Ed. — From the Sunday, March 19, print edition.
VIRGINIA BEACH — I love Mother Nature.
She’s amazing, and I love spending time with her. I feel close enough to her to call her Mom.
The choice between being inside the house or outside with Mom Nature is no choice at all.
I choose outside every time.
Of course, I limit myself to the front porch on the nastiest of rainy days. I certainly love watching the rain but draw the line on feeling it through soggy clothes.
I even look forward to thunderstorms as springtime and warmer weather nears.
Not the destructive ones, mind you. Just the ones that start as a quiet rumble miles away.
You hear them grow louder as they approach until it feels like it is right above your head, and then they subside and fade off into the distance as they move out to the ocean.
It’s an incredible audio and visual display of Mom Nature’s power.
I always go out on the covered porch and spend time watching and admiring the intensity and then breathe in the post-storm smells as the rain subsides and stops.
Our typical late afternoon storms are awesome. The overnight ones are even more so.
I usually don’t venture outside for those. I just pull my blanket over me a little bit tighter and listen for the approaching thunder.
I love the way that lightening comes peeking through the curtains and illuminates my room for a brief second or two.
As the storm fades off into the distance, I too slowly fade back to sleep.
I don’t necessarily look forward to summer heat and humidity as much as the cooler spring and autumn seasons, but I still appreciate what Mom bring us in July and August. I marvel at what it feels like when the temperature hits triple digits just as much as I do when it drops below zero.
Neither happens terribly often here in southeast Virginia, but that makes it even more special. I’ve been through the desert – without the nameless horse mentioned in an old song – and yes, it does feel good to be out in the rain when Mom creates one of her thunderstorms to relieve the heat index readings.
But Mom also multi-tasks for us.
In addition to her ability to create weather, she also brings us the flora and fauna, the plants and the animals.
Have you ever looked at a flower up close?
Have you ever intently watched a squirrel climb a tree?
Have you ever watched how hard ants work as they scurry back and forth from their ant hill?
This is all incredible stuff.
We have a large picture window near our kitchen table. Quite often, we gaze outside while we eat. We look for Mom’s presence. We call that picture window The Nature Channel, and it has become our favorite channel.
There is always something to watch and never a dull moment. We’ve seen quite the variety of birds in our trees and ducks in the pond adjacent to our yard. We have several small animals making a living under our deck and around our garden.
The rabbits occasionally eat some flowers, but that’s fine. We just grow more, with Mom’s help. Yes, the squirrels sometimes nibble on an outdoor chair cushion, but that’s OK. We have others.
I think Mom loves us as much as we love her.
She gives us the beauty of nature and life and all the great experiences that go along with it.
Many years ago, there was a series of television commercials for Chiffon Margarine starring “Mother Nature.”
She would taste what she believed was butter and then the off-screen announcer would let her know that it was margarine instead.
“Really?” she would exclaim. “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.”
She’d wave her arms and make lightening and animals would hide. Were I there, I might retreat — if only to my porch.
It’s not nice to fool Mom. She does way too much for us. We should appreciate and thank her, especially as spring nears.
Some of her very best work is right around the corner.
The author, a business coach and consultant, is active in community service and enjoys time with his wife, Kim, and daughter, Kara. Reach him via email at mckco85@aol.com.
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