Urban biotopes… life in the niche.

Urban biotopes… life in the niche.

Finding this little green scene thrilled me. In one of the gullies near our home I found a little green oasis.
This bracken type fern was great to find in such a place, but finding the hart’s tongue fern growing just above really surprised me. you don’t see this growing in towns very often, only if specially cultivated in someone’s garden.

Why not go out for a little stroll through the city or town you live in. Be aware of how massively we humans have sealed the earth with concrete and stone. Let all the buildings, standing tall and straight impress you, all the glass, the cars, the noise, the fumes. The human collective seems to be master of building and sealing.
Yet still the force of nature is unbreakable.

Shift your focus to see another aspect of your scene. where is nature at in your town. Look for her popping through even the tiniest little crack. The earth is always in motion and nature will take any opportunity, however small, to thrive. Take your time to discover nature where ever she might show herself. Look for a crack in the concrete, birds in the sky above the city, a nest of ants busily doing their day’s work on the pavement, a spider building her web; nature is everywhere at all times. The roots of trees and shrubs lift paving and burst concrete, insects hollow out foundations, mosses fill any shady space they are carried to, even the rims of car windows.

Imagine what your part of the city would look like if left abandoned for 10 or 20 years. There would be shrubs and trees growing out of every crack, slowly breaking the concrete. Birds would be flying and singing. Other animals and insects would be populating the growing green zone. If we can discover her, it’s a lot more likely we can feel at home and connect. We are natural beings, and at our roots we are no more and no less than nature herself.

Get outside & move to your roots!
wild-horse 05/2016