MAY 7, 2021 – Before heading for the Red Cabin yesterday, I decided to give the yard a quick haircut. As I pushed the mower to the front, a lawn service guy hired by the next-door neighbors approached along the boundary. I greeted him, and he responded in kind. After a couple of rows of mowing, I wound up close to his parked truck just as he was retrieving some equipment from it. I noticed “Natural” in the company name on the side of the vehicle. I stopped the mower.
“So, you work without chemicals?” I asked.
Soon we were enjoying a far-ranging conversation. As I’ve learned, everyone has a story worth hearing, and this guy—Luke—was a shining example. His parents had come from Sudan when he was only two, and the family maintained close ties with relatives “back home.” But his story was more about his American . . . roots.
In quizzing Luke about various lawn issues (I joked that our weeds looked much better from across the street), I learned that he was a self-taught, bona fide naturalist. As such, he revealed a deep appreciation for the interconnectedness of all the “systems” that nature comprises.
When I asked how he’d become interested in nature, he answered improbably, “Working as an in-home caregiver for seniors.” As it turned out, Luke had worked for an agency that’d placed him with an elderly man who enjoyed being taken to a park every day. The geezer was himself quite a nature guy and had instilled in Luke and his co-worker an appreciation for the great outdoors. One thing led to another, and here now was a professional green thumb—with aspirations to run his own landscaping business someday.
What impressed me most was Luke’s philosophy of nature and belief that knowledge of the interactions among elements of nature could be applied to improving the human condition. He was optimistic about the future based on the notion that if everyone makes a positive change, in aggregate, humanity will thrive. He made reference to Quaker beliefs of which I could find no fault.
I’d already observed that Luke was industrious and conscientious in his work. I appreciated his time and didn’t want to detain him any longer, though I was curious to learn more about his outlook on the world.
As we resumed our respective tasks, I pondered our conversation, and reveled in the knowledge that amidst urban life, here was a guy as well connected—as well grounded, you might say—as any person living in the wilderness. In fact, I’d learned that Luke and a friend had studied how to do just that—how to forage. He’d told me I’d be surprised by how much edible food is freely available in nature, “if you just know where to look.”
If you’re in search of reasons to be positive, sometimes all you have to do is . . . “know where to look” and do as Luke does: make connections.
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© 2021 by Eric Nilsson
