REFLECTIONS
'Nothing, without nature----?'
Walking by a lake the other day, it was hard not to be moved by the stunning reflections of the multi-coloured leaves in the water. Natures seasonal rythyms and changes, progressing steadily as they've done for aeons, seemingly not too hindered by man. Latest reports, though, seem to suggest that human impact on nature is happening - scientists reporting that the arctic cap is melting at a higher rate than previously reckoned. No doubt there could again be 'naysayers', perhaps not wanting to have to think that things may be 'broke', or maybe such news might not 'suit'. The scientists, though, might presumably be a touch disappointed, not having their work taken seriously - ?
Reflections may well though have been in short supply with this season's shortage of sun, maybe also the reason why the swallows hereabouts seem to have stayed around considerably longer than normal, before embarking on their epic 6,0000 mile African journey. Hardly seems credible - tiny little creatures, with tiny little hearts and lungs, travelling all that way, over land and sea. And now (early October) that they do seem to have finally gone, an outbreak of sun just now in the paddock revealed an outburst of myriads of flies. An odd season this has been - certainly hasn't been one like it in thirty years of growing here. And at least you have to wonder whether any of it's down to 'global warming' - ?
On the growing front here on the eco organic micro-holding (small smallholding), in the UK north midlands, it's been a similar story, with crops up to a month later than normal. Some, such as swedes, peas and parsnips haven't thrived much at all, whilst others, notably broad beans, runner beans, spring cabbage and perhaps surprisingly, celery, have done quite well. The rest has 'struggled along' with slow growth and with sunshine dependent items such as tomatoes very late in this wettest growing season for a hundred years. All this seems to fit with the UK farmers' tale , with crop yields down and food prices likely to rise. Fruit-wise here, it's also been a mixed bag, with no damsons or pears whatsoever, moderate crops of plums and modern apple varieties, and yet a veritable avalanche of apples from an ancient variety tree which fruits every other year. Ah well, win some, lose some----. nature will out, whatever. The religion, or is it 'non-religion' that seems to relate particularly strongly to nature, seems to be that of 'zen'. In fact, reading about 'zen' suggests that 'nature' and 'the natural way' seems to be pretty much what 'zen' is about. One statement from the text says it:
'Zen is a mirror, it's a reflection of 'that which is'.
'Reflecting on----'
Many people are obviously personally affected and influenced by nature - presumably man is part of nature, and whilst it could be said that man has been involved in the 'conquest of nature', to cement a dominant stance, another approach is to accept being part of it, and respecting it, work within it and with it. The latter approach may stem from some sort of 'faith' source - a faith in a sort of natural order of things, leading also to a feeling of reverance and respect for nature and life, and coming from an internal source within the individual. In Eastern religions and philosophies this apparently was often referred to as 'Tao' (pronounced 'Dow'), meaning 'the natural, universal' way things work'. Maybe the problem for the West, involved so strongly with science and therefore 'hard evidence' for so long, is then that 'Tao' and 'faith' can't easily be factually proven, if at all, which, though, presumably, doesn't necessarily then 'prove' their non-existence, which though might have been taken to be the case in a logical, rational, scientific world.
Many, though, would appear to have this 'inner feel' for nature, so maybe in spite of inability to scientifically pin it down, it might need to be accepted as a 'human reality', for some at least. An interesting slant on this was provided by the well-known UK naturalist, David Attenborough, who in one TV programme stated that as all life developed from simple single cell organisms, all subsequent life forms are inherently related. Crikey, an interesting thought, maybe not always going to be welcomed - ? Such 'inter-relation' could, though, help to explain any feeling of 'inter-connectedness' - ?
The above highlights the problem people with such reverance and faith have when expressing reservations about, for instance, intensive animal production systems, such as indoor milk production. The human 'dominant-ists' will argue rationally that the possible coming trend, say, of keeping cows in large numbers indoors most of the time (already a reality in the U.S), for instance, 'wins' because of the large 'ecomomies of scale' benefits and the degree of control such an intensive production system affords, both of which plainly can exist. Reservationists, though, might well feel that such a system represents an 'over-exploitation' of animals, in this case cows, chasing over-high levels of economic return and weighing the dice too heavily in the favour of man, and too little for the 'exploited' creatures. To some extent this latter argument has made considerable strides in recent years and many in the UK, for instance, appear to accept that, for instance, highly exploitative systyems of pigmeat production, in which adult pigs would remain virtually permanently tethered, were too 'inhumane'.
'On reflection-----'
The 'factory farming' exponents, though, have countered with the argument that the animals within the 'factory farming' system (eg.s battery chickens, large-scale indoor cow-keeping) have superior conditions in terms of zero weather fluctuations and more constant nutrition, and so on. Of course, these are arguments to justify the keeping of animals in this desired, large-scale way, which also fits in with any current 'big is beautiful: big is best' economies of scale theme. What it may not be quite such a snug fit with, though, is the 'natural faith' instinct within people that humans should be the care-takers of nature and animals, and that as such should aim to give reasonable recognition and facilitation of their natural needs and behaviours.
There may be a fear, too, though, that following such 'natural patterns' automatically then implies low levels of productivity. One development in dairying, though, showed the reverse. Cows had been traditionally grazed on a fairly tight grass rationing system, invoving either a restraining electrified fence or the use of small pre-fenced areas. One effect noticed by a thoughtful farmer in Buckinghamshire (UK) was that older, bulkier cows tended to get a lion's share, intimidating younger, lighter animals and then affecting not only their current milk output, but also their next, due to less than desirable body growth, again caused by current competitive grazing conditions. This farmer then took the brave step of opening up the whole of the grazing area to the herd, facilitating their natural behaviour of 'meander leisure' grazing and thereby eliminating heavy competition and stress, and raising longer-term productivity levels.
And isn't there just something intrinsically satisfying, seeing contented animals doing what they do best, being their 'natural selves' - ? Certainly here on the eco micro-holding, to see a year or two ago, a group of scraggy, semi-bald ex-battery hens learn to leave their safe spot and explore the territory, and then over time re-grow a full set of feathers and 'come good', was a satisfying experience. 'Battery-livers' to 'freerangers' - crikey, one even had to be re-named - from 'Scragger' to 'Beauty', which indeed she became.
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