More than Meets the Eye

I cannot capture the depth of nature with a single snapshot. The complexity of it all extends beyond what we can see in a glance, there’s always more than meets the eye.

I went to the ravine to gather images and thoughts for this blog post. I was specifically looking for the discrete flower of the wild ginger plant; it hides near the soil, well below the heart-shaped leaves. But the flowers were all gone. They bloomed a month ago, and all I could find were little pegs of what were once flower stems. Sometimes we can’t see things because of timing… nature moves through its stages quickly, and things don’t stay the same.

I looked broadly up the deep ravine, and I could see the arching of green foliage and flowers over the rocky dry streambed. But a closer look revealed different beauty and information. The scramble of rocks represents layers built up over ages and epochs, followed by more ages to be worn down and eroded. If I look closely, I can see fossils and imprints of things that were once present on the floor of an inland sea; or imprints of deer hooves that passed through recently. What meets our eyes depends on scale and perspective, and what we are looking for. 

I wandered back to the house on the wooded path. I stopped to consider what else I could see, but my other senses took over. My wrists were tingling from the sting of wood nettles that I touched. I could hear the melodic chortle of wood thrush and the nervous chatter of the house wren. The sweet aroma of the last of the black locust blossoms wafted down. There is always more to discern than just what our eyes can see.

Nature holds much more than meets the eye, as does life itself. Things are often more complicated and deeper than they initially seem. It requires the use of all our senses and an awareness of history/timing (what has gone before) and perspective/scale to figure it out. That’s as philosophical as I’ll get today, but I wish discernment and sensitivity for us all as we navigate life.

And sometimes it is so overwhelming we just need to decompress in nature! So get out there and enjoy this season. It is lovely in the woods, no matter where you are located. Take a closer look. There is always more than meets the eye.