Nature's Calling
The old man sighed. He reached down to pick up a crumbled wrapper that was pinned by the wind against an empty trash container.
Dropping it into the container, he watched it glide to the bottom.
He looked and noticed a small child watching him, with eyes that reflected curiosity, yet fear. The old man smiled, and leaning on his cane he turned, and hobbled toward his home.
The old man had a lot of time to contemplate now. Today, he wondered if his life had been a waste. At times he would think about the choices he had made with his life. Perhaps his youth was lost to idealistic philosophy.
A breeze pushed against him, reminding him to stop and look around. He noticed an old friend, chattering at him and hanging upside down on the bark of a tree. Reaching into his pocket he found a peanut, held it out to the squirrel who ran up his pant leg, took it from his hand, and darted back up the tree.
It seemed now, that there was little left for him to do. Yet, a simple walk always found so much wonder in the nature around him. Even a single leaf, hanging on to a limb provided wonder and inspiration. The wind seemed to have a voice now, and the ground beneath his feet felt alive.
He was alone, yet the life around him was his fellowship. He remembered Sharon, his mate since youth. He wondered if her spirit was in the wind, if perhaps she was the voice that spoke gently to him today.
Sitting on a bench, he rested his knees. They did not hold him as well as they used to. Again, he began to contemplate. Leaning his chin on the top of his cane, he sighed again.
"You damned tree huggers should be shot!" His eyes looked up. He sat back and looked at the sky. "What is more important, my kids food on the table, or your stupid trees!" He remembered the stalky man in heavy work boots, a large axe held tightly in his fists. His face was sweating, his heart pounding. He began to fear for his life.
The old man frowned, remembering this encounter from his youth. The scene played over and over in his head many times during his life. Today he wondered if his youthful idealism had stood in the way of accurate thinking.
Perhaps he was being selfish, denying this man a right to feed his family. Perhaps mans need to survive supersceded the rights of any tree or animals. It was an idea that created a life time struggle for him. He had been a small part of a big movement, that had even bigger opposition.
His goal to help preserve nature, raised tough questions. He remembered
standing in front of the logging trucks with his friends, believing they were doing a good thing. It did not matter that they might be hurt, or even killed. All that mattered was our home, our planet that we were destroying. But the tough question that lumber jack asked that day left an impression, a question the old man was never able to answer.
"What is more important, my kids food on the table, or your stupid trees!"
"What is more important, my kids food on the table, or your stupid trees!"
"What is more important, my kids food on the table, or your stupid trees!"
Over, and over the question played.
Certainly, he did not want to hurt anyone. Especially those who he was trying to help preserve the planet for , the children. Yet the irony was, that in order to preserve, the lumberjack would lose his job, and his child would be hungry.
It seemed that perhaps there could be a compromise. Could not the lumber company harvest in a less destructive way? Could not they leave pristine forest untouched, and work with areas that are replanted for the harvesting of trees?
The old man pulled out the daily newspaper from his pocket, and looked at the story again on page 4. Plastic lumber. Made from garbage. He wondered if this wouldnt help to cut the demand for wood.
It seemed sometimes the only answer to stop killing so many trees, was to stop needing so many trees. Alternative methods would help this. But only if people would start using them.
But this left the question of the child who goes hungry because the father cannot cut trees anymore.
It is a tough question. The old man stood to continue his walk home. The wind whispered to him, the leaves rustled and calmed him. Nature thanked him.
You can read all the chapters of "Tims Green Stories" by going to http://timshometownstories.com. Other stories written by Tim are at http://salessuccessmagazine.com These stories are copyrighted by Timothy L. Drobnick Sr. 1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000. Any person using this article must publish it without modification and include authors bio and links.
About the Author
Timothy L Drobnick Sr has helped many people make money on the internet. Websites to visit for income opportunity are yobisc.com, http://virusfreespamfree.com, and http://myshoppingplace.net.
Written by: Timothy L Drobnick Sr.
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