Who are your champions of nature?

First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson pushed for a billboard-free Capitol Beltway around Washington, DC. The roadways, to work, are filled with trees, vice billboards that are increasingly becoming jumbo screens of flashing lights. I benefit every day from Mrs. Johnson's vision, investment, and persistence from 1968.

History is full of people that have given their all to promote the preservation of the natural world. How do you connect-the-dots between the work these hero's achieved, and your life? It is easy to say Rachel Carson's book; Silent Spring made an impact, but how does it directly affect your life today?

I discovered the work of Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American landscape architecture, nearly twenty years ago. His genius used trees, bushes, plants, water, and architecture to construct public and private venues for the enjoyment of nature. His commitment to preserving the natural landscape and using his talents only to change what is necessary.

Olmsted and Calvert Vaux collaborated to build New York's Central Park and were most pleased with the assessment of New York Tribune editor, Horace Greeley. He assessed the newly opened public space and commented: "Well, they have let it alone a good deal more than I thought they would." Olmsted's fingerprints are on many of the most significant works built during his lifetime.

Olmsted designed the US Capitol grounds and influenced the design of the Capital building itself. In Genius of Place, biographer Justin Martin, wrote: "his design was also meticulous, packed with thoughtful little surprises." Olmsted designed the Summerhouse, a small way station for visitors to take a respite from the Washington heat and enjoy a drink in the shade.

I have toured many of Olmsted's works and appreciate his dedication to enhancing the beauty of the space. The photo above is one of the Summerhouse details and was taken on my inaugural photo trip around Washington to support my creative effort that has resulted in this IOTD365 project. 

Dots connected. 

Your turn; this work can range from those changing the world on a massive scale to those that established an urban garden plot. Take a moment to do the heavy lifting and connect-the-dots for those that have impacted your life.

Going Further: Who's work in nature are you most grateful? Who's practices do you think are misguided? What is one element of their mostly misguided work, was done well? Who is someone that is currently doing work to influence nature, that has much promise?

What was a childhood dream of encountering nature?

A friend was retelling his first encounter with glaciers. He was awestruck by the magnitude of these frozen sheets of ice. He would describe seeing a crevasse and thinking it was large, but then he realized the fissure dwarfed the giant people mover. To consider this ice before him was hundreds if not even thousands of years old, boggled his mind. He tried to describe the hues of blue as the light hit the glacier from different angles, but our vocabulary doesn't include the words to capture the beauty. He had been waiting a lifetime to experience this encounter with nature and discovered it was worth the wait.

My father owned a tour company while I was growing up and I would often ride-along with him. One particular memory of a dream to encounter nature going wrong was with a group of Japanese tourists coming to visit the Grand Canyon. Visiting this National Park was to be the highlight of their trip to the US. Sadly, the day of their visit, the canyon was socked in with clouds. As we stood on the canyon rim and looked out, it looked like someone filled the chasm with cotton balls. My father had many talents as a tour guide, but cleaning the clouds out of the Grand Canyon, was not one of them.

What did you want to see or touch?

What did you envision as a child? Did you want to pet a snake, ride a submarine to the bottom of the ocean, swim with dolphins, walk on Mars, swing with monkeys, ride a horse on the beach, climb El Capitan, or steal the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow?

The purpose of our dreams is to spur us to action when we awake. Pursuing these childhood desires allows us to unearth our earliest memories for our interests and draw from who we were before the responsibilities of life squashed our ideas of what is possible. Start digging and make a dream come true!

Going Further? What nature dreams have you realized? Was the experience as you anticipated? What surprised you about your experience? What experiences do you have yet to accomplish? What stops you from pursuing and what is one step to overcome? Will virtual reality get you closer to achieving your childhood dream?

What is special about your local nature?

My jaw hit the floor when I saw my friends pictures of Lake Braies (#lagodibraies) in South Tyrol, Italy. The mountains are majestic. The lake is pristine, and the cabins, docks, and rustic boats make for stunning photographs.

