Taken for granted

11-6-10 11:23AM Everyday, we take things for granted, from little things: the leaves falling and the shape of the clouds, to the big things: having enough to eat and things to wear, a roof over our heads, a car, money, people who love us. These things are so prevalent in our everyday lives that we don’t even notice them anymore. We pass each day in a cloud of self-importance, immune to the effects of the world around us, not realizing that many people don't expect these things in their lives, even the little things. How many wonders do we miss because we are not observant enough?

This year I have been riding my bike to school most days. As winter approaches, the darkness each morning increases. Nowadays, my whole ride is in the dark, from 6:40 to 7:00AM. Riding in the dark exposes me to a new world, one where mist lies between the hills of the golf course and the prevailing color is gray. When I get to school, the sun is just rising, provoking a strange thought. I'm greeting the sun. Those early morning rides have become precious to me. The world is asleep; all is well.

On some level we are all aware of the sunrise every day, but we don't feel the urge to witness it. With the sunrise, it's just laziness. With other things there isn't as much of a choice.

At camp in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin this summer I was walking outside at night and looked up. There I saw something previously only described to me in books: the Milky Way. Even then that strip across the sky wasn’t in its full glory. It was a moment of profound wonder, but tinged by loss. How many people in my generation never see this sight? How many don’t know what they’re missing?

I have lived in two big cities: Beijing ten years ago and Chicago now. Beijing at the time was heavily polluted. Newly industrializing China had factories in the city, creating a smog that covered the sky. The clouds are not so clear in Chinese cities. Chicago doesn’t have the factory caused air-pollution, but the light pollution makes it hard to see more than the big dipper on a good night.

How quickly we can lose something! The last generation knew the Milky Way intimately. Light pollution takes merely public strength of will to control, and can always be reversed, but other losses are permanent. I want to study the natural world, so that the wisdom and wonder are preserved even when the actual is lost.