Their Eyes Were Watching Nature

Florida naturalist and author Bill Belleville has taken note of the Orlando Sentinel's coverage of the local flooding, implying that it's gone over the top in its description of nature doing what nature does.

The thing that stood out to him was a line in a recent story about squirrels, gators and other critters "going on the attack" as a result of the recent rains.

"We somehow have lost the language needed to more realistically describe our natural world. We’ve compromised the river’s watershed with hard surfaces, and by doing so, keep rainfall from soaking in the ground," he writes in his blog www.floridanature.wordpress.com.

That reminds me of a passage in Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God," when Janey is taking a walk before the hurricane strikes. She notices the gators, birds and other wildlife heading in droves in the opposite direction, a good sign that she better take cover, too.

I agree with Belleville that we have lost the ability to read important signs that nature sends our way. Check out his "saunterings." Belleville has great insights, as well as some eery photos of natural Florida.