When I think of nature, and myself I think how lucky I am to have the Grandfather I do. My grandfather who I call Opi loves nature and enjoys learning about it and spending time with it. When I was younger he would take me up the Four Peaks and guide me on hikes. All along the way he was stop to explain what tree, plant, animal or insect we were seeing. I never enjoyed going on these trips but my mom would make me, so I would reluctantly drag my feet and go. He would get so excited and pack lunches and snacks and bring different pieces of equipment that he thought I would enjoy using. I never understood his overwhelming excitement for being in nature; I just learned to accept it.
My Opi recently purchased a summer home in Montana and he called it a shack... and I thought he was kidding. My mom and I went to visit one summer and after we drove through miles of dirt road and fields we arrived to literally to my Opi’s shack. It was a run down old house with one bedroom, one bathroom with a door that did not close and no air conditioning. I thought to myself, “how can anyone live here?”
Then I realized that my Opi was happy, he lives on 20 acres of what seemed like untouched land. Land that has grasses two-feet-tall, horses, deer and a small creek for fishing. He had started a small garden and showed us his compost that he was very proud of creating. He explained to us that he used the garden for the vegetables for all his meals and what he did not end up using would go back into the compost and would be used again as the garden’s fertilizer.
Now that I am older I look at nature the way my Opi does and respect it the way he does. I remember everything he taught me on our long unbearable hikes in the four peaks and now value that knowledge. He is a man that loves nature and loves being in it and I am honored that he has shared that love with me.
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