After enjoying his family pictures, I wondered if every person that lives on the lake wakes up every morning and is awestruck by the beauty that envelops them daily. My assumption is no, we all fall into the same trap of taking the beauty around us for granted. Sometimes it takes an out-of-towner to ask about the beauty of our local area and remind us that tourists will come from all over the world to see sites we drive by every day without a thought.

I live in Montgomery County Maryland, and we have trees, lots of trees. Growing up in the Southwest, I was accustomed to seeing the horizon far off in the distance. The abundance of trees brings the horizon to either side of the road unless you are on an overpass or a hill. We enjoy the luxury of all four seasons and get enough snow to shut down the Federal Government a couple of times each winter.

Maryland doesn't have any natural lakes, only man-made reservoirs. Yep, it's true, go look it up, I'll wait. The soil is predominantly clay. The forests have a healthy mix of oak, maple, dogwood, birch, and cedar that explode in a wide array of colors each fall season. We have fireflies.

The Potomac River provides a natural border between Maryland and Virginia. The river provides an excellent place for fishing and boating; and supports a robust kayak community. Great Falls National Park lives up to its name and is a great spot for bouldering. The C&O Canal and towpath, border the Potomac and provide an easy path for running and biking. During my commute in the spring, wisteria blooms along the canal and demands I roll down the window to breathe in the fragrance.

Your turn.

Consider where you live, what nature is nearby, and what is unique about your area. Why do outdoor enthusiasts come to visit? What surprising nature fact have you learned about your current home? What are the stark differences in other places you have lived? What is one thing you appreciate about your local environment?

Give the community a chance to enjoy your local beauty and answer a question in the comments.

How has nature influenced you?

Our shelter protects us from the elements and is foundational to our basic needs. However, it is nice to know what we are protected from, in our world of lattes and air conditioning.

Tree, camel, cat, lotus, mountain, half moon and firefly are all yoga poses named after the nature outside the window. These names provide a subtle invitation to experience the reality on the other side of the glass.

Orville and Wilber Wright studied vultures to understand the concepts of lift and drag and changed the way the world travels.

Author, Janine Benyus, formalized the idea of intentionally looking to nature to solve problems in her book, Biomimicry. Now the Biomimicry Institute helps a broad range of organizations discover their needed solutions in the swamps, skies, forests, deserts, and oceans. Michael Pawlyn applied nature's solutions to the Eden Project through improved horticultural architecture, with remarkable results and recounted in his TED Talk.

The design solutions discovered in nature are straightforward and elegant. Albert Einstein stated, "the best design is the simplest one." As humans, we tend to brute force our way into a solution through more power and resources to get the desired result (thanks, Seth Godin, for pointing out the article).

AsSummer ends and the Northern Hemisphere heads into shorter days, awareness of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) start to take effect. The yearly cycle of the sun helps to regulate expectations of what is coming next.

We decorate our walls, clothes, artwork, and furniture with scenes of nature on the other side of the front door. The iceberg screen saver gives mental relief during the heat of Summer, and the pristine beach provides hope of warmer weather during the Winter deep freeze.

If we are not looking, the quiet influence will pass unnoticed and we will return to solving problems with brute force and the protection of bubble wrap. Unfortunate.

What has nature taught you?

One of the perks of being the random Internet punk that has the audacity to ask random inquiries on a daily basis, is that I get to dwell on the inquiry for a couple of hours while I write the posting. Your consumption of the picture, question, and 300-400 words may take a minute or two at best. If I have done my job, the inquiry will circle back around for further consideration throughout the day and prompt a bit more thinking. Hmmmmm (#selfie notice eyes looking up to the left and finger tapping on lip).

The two things nature has recently taught me is the following: 1. nature doesn't care I exist, 2. I have it better than the cicada that beat itself to death flying into my porch lights.

1. I have recently been around many objects that are old. Walking through ancient forests, strolling through old buildings and seeing 100+-year-old building footers uprooted for new construction has reminded me that I am here for a mere wisp of time. The time I spend anxious and worrying is a waste; the 500-year-old tree doesn't care and will be here long after I am gone. The anxiety my grandchildren experience while walking under its boughs will be equally insignificant.

