Wild in the City
June 2008
Viki Mather
By Viki Mather
I don’t often stay overnight in the city, but when I do, I make an effort to get out for a walk in the cool of the morning, or for a break in the warmth of the afternoon – just to keep my sense of sanity.
I woke early one spring morning, and went out for a walk down the street, toward the lake. As I walked along, peeking between the houses to catch a glimpse of the water, I heard geese cranking up for their morning flight. I love the sound of geese! Then I remembered, this is the city. City folks don’t like geese. How sad.
Geese flying overhead in the wilds where I live are a welcome sound. We watch their long Vs waving through the sky as they feel the call to go north. Of course, they don’t land in our yard. They don’t clip our grass and leave their fertilizing droppings.
The geese we see at home are wild geese, not city geese. The wild geese are shy of people. They would not be comfortable in the city.
As I walked along, I admired the lawns and landscaping of the houses along the road. The ones I liked best had a sprinkling of yellow; dandelions were in bloom! The diversity of plants living in a lawn indicates a healthy ecosystem. The best lawns also have a smattering of clover and creeping charley. Lawns that have a mixture of plants are most inviting. The manicured monoculture lawns make me nervous. Like the geese of the wild, I would not be comfortable there.
A few lawns had pretty blue forget-me-nots in with the grass, and the deep purple and yellow pansy known as Johnny jump-ups. Mix these in with the white clover flowers, the yellow dandelions, and the tiny pale purple flowers of the creeping charley, and these lawns bring on the beauty of perennial flower gardens.
The best part of my walk that morning came when I got to the end of the street. A narrow path led into a few hectares of undeveloped land, lightly forested with young white birches and a few red pines. I walked along as the sun began to warm the air, and was greeted with an abundance of blueberry flowers. This would be a place to remember for my visits to the city in the summer!
The path led to a beautiful high spot overlooking the lake and the city. Here lay a huge erratic, a boulder left behind from the glaciers 10,000 years ago. Rock and trees, lake and flowers all around, a little bit of wild in the heart of the city. Just wild enough to sustain me until I can get back to my forest home by the lake.
Viki Mather is owner of Kukagami Lodge, a northern Ontario wilderness resort at the southern boundary of the Temagami forest. Web: www.kukagamilodge.com, email: lodge@kukagami.infosathse.com. Viki has lived in the wilderness for 26 years, without electricity or running water. Read these columns monthly to discover wonderful ways to live in harmony with nature, bring edible wilds into your kitchen, thrive without plugging into the grid, and enjoy a healthier life.
By Viki MatherI don’t often stay overnight in the city, but when I do, I make an effort to get out for a walk in the cool of the morning, or for a break in the warmth of the afternoon – just to keep my sense of sanity.
I woke early one spring morning, and went out for a walk down the street, toward the lake. As I walked along, peeking between the houses to catch a glimpse of the water, I heard geese cranking up for their morning flight. I love the sound of geese! Then I remembered, this is the city. City folks don’t like geese. How sad.
Geese flying overhead in the wilds where I live are a welcome sound. We watch their long Vs waving through the sky as they feel the call to go north. Of course, they don’t land in our yard. They don’t clip our grass and leave their fertilizing droppings.
The geese we see at home are wild geese, not city geese. The wild geese are shy of people. They would not be comfortable in the city.
As I walked along, I admired the lawns and landscaping of the houses along the road. The ones I liked best had a sprinkling of yellow; dandelions were in bloom! The diversity of plants living in a lawn indicates a healthy ecosystem. The best lawns also have a smattering of clover and creeping charley. Lawns that have a mixture of plants are most inviting. The manicured monoculture lawns make me nervous. Like the geese of the wild, I would not be comfortable there.
A few lawns had pretty blue forget-me-nots in with the grass, and the deep purple and yellow pansy known as Johnny jump-ups. Mix these in with the white clover flowers, the yellow dandelions, and the tiny pale purple flowers of the creeping charley, and these lawns bring on the beauty of perennial flower gardens.
The best part of my walk that morning came when I got to the end of the street. A narrow path led into a few hectares of undeveloped land, lightly forested with young white birches and a few red pines. I walked along as the sun began to warm the air, and was greeted with an abundance of blueberry flowers. This would be a place to remember for my visits to the city in the summer!
The path led to a beautiful high spot overlooking the lake and the city. Here lay a huge erratic, a boulder left behind from the glaciers 10,000 years ago. Rock and trees, lake and flowers all around, a little bit of wild in the heart of the city. Just wild enough to sustain me until I can get back to my forest home by the lake.
Viki Mather is owner of Kukagami Lodge, a northern Ontario wilderness resort at the southern boundary of the Temagami forest. Web: www.kukagamilodge.com, email: lodge@kukagami.infosathse.com. Viki has lived in the wilderness for 26 years, without electricity or running water. Read these columns monthly to discover wonderful ways to live in harmony with nature, bring edible wilds into your kitchen, thrive without plugging into the grid, and enjoy a healthier life.