Today's entry: November 3 << previous       next >>

The ravine in autumn

Come back to this page each day to read another entry from Frederick R. Gehlbach's almanac of suburban natural and unnatural history, "Messages from the Wild," which chronicles the world of a forested ravine in central Texas.

I've been very fortunate. Seldom have I been unable to submerge myself in the wild physically and mentally, even for a short while. It's hard to remember when I haven't taken a few minutes to replace culture's hustle with nature's slower nurturing pace. But I just had surgery, so I'm limited to window watching; although, thankfully, at home in Owl Hollow in the healing forest. Our species "grew up" in the wild, where we're most at home -- instinctively -- but only recently have we awakened to the fact that injured or ill folks repair more quickly in rooms with windows looking on greenery rather than building walls or parking lots, as so many hospital rooms do.

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Frederick R. Gehlbach is Professor Emeritus of Biology and Environmental Studies at Baylor University. His ecological studies have taken him from New Zealand to Slovakia and, in the Americas, from Alaska and Newfoundland to Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. His research interests include the life-history strategies of small owls, small burrowing snakes and urban wildlife ecology.

From MESSAGES FROM THE WILD: AN ALMANAC OF SUBURBAN NATURAL AND UNNATURAL HISTORY by Frederick R. Gehlbach, Copyright © 2002. Courtesy of the University of Texas Press.