an explorer, a kid running away from home, a hunter, a lost tourist, or what. Theres also a small chance that you are a mother Raccoon, about to rip this paper to shreds to keep your babies warm. If you are, carry on, Im not one to intrude.
Out here, Im thinking youre either the first or last option. If I were to assume you are the last option, Id be able to stop writing right here, and I wish you and your pups my best. Its gonna be nice and warm and rainy this spring, mother nature is with you. May you all prosper.
But for the sake of imagination, I will assume you are the first option. Even if you fall into one of the other categories, I suggest you read on before you crumple this up and throw it in the stream or use it for fire kindling. You just may find something inside yourself that cares. First things first: even though we dont know eachother, lend me your ear. Turn off your cell phone, take your headphones off, and quit putting your hand to your pocket, your money is all still there and you wont need it now anyway. Everything around you and everything you are about to take in, is completely free, if you choose to take it.
Look around. You are in what city folk would call the middle of nowhere. But if you shut out your mind and let your senses run free, you will notice that you are anywhere but nowhere. Right now, at this very moment, there may be a Salamander under that log. Or a Trout may be swimming up the stream I mentioned earlier, looking for where she was born so she can lay her eggs. A Snake may be basking on one of the rock cliffs not too far from here. And if you walk up the hill a little, you will find an oak tree with a Barred Owl nesting in her branches. If you keep your ears open, you may hear the baby Owls cooting softly for their mother. If you keep your eyes sharp, you just may catch a glimpse of that Snake, before he sees you and takes off. Or you may see that Trout jumping high up over obstacles in her way, driven by millions of years of evolution. Nature, you see, is endless. The key to noticing what she has to offer, is to always be ready to learn something new.
If you venture into the natural world with the attitude that you are above what is around you, and that nature is to be conquered, you will not learn anything. In fact, you may as well just put this paper back in the box, close it up, put it back down, and be on your way.
Instead, treat nature as your teacher and your guide. You are a student, you are here to learn. You are an alien being, who is lucky enough that mother nature let on her turf. You are here as a privledge, not a right. And remember mother nature isnt an actual person. YOU are not gonna teach her anything. Like I said before at the risk of sounding redundant you are her student.
So weve established that mother nature has a lot to give. But she does not give up her secrets easily. If you tune your mind to her wavelengths, and return yourself back to when humans were part of the earth, rather than against it, you will be pleasantly surprised. Being organicly in nature is an incredible experience. Its a euphoria exceeding any kind of materialistic outer shine, any chemical high, any religious fulfillment. Something about returning to our primal roots opens doors in our minds. Its a spiritual experience not just with whats around you, but whats in you.
In fact,
stop right now. Look around at whats around you. No hints of your nice soft plush house. Your fancy car isnt here and if it is well you are one insanely amazing driver, I must say. But listen to your thoughts. Arent they clearer? You can walk in a straight line for what seems like forever without having to stop at a crosswalk. The only light out here is the sun, or, depending on what time you came out here, the moon. That light is all natural its not some other-worldly sheen of purple, its not flashing, and its not trying to sell you something. Far from the bustle of the city, and the distractions of everyday life as a creature who has spent its entire existence trying to distance itself from where you are, right now. For this short period of time, you are above all that. Look back at every trouble youve felt in the last week work, school, love, money. Its all so far away now. Youre safe, if only for now.
The city has its limits. You can only walk so far before your path is cut off by a building or a street. You can only look so far before you reach the same dilemma. Out here, you have no limits. You could walk to the ends of the earth. You can strain and squint your eyes as much as you can, and yet, you wont see any trace of mankind. Other than yourself and this piece of paper and this box, of course.
That reminds me, I should apologize. Whenever I come out here, I make sure that I left no evidence of myself. But with all the emotions building and swirling inside me every time I come out here, I decided that it would be selfish of me to keep it to myself. Everyone should know what its like to be out here the freedom, the vastness, the security. But I still have some guilt in the back of my head for betraying my presence. I hope you can forgive me.
But getting this message out here, I feel, is far more important than whatever harm this box may do in the time its here. Which may be a while days, weeks, months. Not many people come out here. I hope that I dont find this box untouched next time I return, I really do want someone to find this.
Anyways, as I was saying. I wish the world could know the feeling that fills my head and heart when Im here. And why? Because if we love this place, well protect it. And every place like it. When you return to your house in the city, look around. Weve stomped almost every forest flat to make houses. And highways. Weve cut them to print your morning paper and to farm the cows whose milk fills your cereal bowl. Were damn near emptying our worlds oceans of their fish. The skies are filling with the toxic fumes from our cars and factories. Weve transported seemingly innocuous species of animals and plants from one place to another, where they have caused havoc on delicate native species. On top of that, weve ignored the warning signs that our earth gives us when we cause her harm. When the average size of Swordfish brought in commercially decreased from over 100 pounds to 30-40 pounds because we had taken all the large breeding sized animals out of the population, we didnt listen we simply started taking the smaller ones. When our nations national bird, the Bald Eagle not to mention the Brown Pelican, the Whooping Crane, and the Osprey, became rare because of eggshell thinning and birth defects due to the pesticide DDT, and the government stepped in and outlawed DDT, what did we do? We started developing more, stronger pesticides. When we lost the Bachmans Warbler and almost lost the Spotted Owl and the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker to the destruction of forests, and the government set up national parks, what did we do? We went and logged the forests around the national parks.
