Nature Usually Wins

“Nature usually wins.”

Those three words can mean a lot of different things, but I usually state them when I’m out on a trail or in some other outdoor setting with kids.  I use them to mean “nature,” shorthand for living things in this case*, can overcome some pretty incredible circumstances.

I use the phrase when I point out tree roots that are splitting rocks, eventually creating gravel from boulders.  I use the phrase when I see tree bark growing over metal trail markers.  But most often, I use the phrase when I see plants and animals living in unexpected places:  shrubs growing through a rusted spot in some sheet metal debris, trees growing through the open hood of a long-abandoned vehicle, and snakes sunning atop abandoned appliances only to slither inside when spotted.

Here’s a picture of a recent example that I love.  A plastic owl was installed at one of the schools where I teach, undoubtedly in an effort to discourage birds from nesting in the frame of a sidewalk canopy. My guess is that it blew over in the wind, but didn’t fall to the ground because of the strap that was used to secure it.

Apparently, the crook between the owl’s body and the post was a great place to build a nest.

Nature usually wins, and I’m okay with that.

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*Nature, of course, is so much more than what we see outdoors.  You and I are part of nature, nature is indoors as well as out, and we find living things in so many unexpected places.  For fun, look in all the nooks and crannies of where you live–we share our habitats with plenty of other creatures!

If that idea doesn’t appeal to you, open an internet browser and do an image search for “nature wins.”