My Own Relationship with the Environment

I began to think about the environment more frequently when I was about 10 years old. I had always played outdoors with my sister growing up: we would fish, make mud-pies, make "concoctions" (muddy water soup with picked flowers as ingredients), etc. We have this couple acre forest behind my house separated by a wood fence. Often when we were outside we would spot white-tailed deer grazing on the bushes just feet away from the fence! That was always a highlight of my childhood. It was only when I was about 10 that I first ventured into that woods one snowy Winter to follow some fox tracks. That became a past-time of mine over the years - going out into the woods to walk, explore, follow tracks and see where they lead, and sometimes, just laying on the forest floor and staring at the vast expanse of blue sky. 

Whenever I did go out into the woods, I felt like an explorer or a woodland creature. Someone who was a part of the environment. I didn't realize at the time that me as a human being in and of itself was enough to be a part of the environment. I think it was because the forest was separated by a highway that I did not realize this. If theres anything I learned from this its that we impact the environment and the environment impacts us. It reminds me of the concept of yin and yang in a way. 

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