Recent Articles from BRMC Newsletters

The Wild In Us All

We live in an area that is being developed at an alarming rate. The natural habitat for native wildlife is disappearing as land is clear-cut to make way for shopping centers and subdivisions. We humans have evolved into a consumer society and forgotten that all life exists in a delicate balance. We have also forgotten that we humans are wild creatures—or are we?

After thousands of years of evolution, we may not appear to be wild, but we still retain some of those wild instincts. In the beginning we were able to live side by side other wild creatures. The spread of civilization has caused humanity to turn our backs on the rest of the natural world. The development of the land surrounding us is cause for alarm: if we are indeed wild creatures, then we are destroying our natural habitat along with all the others.

There is something in nature that awakens the wild in us all, but during the winter this wildness is forced to lay dormant as we live in the comfort of our warm houses. Our human bodies have not adapted for hibernation during the winter, so we live as we do throughout the rest of the year-only bundled in layers of warm clothing and stuck indoors. But we are clever creatures and we invent our own ways of hibernating. We mold to our surroundings and forget about the joys of being outside. We become as grey indoors as the sky is out of doors.

But there is no reason to neglect our natural habitat just because it is cold outside. In fact, a winter hike can be refreshing in a way you never thought possible. Everything is magnified in a winter forest. The trees seem that much taller without their leaves, and as the wind blows the branches against each other the sound echoes throughout the forest. It is almost as if your ears have suddenly developed a keener sense of hearing because the ground acts as a noise conductor in the absence of the tree's insulating leaves. You can just make out the sound of a stream that, during the summer, would have been muffled. Yet there is an overwhelming quietness at the same time. As the day's worries melt away into the vast scenery you can feel perfect isolation.

How can anyone not feel at peace in such surroundings?

We should all take a break from our mundane winter lives and return to our natural habitat once in a while. In our mock hibernation we immerse ourselves in any work that can keep us inside and out of the cold. On a winter hike we can regain the therapeutic feeling that comes from solitude in nature.

Over the past few months I have had the privilege to work with the Bull Run Mountains Conservancy. I have learned some of what it takes to maintain and fight for a piece of land that holds historical, scientific, and intrinsic value. The Washington, D.C., area is expanding and natural habitats are shrinking. It is a relief to know that there are places set aside where we can get away from all the noise and traffic. Winter or summer, the Bull Run Mountain hold a place for the wild in us all.

Laurel Simpson is a student with George Mason’s New Century College. She has spent this fall semester as a volunteer intern with BRMC.