A true love of nature stays local as much as possible and avoids using deadly fossil-fuel jet planes and fossil-fuel road vehicles to travel world-wide to go to “exotic” nature places; such worldwide-sight-seeing (and picture-taking) is not loving nature; nature is not a Disney Amusement Park. Our globe is very delicate, fragile, and we have been brainwashed and conditioned to think nothing of traveling long distances for mere amusement purposes. Aircraft emit staggering amounts of CO2, the most prevalent manmade greenhouse gas. If you love nature, stay local.
Perfect symbiosis … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2019
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 
A beautiful picture Tom, and a truism that must become the norm in the not too distant future. I have not left the country since I left the army 27 years ago and spend lovely holidays not far from home. There is so much to see and do that is within walking distance.
So wonderful and prudent of you have the compassion for the planet like this now, Peter! Yes, there are wonderful things to learn from and discover (in fascination) within walking distance. We all need to be stewards of the earth and do our fair share. 🙂
I think there are pros and cons to travel. It does help a person become more aware of other cultures and ways of life. Yet, it does pose a huge problem as far as climate change. I have not traveled much. I live in Canada. And every location has so much to offer I have often wondered why anyone would want to leave it. and with the internet it is so incredibly easy to “visit” far off places without ever leaving the comforts of home. Love your photo and your down to earth philosophies.
Thank you much, Carol! 🙂
People can have the significant (compassionate) awareness that they need right where they are; they don’t have to travel to get it. We can all travel more when they develop planes that don’t spew crappy pollution all over the place; until then, we would be far kinder to the planet if we would stay more local. It’s great that you mostly stay local! 🙂
You’re welcome, Tom.
Something we often do not consider. Thank you.
Yes, CC, yet it (for the benefit of all life) may be one of the most important things to consider. 🙂
Sounds like a very narrow view of our universe. There is much to be learned beyond one’s backyard. I try not to put limits on “becoming.”
Keeping the earth clean and unpolluted is our responsibility, Ken. If you want to do that so-called kind of learning at the expense of the planet, you (like so many others) will continue to do so (with your “becoming”). I unfollowed you for good reason.
Amen
Thank you much, Michael! 🙂
I try to focus on the local in my blog but wander to other nearby locations. I like opening people’s eyes to what is right in their backyard. 🙂
Keep doing what you are doing, SB; you have a wonderful blog that i enjoy! Keep opening those eyes like you do! 🙂
Thanks Tom!
I spend most of my time local and find it very satisfying. The problem is that even “local” means jumping into my truck to get there.
Texas is a little more spread out, so that is understandable. I was referring to world-wide travel, which too many do for mere entertainment. You do so much walking, Francis, that you are a wonderful example for all of us! Keep those (local) fish and dogs happy! 🙂 We were at the vets today with Lola; one guy had a miniature dog that weighed a full 2 pounds!
There is enough to do in my back yard and it would be good to grow my own food. I still have images of all that plastic in the water from a couple of days ago. The photo reminds me to take care of the environment or these species won’t be here to enjoy.
Yes, we all could do more to help the planet, Jane. Yes, the images of all of that plastic haunt me too. Unreal, the accumulative damage that is done just by plastic alone. We recycle; every little bit helps. Thanks for your concern! 🙂
I attended a meeting at a church the other day and they asked us to not bring in any styrofoam or plastic-they are going green! I am so impressed and will find out what they replaced it with. And if one church or organization does it, more will follow, so I see some hope in that.
That is great, Jane! Every little bit helps. 🙂
we always think the grass is greener someplace else when we have a rainbow in our own backyards. i see the destruction of climate change every day even in our backyard. no more grasshoppers, less butterflies, etc. we have to think of everything we do to protect this fragile earth. also we must get away from plastic. beautiful picture, as always, tom.
Yes, the negative effects of man are affecting life even locally, if one is at all aware. Yes, we need to get away from plastic. They need to develop a biodegradable kind. I’m so glad that we recycle. 🙂
Absolutely true and absolutely gorgeous … that Cabbage White (?) shows up wonderfully next to the purple flower.
