Nature and Personal Space

By

Muhammad Hozien

Note:

Sometimes I just read stuff that I can not stand. Maybe I am not in the mood for mushy stuff or its full moon out, or maybe the planets are just not in a straight line alignment. Well it happened when I wrote this essay. The teacher hated it and made me re-write it. I thought it was very funny. So you can be the judge.

It is not that I hate nature on the contrary I love it, when it is in nice pictures far from me. I just had one to many bad run ins with nature. One winter up in the mountains in Pennsylvania I almost froze to death. At another occasion I got clobbered by mosquitoes and itched like mad. I have been bitten once too many be insects from honey bees to Ants. I gotten chased by dogs and bitten by cats. Dogs constantly howl as I pass by... (when I am trying to get home in 20 below snowstorm.) I try to like nature but it does not like me.


Both Writers seem to be the back to the Garden of Eden variety. Quammen’s story seems to be a sort of quasi confession. It seems as if he is Apologizing for his behavior, but he is fully guilty of his folly. Had he Gotten rid of the spider in the beginning, he would never have had to Slaughter the whole family. He fooled the spider in making her feel At home and when her egg hatches out, comes the raid. He tries To hide his hypocrisy behind a sort tries of personal philosophy of Some kind. Look it in the eyes... What kind of crap is that! ever try to Look at a fly zooming at 30 mph in the eye.....How a bout a cockroach. My personal feeling on the matter is nature or not. You invade my Space your dead....Raid, The Orkin man, a rolled up Sunday paper, one flexible Slipper, whatever it takes to get the job done....

National Geographic Specials and the magazine, the Discovery Channel’s programs and Nova -on PBS are nature enough for me. I do not care much for fur, wool and pure cotton suits me fine. I buy tuna that from companies that use Dolphin safe nets and do my part to support the environment locally -Recycle and the sort of thing, but invading my home that is not loving nature. This is nature versus women Scenario - wild Nature invading my turf, like the grass overgrowing and hedges needing to be trimmed. It is the same scenario as the wolves attacking the sheep, Squirrels in the kitchen, Rapid Raccoon’s in the backyard.

Generally my reaction to nature comes from two main experiences of my life. One is very positive and that is of the bird incident. When I was very young a bird visited us for the summer, actually fell from the sky maybe he was too young to fly and might have hit something or might have been the victim’s of some kid’s BB gun. At any rate one morning she was in our yard. I found the little critter and normally if I am within eyesight range of any bird he would fly very far away and all I would have for my chase is feathers that fell off the poor bird as he was hurrying to get away from me. At any rate this one didn’t fly away, and naturally curious I only got closer and closer till I caught her. It turns out that the poor thing was bleeding in one wing. No wonder it didn’t run like wildfire. That whole summer we nursed this bird, we, yes it is a family affair. Somehow the bird survived the whole summer with us. We feed it all kind of things nothing by force and it pecked at everything we provided it. We didn’t even need a cage. She became a member of our family. I don’t think the bird went hungry or thirsty. We gave it the best food that we had, everything from imported biscuits to Pepsi, you name it she had it. Than like the day it appeared it disappeared one morning. Next year we were paid a visit by a larger bird who only stayed for day or two, but everyone swears it was the same bird. You bet it was.

The next incident was not so pretty. One hot summer day coming out of bloomingdale’s with a handful of essentials, well fashion accessories - necessaries for any teenager. A bee coming out nowhere, hyperspace I guess, found my ear I waved my hand to get rid it, but boom it stung me behind the ear lobe and fell to the floor. I saw that bee and was so raving mad with pain I squashed so many times I don’t remember how many. For the life of me I can’t remember what I bought or what I was doing. All I remember is for three days I was in pain from that bee. Till this day I am allergic to honey. I eat a little bit of honey, even honey nut cherrios’s and for weeks I am in itch hell. That bee did it and there is no question about it. There was no reason for this bee to be outside of Bloomingdale. It was invading our space, I would be more understanding had the I been trying to get it’s hard earned honey, but I was only shopping in a department store. That bee should have been in some hive or looking for nectar in some flower bed. When we invade each other’s space we have to pay for the consequences. I just hope that humanity would act with some care in dealing with nature. We have the capability of destroying all the bees in the world, but do we fully understand the effects of that on the delicate balance of nature. Bloomingdale’s is not the nectar capital of New York. They don’t even flowers or anything living outside that store.

On the other hand Perrin’s essay seems to be calling on the weekend gardener type. I can understand that. The supermarket’s are full of vegetables and fruits that have been sprayed by a thousand insecticides. You bring the vegetables home and they never go bad. The Fruits look wonderful, big as a matter of fact too big, the color is just right too. But wait till you take the first bite! what am I eating an apple or potato, it really makes no difference. When I go to the apple farms, the apples don’t look so good but taste excellent. I have a small garden of my own and I plant tomatoes, mint, squash, cucumbers, they never get to the same size as the supermarket, but do I have taste. A tomato really tastes like tomatoes and not 1/2 of hard skin! If I don’t take good care of my crops and don’t eat them in time I am really asking for trouble. Two days and boom! they go bad. So When I have a lot of Tomatoes it is either give some to the neighbors or it’s sauce making time. It is an eat it or lose it deal.

