Tag Archives: walking in the Ozarks

Lonely Landscapes Fallacy

I read nature essays and find lonely landscapes described as empty, vast wastelands. The writer is alone.

Most mornings I go out walking across empty fields. I am alone. I would never describe the fields as empty or lonely. They teem with life.

lonely landscapes
Looking deserted, this expanse of pasture hosts deer, wild turkeys, crows, sparrows, myriads of insects, hundreds of plants. It is never lonely.

What about a desert? Even the driest desert has occupants.

My fields are crowded with grass and various wildflowers commonly called weeds. The sweet everlasting plants are widely spaced, yet are not lonely. Insects visit. The breeze slips through the branches. An occasional turtle or armadillo wanders by.

pasture and trees
Inside that line of trees is a creek that gurgles, bubbles, tumbles and glugs as it flows over the gravel. Fish and more make the creek home. The trees host birds and give voice to the wind.

Even the hills reaching up from the pastures aren’t lonely. Standing underneath I listen to the wind whispering through the leaves. A few asters still bloom attracting insects. Spiders skitter across fallen leaves. Acorns drop bashing through the leaves and thunking onto the ground. Squirrels crash through the leaves.

Those lonely landscapes are only lonely for the person standing there alone.

sweet everlasting
Scattered across the field are individual sweet everlasting plants. Each is alone, yet not alone.

Most people are surrounded by other people now. When they aren’t, they are jabbering on their phones with others. Being out of communication with others is traumatic for many now.

When people do go out into those lonely landscapes, they seem to take their security devices with them. Music blares drowning out the wind, birds and insects. Sending selfies to friends and asking for their approval and opinions keeps them from looking and thinking about where they are.

lonely landscapes of woods
Take care walking through the woods up an Ozark hill. It’s easy to get lost. This tree growing out of a rock is an easy landmark for me. Standing under the trees lets me listen in on the wind, hear insects zip by, get scolded by a squirrel or watch a turtle walk by. The woods are never a lonely place.

Those empty of people fields filled with natural sounds are not lonely for me. I enjoy being away from the hustle and bustle of the house and barn. I am comfortable with my own thoughts. My walks are over too soon.

Those lonely landscapes are only lonely for people who find being alone disturbing. It is their own sense of loneliness being projected onto the landscape. That is a shame. Being alone with your thoughts is how you find out who you are because you have no one but you to explore it.

Haiku is one way to describe landscapes. Find them in “My Ozark Home.”