Thank you much, Linda! 🙂 It’s not a Cabbage White; it is a Common Blue, that are not as common these days.
I just went onto your site and took a look Tom – I really notice the pale blue wings there. I wish the Reader photos allowed the original photo(s) to be showcased like on the actual site. Unfortunately even our Cabbage Whites and Common Blues will one day be as coveted as the beautiful Monarchs or Swallowtails that we tend to go gaga over. We won’t be seeing Cabbage Whites hovering everywhere like we do now.
The Reader photos generally stink.
There are not even the amount of Cabbage Whites around these days like there were some years back. I notice a significant difference.
I’ve travelled to many places, near and far, over my lifetime and have come to the conclusion that far isn’t always better. The last few international trips we took made me aware of how overrun many places have become. It not only creates an environmental problem, but also greatly reduces the quality of life for those who live and work in these instagramable locations. We’ve been staying closer to home and taking advantage of all the beauty close to home! I do however believe that exploring other cultures helps expand the mind and hopefully make us more tolerant of those who are “different”.
So good that you have been staying closer to home lately! 🙂
I think that staying local supersedes any awareness that one may attain at a distance; the environment should always come first, but too many make a habit of frequent distant travels. We stay local, Sabine, and are as “tolerant” as they come. There are even plenty of cultures at the local Walmart. The current so-called president of the U.S. travels worldwide, yet he is a sad joke when it comes to compassion, awareness, and tolerance.
You’re right, Tom! I didn’t intend to imply that “local” equals intolerance. Not at all! We all are different, from the way we look, eat, treat each other. What’s in the heart can’t be bought with money and yes, the current president does lack humanity!
I’ve never been a Walmart fan because it bothers me that many of the people who work there don’t make a living wage. But I also am aware that in a lot of areas people don’t have much choice when it comes to shopping and they do have low prices. I try to buy locally grown and produced as much as possible, really have all my life, to help our economy thrive. It’s always good to come across posts like this one because it (hopefully) helps bring awareness to these issues. I don’t regret traveling. The lessons I learned and the people I met help me be a better person and bring that home and apply those lessons to my life. That’s really the only thing that I can control. 🙂
One didn’t think that you meant that staying “local” could equal intolerance.
Walmart is pretty much the only grocery place near us; otherwise a lot more driving is involved. I’ve protested, online, about Walmart’s unfair wage payments to its employees. Such protesting did help with changing Amazon… yeah! 🙂 And i’ve told Walmart employees what i have been doing.
I’m elderly, and we decided not to have kids, but i still am very concerned about the health of the earth, for human’s sake for for the sake of nature. The fossil-fuel industry sure seems to have the current U.S. government dangling from puppet strings, which is insane.
Oh, wow! Beautiful, Tom!
I hope that you mean what was written too! 🙂
Absolutely, and that image took my breath away!
🙂
Wonderful photo and post and I love enjoying the local scene!🙂
Yes, “local scene”! 🙂 Thank you, CI, and hugs to the fuzzy (clipped) one! 🙂
🙂
Unfortunately modern society, largely influenced by social media, has presented the image that nature is a Disney Park, and we all must take the rides (including the waiting in line). I used to drive a lot for my photos using a pickup truck necessary to handle the backroads of the desert. It occurred to me a couple decades ago that I was not helping the planet, so I purchased a very fuel-efficient car. I wanted to keep the truck for those occasions when it was truly needed, and so I still own both vehicles. Neither vehicle gets a lot of miles anymore (my bicycle does), and recently Discount Tire told me they don’t service 11 1/2 year old tires even if there is sufficient tread left.
I feel as you do that there is plenty to see (and photograph) in nature without going great distances. Unfortunately, tourism is the number 1 segment of many economies, and forces are at work trying to push people to those destinations. It will probably take a crisis to put an end to the status quo.