My sister in law who just arrived from Jordan, she tells me of how the poor economy of the country have turned people’s back yard or any piece of land that they own have into vegetable and fruit garden. So much so that the in season fruits and vegetables are no longer found in the market place. That is proof of garden power over market forces, or just the reality of the bad economy of Jordan.


Rewrite Number 2…

 

Both Writers seem to be the back to the Garden of Eden variety. Quammen’s story seems to be a sort of quasi confession. It seems as if he is Apologizing for his behavior, but he is fully guilty of his folly. Had he Gotten rid of the spider in the beginning, he would never have had to Slaughter the whole family. He fooled the spider in making her feel At home and when her egg hatches out, comes the raid. He tries to hide his hypocrisy behind a sort of a personal philosophy of Some kind. Look it in the eyes, he says, what kind of crap is that! ever try looking a fly in the eye that is zooming at 30 mph or a fleeing cockroach at 3:00 a.m. My personal feelings on the matter is nature or not, if you invade my Space you’re dead. Raid, The Orkin man, a rolled up Sunday paper, one flexible Slipper, I’ll use whatever it takes to get the job done.

National Geographic, the Discovery Channel and Nova -on PBS are nature enough for me. I do not care much for wearing fur coats and minks, wool and pure cotton suits me fine. I only buy tuna that from companies that use Dolphin safe nets. I do my part to support the environment locally -by Recycling and that sort of thing. A bunch of bees or critters invading my home you will not be getting on my good -nature loving- side. This is nature versus women Scenario - wild Nature invading my personal space, like the grass that is overgrowing or the hedges that need to be trimmed. It is the same scenario as the hungry Wolves attacking the sheep farm, Squirrels in the kitchen, or the rapid Raccoon’s in the backyard.

Generally my reaction to nature comes from two main experiences in my life. One is very positive, that of a particular summer bird. When I was very young a little bird visited us for the summer, she actually fell from the sky. Maybe she was too young to fly and might have hit something or she might have been the victim of some kid’s BB gun. At any rate one morning she was in our yard. I found the little critter in a shaded corner. Normally if I am within eyesight or sensing range of any bird she would bolt away as fast as she could, and all I would have for my chase is feathers that fell off the poor bird as she was trying to escape my clutches. At any rate this one didn’t make a run for it, and naturally, as curious as I was at that age, I only got closer and closer till I caught her. As it turns out the poor thing was bleeding from a wound in one of its wings. No wonder it didn’t run like wildfire. That whole summer we nursed this bird, we, yes it is a family affair. Somehow the bird survived the whole summer with us. We feed her all kind of things, nothing by force mind you and she pecked at everything we placed in front of her. We didn’t even need a cage. She became a member of our family. I don’t think the bird ever went hungry or thirsty that whole summer. We gave it only the best food that we could get our hands on, everything from imported biscuits to Pepsi, you name it she had it. Than like the day she appeared she was gone. Next year we were paid a visit by a larger bird who only stayed for day or two, but everyone swears it was the same bird. You bet it was. I guess it was the biscuits...

The next incident was not so pretty. On a hot summer day as I was coming out of Bloomingdale’s a bee coming out nowhere, hyperspace I would only venture to guess, found my ear. I waved my hand to get rid it, but boom it stung me behind the ear lobe. The bee fell to the floor and an uncertain future. I saw it there on the floor squirming and I was in such a rage- from pain- that I squashed that poor bee so many times I don’t remember how many. For the life of me I can’t remember what I bought that summer from Bloomingdales. All I remember is for the next three days I was in pain from that bee. Till this day I am still allergic to honey. I eat a little bit of honey, even a bowl of honey nut cherrios’s and for weeks I am in itch hell. That bee did it and there is no question about it. There was no reason for this bee to be outside of Bloomingdale. It was invading our space, I would have been more understanding had the I been trying to get its hard earned honey, but I was shopping in a department store. That bee should have been in some hive or looking for nectar in some flower bed. When we invade each other’s space we both have to pay for the consequences of our ugly meeting. Bloomingdale’s is not the nectar capital of New York, it still isn’t. They didn’t have flowers or anything living outside the store.

