Who here was raised on nature?

[Layzie]

Well when I was younger and used to take Tribal language classes, the elders and teachers in my tribe told nature-related stories. It kinda makes me sad to say that over the years I forgot most of them. But there are two that I never forgot, and that I actually believed for a while, one is about how the Earth came about and the other is about rocks. I wish I could remember everything I learned back then. If I was my mother, I would have made sure I didn't forget. Also a lot of the words I was taught was were usually animals an stuff like that. I don't know if they still do it that way, but that was the basic stuff you they would teach you. And also, all the names they named people were almost always nature-related. I can't even think of any that weren't.

This is probably the only nature influence I had while coming up. I wouldn't call it raised on nature though.

Although, starting from when I was about 15, maybe 16, I found that I enjoyed nature more that I have in the past. I liked being outdoors, and a lot of times when I would get really pissed about something, I would go outside and enjoy the enviornment and plant & animal life to clear my head up a little bit. It works for me because to me, it's kinda calming. Sometimes when I'm out by myself it can get a little scary but for the most part, I really like it. Especially when it's sunny out.

Originally Posted by Neytiri.

Not me, Never lived in the woods, wasn't raised by a pack of wolves, never got bitten by a radio active tree and became a nature super hero, Nothing to interesting

I did grow up in the city, ride dirt bikes constantly, surf, snowboard, skate, play video games, go to party's, hand out with friends, see movies, read manga, read regular books, draw, and an entire horde of other things a normal teenager would do

Guess I can't relate but it's cool you where raised that way, sounds awesome

Hahaha

[tm20]

i was sort of raised on nature. when i was a small kid a lived in Japan on a coastal town with my mum and grandparents. my mum told me lots of stuff about bugs and fishes, and i would always watch bug shows on TV. i would go outside and catch bugs and sometimes i would go with my grandad to one of his fishing trips, he loved fishing.

[Eltu]

Originally Posted by Neytiri.

I did grow up in the city, ride dirt bikes constantly, surf, snowboard, skate, play video games, go to party's, hand out with friends, see movies, read manga, read regular books, draw, and an entire horde of other things a normal teenager would do

Heh, I am the EXACT opposite of that I never rode any bikes, never surfed, went snowboarding, etc... I hated (and still hate) parties, etc, etc I grew up being out in the forest, taking walks by myself...

But then again, I've never been a social person - and don't want to, either

[Helicoradian]

Personally, I've always felt more comfortable being surrounded by nature vs. people, development, and city life. Which is kinda odd since the majority of my life was spent living in the suburbs without really anything natural, but close enough to places where you could spend a day away from people. A series of events brought me up to Alaska a few years ago, and well, there's plenty of nature up here kinda nice really...

I do feel sorry for people who grow up to never appreciate what the natural world has to offer

[Marvellous Chester]

I've was never really raised on nature. As a child my parents used to take me out to nature places every sunday but as I got older I started to resist and wanted to stay at home and play games (I know, but I was young and foolish). Over the last few years I really began to enjoy getting out in wild places although I'm not sure why, maybe I was maturing. Seeing Avatar then only added to my fascination with the living world. I have always felt suffocated by built up areas, I sometimes find myself feeling anxious or feel like throwing up when I walk into cities, the ratio of grey and black to green, the vile sounds and smells. I can still remember the first time I camped years ago, lying down on the soft grass looking up at the stars. As I lay there in nature's hands, I felt safe and I thought to myself 'Why would anybody trade this for city life?'.

[Human No More]

Originally Posted by Raiden

This sounds a lot like my childhood as well....

I spent quite a bit of time hanging out in a forest near my house.

I would spend hours and hours out there by myself. There was no one around, just me and the trees.......sometimes it felt sort of like they were trying to talk to you with their creaking and swaying branches, snapping pinecones and falling leaves.

At home, I would walk around my backyard, catching bugs and recording their appearance and keep them in jars for a few days before letting them go again. My favorites were centipedes and these guys:

http://share3.esd105.wednet.edu/rsan...0nemoralis.jpg

European ground beetles.

One day, I was walking to the forest as usual, but there seemed to be something wrong.....I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but everything was....quiet. Like the scene of a car accident right after it happens. I felt worried, somehow, and I walked faster through the thicket before the trees really started to get dense.

Bulldozers. Dozens of them. In a huge pile across the torn expanse of land, there were the trees. They sat like dead bodies in a pile, unceremoniously stripped of their branches and leaves. Almost the whole forest had been torn down to make way for development.

I ran home in tears.

A few months later, the housing development completed, and people moved in. The animals, suddenly out of a home, left. No more Coyotes, Deer, or Foxes. A few raccoons and squirrels dared to stay, but they were soon plagued by feral housecats and litter.

So, yeah, I was brought up in nature. I just wish my little stretch of "home" was still around for me to visit....

And so, I decided I was going to become a conservation biologist, so that this would never happen to anyone or any forest ever again.