Ah, yes, a crisis will be needed to put an end to the status quo. And the crisis is now! But, of course, not enough people see it. The crisis will only get exponentially worse during future years and, unfortunately, by the time that most people wake up and change, it will be too late. You are so right, tourism is a big segment in many economies, and $ oriented forces are pushing people to those “entertaining destinations.” Amusement trumps a true love for nature. Perhaps things will change and the political forces at work now, in the U.S., will change from the insanity to the better. But i am not holding my breath. A lot of people would be resistant to such change, should it happen. I saw a lot of decay and environmental destruction in my premonition (while very young) many decades ago; i still write and fight to make that premonition limited.
You certainly care, gtmp, and are doing what you can; that is all one can do. We were all set to buy a new hybrid car this year, talking to the local dealer and such. But we changed our minds, for now, not wanting to contribute to the current administration’s economic growth picture; they are such enemies of the environment. Imagine, even trying to supersede California’s environmental laws and regulations (negatively)! We live in a very sick, fragmented, broken society.
I know too many people of our generation who don’t believe the climate crisis, or simply just don’t care. I feel change can only happen with the movement our youth are trying to create. The Strike For Climate Change will get some press coverage, but we need to make sure events like this don’t fade away, and the importance of this message doesn’t get buried, especially by the current administration. When it comes to Trump, I’m certain no individual has tried harder to turn the environment to garbage (in the spiritual and literal sense). I’d really like to believe that America will send a message at the polls next year, but then I still can’t believe were with the leadership we have now.
As far as vehicles, I have also considered a change to a hybrid, but will wait until it is 100% necessary, or the trade war is over. Just one more facet of the insanity I look forward to not hearing about.
Beautiful nature.
Yes, beautiful nature, and we need to respect her much, much more (by our actions). 🙂
Yes absolutly!
Taking it “back to the cave”, there is a normal, natural healthy and useful instinct for exploration, and pack animals (such as homo habilis) routinely patrol their territory. In modern times, the monetary society added a further motivation for exploration and conquest, for wealth and natural resources.
So, it’s a natural instinct for us to want to see beyond the next bend in the trail, over the next ridge line. Since the advent of powered mass transportation (just after wind-powered-only ships) we have elevated our penchant for travel and taken advantage of its accessibility. Destruction of our Eden began before that, actually, as even the wind-powered travel of trade brought invasive life forms everywhere. Rats and yellow fever and Spanish influenza, kudzu vines and Emerald Ash-borers.
Driven by the American entrepreneurial spirit, we not only flew the first powered aircraft, but developed an entire industry around them, and folded them into the pre-existing travel industry, adding airplane fuel to the mix of coal-burning steam locomotives and luxury liners.
The last part of my rant: Nature Cruises, Eco-tourism. To see a 70-foot diesel boat dumping all that into the air and water as folks gawk at polar bears begging to be left alone to live. To see tours to the Galapagos. Such irony. Now we seek trade-offs bordering on extortion. “If you stop clear-cutting your rain forests, we’ll help you build a tourism industry.”
My heart aches sometimes for the Big Blue Ball, our Islands of Green and all its living things. But I must remember the Cosmos has a long, long time line. She’ll be better off after we’re gone. She’ll clean up our mess and recover, and perhaps have a chance to be Eden again, however briefly, before she is consumed by our own sun.
Paz
Thank you for the perceptive views that you have on this.
They reflect many of my own thoughts on this too. I’ve been writing about it, doing what i can, but realize that (after it is all said and done) people will continue to pollute, over-populate, and mindlessly destroy the planet.
Eden will come again and there are trillions of other planets out there… many with wiser and more environmentally compassionate, intelligent beings.
I’ve unfollowed some of these far-traveling-sight-seeing supposed lovers of nature recently. None of us are perfect, but some of us are conveniently, indifferently, and intentionally blind.
Accurate premonitions run in our family. When i was very young, decades ago, i had a premonition that humans would ruin our planet. But like you suggest, it will only be rather temporary. She’ll clean up our mess and recover.
What a pretty photo! It was really outstanding. Thanks a lot for providing this lovely view with us