A Necessary Passion 1st draft (I lost the final draft)

Ladybugs. There were so many ladybugs floating in the water that day at the beach. Everywhere I turned, these small, seemingly insignificant creatures were floating around me. I was in a Milky Way of ladybugs but they were drowning. I needed to save them for they had the right to live as did every living thing at the beach.

Scooping up as many as possible at a time, I would quickly and carefully bring them back to shore and then run back to rescue more. I needed to be as fast as possible for there were so many of these beautifully detailed creatures in need of my help. Why weren’t the other children saving these ladybugs? Did they not care about them? Did they not notice the vast landscape of ladybugs they were swimming in? I begged my mother to help me, but she only complained about how cold the water was. No. It wasn’t water. It was a pool of insects that needed my help.

I ran back and forth for at least an hour before I started to cry over the impossible task of saving all the stars in this Milky Way. Also, if I hadn’t given up, my legs would’ve detached themselves from my small, lanky, eight-year-old body.I felt it was necessary to preserve life of all kinds: not just humans but also snails, the worms caught floating in puddles in the spring time, and even the motionless plants stuck sunbathing in the cracks of my driveway on the hottest, driest days of the summer hoping for even the smallest drop of water to slip into their roots.

I have my father to thank for introducing me to this beautiful world. He planted a seed, an interest and a passion for nature in me at such a young age allowing my love for nature to grow so strong. Consequently, I have always instinctively wanted to interact with it, hold it in my hands, hear it, smell it, taste it and learn about it. These desires demanded that I learn how to be patient and respectful of every aspect of nature, big and small. Throughout my experiences in its classroom, nature has become my teacher–reminding me to watch diligently, to care tenderly and to love all things equally and preciously.

As a child, I was overwhelmed and excited by the great number of interesting and beautiful creatures. I often felt like running up and touching them. The temptation was like that of an impatient youth looking at a swirl of dominos perfectly lined up, ready to knock over. Soon I learned that if I wanted to be even remotely close to these creatures, I would have to be patient. I’ll never forget the time my father and I stood outside with bird seed in our hands in the frigid winter weather for at least 30 minutes waiting for the chickadees and juncos to eat out of our hands. My patience was rewarded with the soft touch of a perfectly designed bird in my hand. To be that close to a creature usually so frightened by humans was one of the most amazing experiences as a child.

Some snakes are like people. If you approach them kindly, treat them with care, and handle them gently, they will usually react in a positive way. Every fall, my family and I would look for snakes under the same thin sheets of rusty metal that lay in the deep, fairy-like region of the woods. Because I handled them with care, they let me pull them out from under their shelter. They allowed me to feel their scaly skin. They let me observe them; look at them. But as soon as
pinched their tails a little too hard, which was by accident of course, they curled their strong bodies up towards my hand to bite me.

I was so lucky to have interacted with nature at such a young age. The lessons have rewarded me with some of the most life changing experiences because I have treated it fairly and cared for it like I would any friend.

Just like snakes, nature will bite us back if we do not treat it kindly. There needs to be a mutual respect between the natural world and society today. I feel that the love for nature needs to be instilled in children at a very young age when they are most curious, ready to explore and learn about their surroundings. They will be more likely to grow up into responsible care-takers and lovers of nature just like myself. If every person learned the care, respect and patience in nature that I was taught at a young age, humans and the world they depend on would be so in tune with each other—so in love with each other.