Why do people do these terrible things to our world? Its a question thats kept people like me up all night over and over again. The answer is simple the responsible have nothing but dollar signs in their eyes.
But I know Im not the only one who wants the future generations of the world to be able to see a Bobcat, a Whale, a Shark, an Eagle in beautiful person, and not just in books. I want places like where you are now (hope you didnt get so lost in my gibberish that you forgot where you are, and if you did, I hope my little reality check there didnt startle you ) to be around forever. I want my great great great grandchildren to walk out here and feel the same thing I do right now. I want the futures world to be able to also see their wild side, to get in contact with whats been buried deep inside them by what has become known as human nature. If we lose that, we may as well be missing a part of our soul. In fact, I guess thats what itd be a lost part of our soul.
So please, enjoy where you are and what youre doing right now. Its a magical place. I hope you are enjoying your time out here as much as I do. Everyone always says they wish they could go somewhere to just get away from it all well I know theres a place like that. And now, so do you. I assure you it has that charm all year-round. Even when the birds are flown south, or huddled inside their tree cavities, when the Trout are all at sea or in the mountain streams, or when the Snakes and Salamanders are all asleep buried underground, if you listen and look real close, you can still feel what makes it so special out here.
If you enjoy it like I do try bringing a friend, someone who can enjoy it with you. Make sure its a friend who will love it as much as you do, who can just sit and take it all in with you. The only thing better than being out here with your thoughts is being out here with a friends thoughts.
So, there is a chance youve been here a while. You may have walked while you read. If you did, theres a chance you might be a bit confused on how to get out of here. If you are near the cliffs, turn northwest and walk straight until you come to a big flat rock, that kinda looks like a kitchen table. When you get to it, turn east and walk straight and youll be fine. If youre by the stream, if you walk southward along the bank, eventually you will come to a footbridge. Cross it, and you will come to a trail. Follow the trail until you come to a fork in the road. The left fork takes you to deeper into the woods, to the lake."
"Found in a Box on a Hilltop
Dear traveler,
I dont know, you, and you dont know me. We know nothing about eachother. I dont know if you are an explorer, a kid running away from home, a hunter, a lost tourist, or what. Theres also a small chance that you are a mother Raccoon, about to rip this paper to shreds to keep your babies warm. If you are, carry on, Im not one to intrude.
Out here, Im thinking youre either the first or last option. If I were to assume you are the last option, Id be able to stop writing right here, and I wish you and your pups my best. Its gonna be nice and warm and rainy this spring, mother nature is with you. May you all prosper.
But for the sake of imagination, I will assume you are the first option. Even if you fall into one of the other categories, I suggest you read on before you crumple this up and throw it in the stream or use it for fire kindling. You just may find something inside yourself that cares. First things first: even though we dont know eachother, lend me your ear. Turn off your cell phone, take your headphones off, and quit putting your hand to your pocket, your money is all still there and you wont need it now anyway. Everything around you and everything you are about to take in, is completely free, if you choose to take it.
Look around. You are in what city folk would call the middle of nowhere. But if you shut out your mind and let your senses run free, you will notice that you are anywhere but nowhere. Right now, at this very moment, there may be a Salamander under that log. Or a Trout may be swimming up the stream I mentioned earlier, looking for where she was born so she can lay her eggs. A Snake may be basking on one of the rock cliffs not too far from here. And if you walk up the hill a little, you will find an oak tree with a Barred Owl nesting in her branches. If you keep your ears open, you may hear the baby Owls cooting softly for their mother. If you keep your eyes sharp, you just may catch a glimpse of that Snake, before he sees you and takes off. Or you may see that Trout jumping high up over obstacles in her way, driven by millions of years of evolution. Nature, you see, is endless. The key to noticing what she has to offer, is to always be ready to learn something new.
If you venture into the natural world with the attitude that you are above what is around you, and that nature is to be conquered, you will not learn anything. In fact, you may as well just put this paper back in the box, close it up, put it back down, and be on your way.
Instead, treat nature as your teacher and your guide. You are a student, you are here to learn. You are an alien being, who is lucky enough that mother nature let on her turf. You are here as a privledge, not a right. And remember mother nature isnt an actual person. YOU are not gonna teach her anything. Like I said before at the risk of sounding redundant you are her student.
So weve established that mother nature has a lot to give. But she does not give up her secrets easily. If you tune your mind to her wavelengths, and return yourself back to when humans were part of the earth, rather than against it, you will be pleasantly surprised. Being organicly in nature is an incredible experience. Its a euphoria exceeding any kind of materialistic outer shine, any chemical high, any religious fulfillment. Something about returning to our primal roots opens doors in our minds. Its a spiritual experience not just with whats around you, but whats in you.
