Bluegills and the way of nature

 I hope everybody has “that moment” in nature that sparks a passion for connection to natural spaces. Maybe you find a piece of quartz in a small pencil line of a brook buried in a forest. Perhaps you’ve had your breath stolen by the majesty and aroma of stand of tall pines. I remember laying on my belly, nose touching the water of a pond in my backyard;  breathing in that sweet mixture of fresh water, algae, and rotting leaves that carpet the bottom. A water strider, inches away, skating on the surface as small rivulets encircling each leg. I watched it dance back and forth on the water, when a bluegill appeared underneath and effortlessly drew it into its open mouth. I was a nature kid, most of us were in that era, not born of passion but of necessity. My parents were of the Hippy generation and the circle of life would come up during every nature hike or picnic at a lake. The story of how life gives back to the Earth would diminish the pain of seeing a dead squirrel or bird to my little empathic heart.  Seeing this teaching in action was the event that would put all of life into perspective for me. It transformed from "we become dirt" to "death enables life." It was a more direct line to the beautiful eventuality that trees will grow from us. Balance. I would look at the natural world through new eyes that would make connections with every living thing. Instead of solely looking at a blue jay for their beauty, I discovered that their way of life is just as important. A mosquito became more than a nuisance as I saw the shadows of bats feasting for hours. Fishing also became a whole different experience; no longer just throwing a worm into the water, I was spellbound by the web of life spun before me. The feeding behavior of the bluegill and the evasive maneuvers of the minnows, and of the insects is what invited me to watch my father fly fishing from a different perspective. As he stood in the water gazing at the surface, and then at his little metal fly box, and then back into the stream, I realized he was also laying on his belly, nose in the water, watching the synchronicity of nature.