Nature Portfolio

The Good & Bad

It has taken every blow from an axe handler foolish enough to try

It can swallow the bumps and bruises and not utter a cry

All of these things are true and do you want to know why

Because nature has seen it all before and will see it once again

Seasons change but actions do not

Nature is something man can't stop

All and all day by day

Nature affects us in every way.

It decides our future to which we reside

It nurtures us gives us food from which we coincide.

Turbulent winds can destroy homes 

Relocate people and place them into super domes

Immense waves can cause destruction

Cause a the total population to have a mass reduction

But don't allow these mere facts to conclude a deduction

Not all of natures mysteries end in destruction

Nature has the ability to end all of life's woes

The ability to defeat all of one's foes 

These are the secrets if nature that no one knows

Nature o Nature your beauty is ever so prevalent 

Your leaves during Fall look so excellent

The dew on the grass is so benevolent

Toward nature I wish there will be no detriment

There is no comparison when it comes to consistency 

Nature with its beauty is always good to me

It shows such pace without a rush

Allowing for roses to grow the most plush 

In the end it all remains the same

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

From which we came all must return

Hercules

I remember the first time when I saw it. It was almost as if I were dreaming, the sky was pitch black and the water was too. The only thing that the sky were the stars. I was on a cruise ship and it was close to midnight when my younger brother and I stepped out onto the balcony of our room. The wind was violent and it almost discouraged us from coming onto the deck, but with the persistence of my younger brother we fought our way out the door. Once there, we realized just what a sight we were in for. The deck floor was cold from the waves crashing against it. The sky was dark as the ship had taken us far away from any urban areas. The only source of light that could be distinguished in the sky was that of the stars the shown so bright in the sky. Constellations of all arrangements lit up the sky. My mother brought out a book which she said she dug out an old trunk for just this occasion. She began to name all the constellations that were in the sky and giving them the names asserted based upon the books descriptive captions. She named Aries and Pegasus and even that of Sphinx. Then my mother told me of the most complex configuration of star constellations in the sky. She explained to me the story of Hercules and the Hydra. My mother then told me how Hercules was born to the most powerful of all the Greek gods. Zeus who had the an electrifying thunderbolt at his side at all times had had a son  with a human woman and she had named him Hercules. Hercules was born with monstrous strength which was immediately observed when he was a child. As Hercules grew into adulthood he was faced with many trivial adventures. Hercules was given 12 trials by the god Apollo when he asked for forgiveness for his sins. While Hercules was completing his 12 tasks he was instructed to kill the Hydra. My mother's description of this story soothe me, as well seeing the constellation twinkle in the sky as she read the stories. This was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. 

Creation Story

In the beginning there was Ife the mother goddess who was surrounded by darkness.  Ife was the ruler of space and time, and she controlled everything around her. Then one day she grew lonesome and so decided to make a companion. She decided to make her companion strong and wise, his name was Adebambo.  Everything was good. Then Ife and Adebambo had children, their names were Tukunbo, Omotola, Teminobi, Akanbi and Efi, but for this myth Akanbi and Tukunbo will be the center of attention. The brothers rarely fought as they governed the domain in between them, known as sporcizia tumulo or planet. Then as the years passed by, Akanbi decided to create a being that would walk this domain beneath him, and so he created man. The first man was named Obafemi a name that Akanbi felt well suited the first of man. Akanbi then made many different versions of Obafemi, each different in appearance but having the same interior makeup, he then scattered the individual versions in separate parts of the globe in which they would live. As Tukunbo saw Akanbi create man he decided to give him a suitable partner from which he molded in image of Ife, his mother. There were several years of peace before the first war broke out between humans. The war broke out between two tribes that the gods took favor upon. The Youraba tribe and the Ibo tribe were going to war over the daughter of Efi (god of beauty) and Obafemi. The Gods immediately took sides, Tukunbo taking the side of the Ibo tribe, and Akanbi took the side of the Youraba tribe. As the war ensued the battle grew worst, and Omotola grew more powerful. Omotola was the god of war and destruction, so as humanity grew more explosive and aggressive Omotola’s power broadened. Tukunbo would stir up the worst of storms and hurl them into the earth and Akanbi would strike the earth with thunderbolts. Then as the war of humanity began fizzle out and it became evident that the Ibo tribe was going to win the heart of Efi, Akanbi decided to take matters into his own hands. Akanbi created the largest thunderbolt possible and threw it into the sea, which struck the bottom of the sea and created a terrible earthquake under the ocean that shook the entire planet. It destroyed nearly every human civilization on the planet. This created a mass extinction of humans across the globe. The influx of deaths overran the underworld, which angered Teminobi who was the ruler of the Underworld. As a result he gave Tukunbo the answer of how to win the war between against his brother. When Akanbi learned of the collaboration his two brothers against him, he threw multiple thunderbolts into the ocean, which created huge tidal waves that hit the shore repetitively these tidal waves hit multiple regions across the planet. This natural disaster devastated many people and civilizations. With the mass extinction of people Akanbi and Tukunbo decided to withdrawal from the war in an effort to save what was left of humanity. Consequently, once the people of both the Ibo and Youraba tribe realized just how much devastation war can cause they both decided to resign their campaigns for the princess, bringing peace back to their civilizations. 