I can't do much by myself, but I don't care; I'll die knowing I did my best to make a difference.

Fairly recently, near me... there was an area on the main road my house is a while back from. It was originally a garage that closed down and the buildings got demolished, then the people who live around there took it over, pulled up all the concrete and made it into a really nice area, with plants, had places people could go and just enjoy. I used to walk past it whenever I was going into town, and it always made me smile.
One day, I was walking past there was a fence being put up around it, and they were destroying it... to build a shop
I was so pissed off, I very nearly went in, I would have hurt someone, maybe tried to do some damage. I wish I had
Now there's a bigger fence around, which can't be seen through, and it's just empty, dead

That's why I hate people.

[Mika]

I too was raised on nature, and even now still consider myself to be a 'bush baby', as I am still happiest when I get to go camping out in the bush or forests.

My parents would take us camping ever since I was little, we went someplace every year, sometimes up north, other times to the mountains, and lots of times just out around to the local parks and lakes. Camping was my happiest memories as a child, just being free in nature, and at night seeing the heavens lit up with stars, and be lost in wonderment. Another favorite was going to the beach, a couple of times to a huge lake in Manitoba, Its so big that it felt like going to the ocean, you couldn't see the other side. I remember collecting star fish and driftwood, and the tide coming in and out, and at night, just sleeping in the screened deck, just listening to lolling of the waves on the shore. Then as well I was in Brownies/Girl Guides for many years and every summer also spend a week at camp. Just being outdoors 24/7, even just at home, playing outside was more enjoyable than cooped up in the house. Back then even 'winter' was an enjoyable outdoor time. Also even in the city I would spend time hanging out in the city parks, climb a tree, and just sit and meditate, draw, or journal. Even in Air Cadets as a teen, I went on a 'wilderness camping trip'. When I was in grade 5 we moved and lived in a house that was on the edge of the city, and right there just behind us was the wide open prairie for a couple of years (until housing development started). I would often just take off across those fields to just lose myself in it, or go bike riding along the gravel roads to go exploring, walk the train rails, hang out in graveyards, or catch tadpoles and frogs (I let them go) in the ponds. It was always pure magic. As a teen we moved up to a town up in Northern Saskatchewan, So was just mostly surrounded by a lot of bush country. Then to I would go for long walks or bike rides. One special spot was actually a secluded wood patch with a stream. There was an old bridge that I would go and 'hide' out under just listening to the waters babbling over the rocks.

I missed it terribly as an adult, it wasn't until the kids were older that we finally started taking them out camping. But the ones that we did do, brought back all those joyful memories. My dream is still to one day buy an acreage just so I can be in and surrounded by nature again all the time.

[redpaintednavi]

I was raised in a small rural place living in an old 19th century house. I walked a couple of miles to get to nearest schoolbus and I spent much of my free time (when I was not in school) in the nature. I played in the woods, swam and fished in lakes, studied fish and water bugs in a little stream close to my house, I could study ant hills for hours, I loved animals. many times I heard people complaining over wolves, foxes and other predators doing harm in the woods but I always tried to defend these animals in discussions. I really longed to see such animals, even if they were really rare (well not the foxes but wolves and lynx and similar was rare). I loved birds of prey and especially owls (some people thought they were gruesome).

I did not like hunting or hunters so much and I always hoped their pray would be able to get away. I always watched nature programms on TV and I really got embossed with homestyled values of environmentalism.

Later I have lived in different places, also in urban surroundings but I am still a nature lover and environmentalist. I am also involved in trying to support indigenous people preserving their life and land.

At the same time I also like Science Fiction and am interested in space, space science and travels and exploration of space.

Several of these interests were combined in the film Avatar.

[the10thnumber]

i lived in indonesia till i was 4. don't really remember much of it apart from all the strange insects. I go back there every 2 years to go diving. Java is becoming more populated and overcrowded, its becoming a real issue, and Sumatra. Now i fear Borneo will too. I used to be able to see a volcano from the kitchen and living room window of our old house, but now you are lucky too see it due to the smog. even the dive sites i visit, it's surprising that in a space of 2 years you can see such a difference. less marine life everytime i go back.

I live in the UK now, in a village. there is a big forrest about 10mins walk away but i don't really spend too much time there. most of it is privately owned. I do like city life but i would like to live out in the country when i'm older, preferably near a lake or the sea so i can go diving. nature is huge to me, and i hate it when people dismiss the fact that nature is in threat

[Impressionist]

I've always lived where I live now - in a small town. But my parents travelled with me a lot in the past, so maybe this is why I'm such a big nature lover now. Whenever a sunny weekend comes - I jut can't sit at home, I have to be surrounded by nature.

[caveman]

I was fortunate enough to be raised near some woods where I biked and played quite often. So I would say I was raised by nature, which isn't me being picky about English, but me describing how the woods raised me.