In fact,
stop right now. Look around at whats around you. No hints of your nice soft plush house. Your fancy car isnt here and if it is well you are one insanely amazing driver, I must say. But listen to your thoughts. Arent they clearer? You can walk in a straight line for what seems like forever without having to stop at a crosswalk. The only light out here is the sun, or, depending on what time you came out here, the moon. That light is all natural its not some other-worldly sheen of purple, its not flashing, and its not trying to sell you something. Far from the bustle of the city, and the distractions of everyday life as a creature who has spent its entire existence trying to distance itself from where you are, right now. For this short period of time, you are above all that. Look back at every trouble youve felt in the last week work, school, love, money. Its all so far away now. Youre safe, if only for now.
The city has its limits. You can only walk so far before your path is cut off by a building or a street. You can only look so far before you reach the same dilemma. Out here, you have no limits. You could walk to the ends of the earth. You can strain and squint your eyes as much as you can, and yet, you wont see any trace of mankind. Other than yourself and this piece of paper and this box, of course.
That reminds me, I should apologize. Whenever I come out here, I make sure that I left no evidence of myself. But with all the emotions building and swirling inside me every time I come out here, I decided that it would be selfish of me to keep it to myself. Everyone should know what its like to be out here the freedom, the vastness, the security. But I still have some guilt in the back of my head for betraying my presence. I hope you can forgive me.
But getting this message out here, I feel, is far more important than whatever harm this box may do in the time its here. Which may be a while days, weeks, months. Not many people come out here. I hope that I dont find this box untouched next time I return, I really do want someone to find this.
Anyways, as I was saying. I wish the world could know the feeling that fills my head and heart when Im here. And why? Because if we love this place, well protect it. And every place like it. When you return to your house in the city, look around. Weve stomped almost every forest flat to make houses. And highways. Weve cut them to print your morning paper and to farm the cows whose milk fills your cereal bowl. Were damn near emptying our worlds oceans of their fish. The skies are filling with the toxic fumes from our cars and factories. Weve transported seemingly innocuous species of animals and plants from one place to another, where they have caused havoc on delicate native species. On top of that, weve ignored the warning signs that our earth gives us when we cause her harm. When the average size of Swordfish brought in commercially decreased from over 100 pounds to 30-40 pounds because we had taken all the large breeding sized animals out of the population, we didnt listen we simply started taking the smaller ones. When our nations national bird, the Bald Eagle not to mention the Brown Pelican, the Whooping Crane, and the Osprey, became rare because of eggshell thinning and birth defects due to the pesticide DDT, and the government stepped in and outlawed DDT, what did we do? We started developing more, stronger pesticides. When we lost the Bachmans Warbler and almost lost the Spotted Owl and the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker to the destruction of forests, and the government set up national parks, what did we do? We went and logged the forests around the national parks.
Why do people do these terrible things to our world? Its a question thats kept people like me up all night over and over again. The answer is simple the responsible have nothing but dollar signs in their eyes.
But I know Im not the only one who wants the future generations of the world to be able to see a Bobcat, a Whale, a Shark, an Eagle in beautiful person, and not just in books. I want places like where you are now (hope you didnt get so lost in my gibberish that you forgot where you are, and if you did, I hope my little reality check there didnt startle you ) to be around forever. I want my great great great grandchildren to walk out here and feel the same thing I do right now. I want the futures world to be able to also see their wild side, to get in contact with whats been buried deep inside them by what has become known as human nature. If we lose that, we may as well be missing a part of our soul. In fact, I guess thats what itd be a lost part of our soul.
So please, enjoy where you are and what youre doing right now. Its a magical place. I hope you are enjoying your time out here as much as I do. Everyone always says they wish they could go somewhere to just get away from it all well I know theres a place like that. And now, so do you. I assure you it has that charm all year-round. Even when the birds are flown south, or huddled inside their tree cavities, when the Trout are all at sea or in the mountain streams, or when the Snakes and Salamanders are all asleep buried underground, if you listen and look real close, you can still feel what makes it so special out here.
If you enjoy it like I do try bringing a friend, someone who can enjoy it with you. Make sure its a friend who will love it as much as you do, who can just sit and take it all in with you. The only thing better than being out here with your thoughts is being out here with a friends thoughts.
So, there is a chance youve been here a while. You may have walked while you read. If you did, theres a chance you might be a bit confused on how to get out of here. If you are near the cliffs, turn northwest and walk straight until you come to a big flat rock, that kinda looks like a kitchen table. When you get to it, turn east and walk straight and youll be fine. If youre by the stream, if you walk southward along the bank, eventually you will come to a footbridge. Cross it, and you will come to a trail. Follow the trail until you come to a fork in the road. The left fork takes you to deeper into the woods, to the lake."