The Weather Experience

It rained for four days straight. I began to question on whether or not I would ever see the sun again. I was said and miserable. I hadn't come to grips with the natural occurence that was taking place before my eyes. As I observed the streets outside my bedroom window I began to notice a pattern. It seemed, however absurd this may sound, that the rain was falling in a pattern. A pattern which, once watched a considerable amount of time could be preciesly calculated and predicted. Rain had been falling for so long that I could now predict where it would fall next! Not only had the rain driven me illiterate due to my inablity to attend in such drastic weather conditions it also had rendered me practically insane!

Grass

Grass by Carl Sandburg is a poem about grass. I liked this poem because it gave grass a new meaning. In the poem, grass is given an identity of an eraser or sores. Grass erodes all of the damages that humans have created through war. No matter how bad the battle scar may be, nature will eventually prevail. The grass will grow over the corpses of fallen soldiers. The grass will grow over old platoons and battle armor will be buried. The war will be forgotten and the land will be repaired. The grass will erase the pain created by man and nature will ultimately prevail. In the quote "I am the grass, I cover all" Sandburg is expressing the role that grass holds. It covers everything and when grass is on the ground life returns. Carl Sandburg also touches on the repetitiveness of human history. Humans return to the same treaties and premises that erupted wars in pass civilizations but refuse to cease the perpetuation of ignorance. The grass is what erases these scars. War after war nature takes it's course only to be violently ripped apart again. Heroes come and go but only the grass remains and that became an alternate view of grass to me. Not the lifeless annoyance that goats eat but an eraser of scars. The element of nature that does the dirty work and that was deep to me.
Word Count: 235

Nature

Nature provided a rather alternate view of how to enjoy nature."Nature" portrayed nature as a living organism. An organism that could be enjoyed through the bliss of watching nothingness repeat itself. The poem reminded me of the Hippie Movement because of it's "be one with nature" approach. To watch the leaves fall from the trees, and to allow for your responsiblities to society to evaporate while you spend your time in nature is an element presented in the poem that I felt reflected this opinion of being one with nature. In the quote "All science has one aim, namely, to find a theory of nature", the author is stating that nature is the chief reason for existence and that every other living organism and every other idea ultimately comes back to having found its origin in nature.The tone, in my opinion, is that of simple solitary. The author seems to be at peace with his discovery of nature and invites the reader to bask in his newest discovery. I do not feel as if this poem relates to modern civilization although it was directly aimed at appeasing to modern societies. With nature becoming more and more scarce and urban developments becoming more of a commodity, I don't think these new Super-Cities have any space for transcendental ideas. With concrete replacing dirt and skyscrapers replacing trees the ideas of basking in the sunshine have long been forgotten and replaced with business etiquette techniques and job resumes.
Word Count: 245

Life on the Mississppi River

This has been one of my favorite readings in Mr. Lock's class. I had never been too big of a fan when it came to the works of Mark Twain. It always seemed that he was a bit too much of a daydreamer. That is, that his books ,which were mainly fictional novels under one of his many alias', had too many twists, schemes, and pitfalls to remain believable. In this novel Mark Twain speaks of himself as a child and the things he was most passionate about as a child. I am not sure whether or not the story was fictional or not but the theme was calm enough for me to believe it.The Life on the Mississippi is about a young boy who wants to spend the rest of his life involved with the Mississippi river. In the story he alludes to wanting to be a steamboat captain, but later on he says thet he wouldn't have really minded being a deck hand, as long as he had the ability to stay near the river. In his quote, "Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates", he is expressing his deep longing to spend a life out at alongside his beloved river. By pirates he isn't specifically referring to being pirates out at sea but navigators of the water and the specific waters Twain wanted to navigate was those of the Mississippi River. His deep longing of out-at-sea adventures puzzled me at first. I had always figured Twain to have a preference toward the city and it came as a mild surprise that he felt otherwise, but by reading this short story I now understand. Twain wasn't just a city boy, he was a country born that loved the city but obviously kept the country at heart. He loved his river and he expresses it throughout this story.  
Word Count:323

