We have the room for you!
PRESENT continued from 52
It seems that just being out in nature does your body, mind and soul some good. According to a 2009 study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, the closer you live to nature, the healthier you are likely to be. The researchers found that people who lived within about half a mile of a park or a wooded area experienced less anxiety and depression than those who lived farther away from green space. Some less conventional research reported in Blinded by Science, written by Matthew Silverstone, demonstrates that the vibrational properties of trees are responsible for improving concentration, alleviating depression and stress, and improving ADHD.
I often think about the distance we— even many of us who live in beautiful Brown County— live from the vibrant natural world of the earth, air, water, and sky. To simply use the earth as a source to fuel our speeding over its surface, or as a backdrop for our pleasure or cleverness, is really not to understand living in relationship or to be present. How often do
we really see the night sky? How often do we take our children out to look at the stars, to tell the stories of constellations— the miracle of early navigation?
At the end of our interview, Malcolm Dalglish gave me a CD to listen to, an early choral work,“ Hymnody of Earth.” The lyrics are Wendell Berry’ s poems. And, unlike most choral music, the sounds are wild and broad, rather than rounded and polished.
As Wendell Berry writes;
My belief— and I’ ve written out of it for many years— is that the world and our life in it are conditional gifts. We have the world to live in and the use of it to live from on the condition that we will take good care of it. And to take good care of it we have to know it and we have to know how to take care of it. And to know it and to be willing to take care of it, we have to love it. And we’ ve ignored all that all these years.
The only question we have a right to ask is what’ s the right thing to do? What does this earth require of us if we want to continue to live on it? •
Slide Water Channel
Fountains Dump Buckets
Waterfall and more
There is always something to do in Indiana’ s largest State Park: Aquatic Center, Horse Back Riding, Mountain Bike Trails, Fishing, Tennis...
Our full service restaurant is open daily.
We have the room for you!
Brown County State Park
160 accommodations: P. O. Box 547 Nashville, IN 47448 guest rooms, two-story cabins, Abe Martin Lodge and 1-877-Lodges-1 •( 812) 988-4418 and historic cabins. the Little Gem Restaurant www. indianainns. com We have the perfect setting for any event, Corporate Retreats, Weddings, Getaways and Family Reunions and More!
54 Our Brown County • Jan./ Feb. 2014