The noticeable fingerprints of the brick maker are evidence of his existence; memorialized in the building façade for generations to admire. The bricklayers kin will point to the building and say that my grandfather built that building. The generations that review my name in the family Bible will question what comprised my dash, between birth and death. My intention is to make a greater impact than a stack of PowerPoint schedules with the milestone taco chips successively sliding to the right.

2. The 17-year cicada emerges for six weeks to sing, mate, and die. Unfortunately, the little guy buzzing around my porch lights is one of the last of the brood and is beating itself to death looking for some satisfaction. You and I have a longer life to make a positive impact on the lives of those around us. We have a greater purpose than mating, having 40 babies and dying.

Gary Vaynerchuk @garyvee recounts the fact that people are starting businesses with the phone in their pocket. The steps include; learning the technology, respecting the people at the other end, and working hard to serve these customers. By virtue of reading this post, you are better off than the cicada looking for satisfaction. Make it count.

What are your one or two lessons that nature has been kind enough to pass on to you? What were the circumstances? How else do you think you could you have learned these lessons? What lessons has nature taught those around you? 

What is your favorite story of encountering nature?

Nobody died. I don't know what kind of snake it was, but my words were firm, and the tone was clear when I gave my wife specific direction to back out of the rocks. The kids had already skipped ahead through the rocks to get to the West Virginia river. Just as my lovely bride was going to take her turn, I saw the snake coiled inches from the stepping stones. She heard my tone and backed out without question. 

Meru was the last movie I watched about engaging the natural world and was on the edge of my seat for the entire show. The documentary follows Conrad Anker (@conrad_anker), Jimmy Chin (@jimmy_chin), and Renan Ozturk (@renan_ozturk) as they seek a first ascent on the Sharks Fin on Mount Meru in Northern India. The bitter conditions and the staggering footage kept my cortisol pumping and solidified my respect for those that pursue this sport.

Laura Hillenbrand's, Unbroken, the story of Louis Zamperini was a quick read. The to-do list was put on hold once I started reading his story of survival through such difficult circumstances. The torture and persecution would have been unbearable, but the brutal weather layered on top of everything else, was unbelievable.

What is on your list? Camp as a kid, family vacations, military service, life as a vagabond, hunting trip?

I have been so insulated living in suburbia for so many years, that I was never really able to get comfortable doing a solo walk through the woods last year. The only threat were gray squirrels looking for acorns and a random mosquito. I have been working out; I could have taken them if my life depended on it. My need for unsupervised time in nature is evident.

Live dangerously, brave the gray squirrels, and tell your story in the comments below.

How has the natural world surprised you?

The Spanish moss hung from nearly every tree branch of particular trees. The blue heron knew exactly when the tide would push fish into the enclosure to deliver an easy meal. The branches of the Angel Oak extended farther than I have ever witnessed. These were three surprises the natural world offered during my recent trip to Charleston, South Carolina.

A friend offered as many giant expired sunflowers as I was willing to take if I would hang them in my yard. The Yellow Finch are starting their 3,000-mile migration and eat three times their body weight each day during the trip. I learned all I had to do, was to hang the large wilted flowers in the yard and the traveling birds would find them on their own. No blog post, tweets or neon signs are required.

Climbing the road from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe, I literally caught my breath as we took a turn and looked down the mountainside into the valley. The view was astounding.

What are your recent discoveries about the natural world around you? The circle of life is always in motion, and change is happening. We didn't notice each successive ring on the tree but surprised to see that it has grown around a bench. The stream continues to run, and eventually, the erosion catches our eye and when the ravine appears. The intricate parts of the flower and the juice sacs of the blood orange are amazing structures of beauty, once we take the time to look.

The circle of life continues to swirl, causing constant change; how are you observing these changes?

Going Further: What is your earliest memory of learning about the natural world? How do you prioritize time to engage with nature?