To Build a Fire

To Build a Fire was a dramatic story about a man and his dog in the middle of a snow blizzard. I found the story as a life lesson. When an elder instructs for you not to do something stupid, you should heed to the wisdom of the elderly and not do whatever was advised against you. Here in this particular instance a man was told by an elder that there were certain conditions that one should never travel in. The young man pursued his journey anyway and quickly found himself in grave danger as expressed in this quote, "The old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right, he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued: after fifty below, a man should travel with a partner." The young man died because he realized his mistake to late. He refused to listen to wisdom of his elders, and thus paid the ultimate price. The moral of this story has been told and retold countless times. Always listen to your parents. I've heard it all my life and this goes as another story that I can add to the list of a book that gives a description of what could possibly go wrong if you decide to go against the wisdom of your parents.
Word Count: 202

Thanatopsis

Thanatopsis was a poem that I unexpectedly enjoyed. It was a poem about nature which usually doesn't arouse much interest but I was somewhat amused at the author's wordplay. Later on into the poem I was given a deeper opinion of what the author meant when I began to synthesize what the author was really talking about. He was speaking of death. The author was saying that nature is the burial tomb of all men, that no matter how you may have lived your life we will all return to the Earth. It matters not whether you were a king or a peasant, whether or not you were a sinner or a saint, that in the end we all will return to the same. From dust you came, to dust you shall return. This overall message of the poem blew me away. Yes, I had made previous connections that somewhat dealt with the same ideas but never had the ideas been combined before. Thanatopsis provided me with an alternative view of what nature was and could be. In this quote from the poem, "Old Ocean's gray and melancholy waste, are but the solemn decorations all of the great tomb of man". This quote directly reflects my opinions of the poem. It is a poem of death but excellently written. 
Word Count: 221

Reaction Essays

In the story "Walking" by Thoreau he refers to the creatures able to walk as a separate species.Thoreau describes walking as the defining feature that seperates man from beast."I can easily walk ten, fifteen, twenty, any number of miles, commencing at my own door, without going by any house, without crossing a road except where the fox and the mink do", with this quote Thoreau is explicating the ability of man, and also just mentioning the pracaticality of walking. Thoreau is expressing that some of the means on transportation deemed viable by society are in fact, not of as much quality as they are presented to be. In other words, you can walk instead of taking a train, or taking a car, or riding a horse, he is expressing that walking is just a viable mode of transportation as taking a vehicle.By walking you can truly experience nature. By walking step for step from destination to destination you get a feel for what nature truly represents, which leads me to the next story. In the story "American Forests" by John Muir, Muir talks about trees and of nature. He writes of the forests it's beauty, it's importance, its meaning, and its rarity as the need for it seems to shrink compared to the want of land. This opinion is supported in this quote from the poem "Surely, then, it should not be wondered at that lovers of their country, bewailing its baldness, are now crying aloud, "Save what is left of the forests!”. This rather lengthy quote shows the authors sentimentalism toward nature and its preservation. He feels as if nature is being depleted and he wants to do what he can to preserve it, especially because he has grown so close to knowing what nature truly is. Although I knew that the forests of the world weren't as grandiose as they once were, I had no idea that such drastic measures had be-struck them. The author makes this point clear to me while also explaining the good that nature has already provided. The author refers to nature as being peaceful just as Thoreau does in the first story. Nature it seems can only be experienced by peacefully and slowly enjoying it. Nature is higly versatile and can be used in a variety of different ways which is expressed in the poem "The Divine Soil" by John Burroughs. In this poem  the author speaks of the divinity of nature. The author talks of the sensibilities and divine qualities that the soils has on everything hat grows. Without the soil nothing would be able to grow. There would be no grass or trees, people or fish. There wouldn't be anything becasue everything relies on the soil for life. Nature finds meaning in that every living organism needs it in order to survive on this planet.  But he also speaks of soil in a way of spiritual meaning. This is seen in the quote," We have had to cap the natural with the supernatural to satisfy our love for the marvelous and the inexplicable.". In this quote the author is reciting that some things are better left unexplained. 
Word Count: 526