 

On the other hand Perrin’s essay seems to be calling on the weekend gardener type. I can understand that. The supermarket’s are full of vegetables and fruits that have been sprayed by a thousand insecticides. You bring the vegetables home and they never go bad. The Fruits look wonderful, big as a matter of fact too big, the color is just right too. But wait till you take the first bite! what am I eating an apple or potato, it really makes no difference. When I go to the apple farms, the apples don’t look so good but taste excellent. I have a small garden of my own and I plant tomatoes, mint, squash, cucumbers, they never get to the same size as the supermarket, but do I have taste. A tomato really tastes like tomatoes and not 1/2 inch of hard skin! If I don’t take good care of my crops and don’t eat them in time I am really asking for trouble. So When I have a lot of Tomatoes it is either give some to the neighbors or it’s sauce making time.

My sister in law, who just arrived from Jordan, tells me of how the poor economy of Jordan have turned people’s back yard -or any piece of land that they own- into a vegetable or a fruit garden. So much so that the in season fruits and vegetables are no longer found on sale in the market place.


Rewrite Number 3…

David Quammen’s essay titled "The Face of a Spider" seems to be a sort of quasi confession. It seems as if he is apologizing for his behavior, but he is fully guilty of his folly. Had he gotten rid of the spider in the beginning, he would never have had to Slaughter the whole family. He fooled the spider in making her feel at home and when her egg hatches out, comes the raid. He tries to hide his hypocrisy behind a sort of a personal philosophy of Some kind. "Make eye Contact with the beast", he says, what kind of stupidity is that! ever try looking a fly in the eye that is zooming at 30 mph or a fleeing cockroach at 3:00 a.m. My personal feelings on the matter is nature or not, if you invade my Space you’re dead. A can of "Raid", The "Orkin man", a rolled up Sunday paper, or one flexible slipper, I’ll use whatever it takes to get the job done.

Quammen’s essay is about a spider, who has eight eyes. Which eye should I be looking into? I do not think he makes a good argument for looking into the eyes of insects. Maybe this would be good advice to give to hunters of extinction list animals. Quammen can tell them look into the eyes of a Doe or Deer and recite "... like a mantra "This is some mother’s darling, this is some mother’s child." Maybe than the hunters will be kinder to members of the animal kingdom that do not carry 8mm Semi-automatic rifles. But the case for insects is a weak one.

 

On the other hand Noel Perrin’s essay, "Falling for Apples" seems to be calling on the weekend gardener type. His opening paragraph is very interesting. Teenagers of today will only help if the rewards are quick. What can be quicker than Cidering. The gratification is instantaneous. He sates:

"The pressing is where all the thrills come. As the plate begins to move down and compact the ground apples, you hear a kind of sighing, bubbling noise. Then a trickle turns into a stream, and the stream into a ciderfall. Even kids who’ve done it a dozen times look down in awe at what their labor has wrought."

He makes a very good argument for Cidering. It almost makes feel like going out and getting your self a press and start Cidering. It is a family exercise that brings the family together like playing monopoly or a barbecue. Teenagers of today are more interested in exploring the limits of new experiences than helping on a farm. His rule is a good one and had me laughing out loud: "...as long as a kid is too little to help effectively, he or she is dying to. Then, just as they reach the age ... they lose interest."

I can understand that and I have seen it too many times. Little kids that can only get in the way they want to help in everything. Just when you have them trained and are old enough, they found something else they are interested in, like a friend of the opposite sex.

 

One very positive experience with nature in my life is that of a particular summer bird. When I was very young a little bird visited us for the summer, she actually fell from the sky. Maybe she was too young to fly and might have hit something or she might have been the victim of some kid’s BB gun. At any rate one morning she was in our yard. I found the little critter in a shaded corner. Normally if I am within eyesight or sensing range of any bird she would bolt away as fast as she could, and all I would have for my chase is feathers that fell off the poor bird as she was trying to escape my clutches. At any rate this one didn’t make a run for it, and naturally, as curious as I was at that age, I only got closer and closer till I caught her. As it turns out the poor thing was bleeding from a wound in one of its wings. No wonder it didn’t run like wildfire.

That whole summer we nursed this bird, we, yes it is a family affair. Somehow the bird survived the whole summer with us. We feed her all kind of things, nothing by force mind you and she pecked at everything we placed in front of her. We didn’t even need a cage. She became a member of our family. I don’t think the bird ever went hungry or thirsty that whole summer. We gave it only the best food that we could get our hands on, everything from imported biscuits to Pepsi, you name it she had it. Than like the day she appeared she was gone. Next year we were paid a visit by a larger bird who only stayed for day or two, but everyone swears it was the same bird. You bet it was. I guess it was the biscuits that brought him back...

 

This experience had taught me such important lessons as responsibility for living creatures, humans too. Here is a little animal and I have a choice, I can either nurse it or kill it. The next lesson was caring for it. Of course everyone wanted to help. A lot of elders offered advice on how to take care of a bird. The last thing is the experience that you carry with you. I have made a difference in that birds life and the bird remembered the kindness that was given to it. To me that is was more than the reward of having the bird survive the whole summer.

Essay by: Muhammad Hozien

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