Man vs. Nature

Humans and nature have always fought to claim territory. Of course the battles between humans and humans have been bloodier, but the silent battle of nature is relentless and powerful. In many cases, man seeks to control nature and make it organized, subservient and to exploit natural resources for personal gain without concern for environmental ramifications. Every time I see a flower nudging up through a fissure in concrete, I am amazed at the immense will of this tiny life form.

Here on Pohnpei, the relationship between man and nature is more obvious. This transparency is due to how closely the two interact. There is, of course, a constant struggle for control, but there seems to be a more harmonious give-and-take. 

Driveways and outdoor gardens are lined with potted plants, either to control the size of the plant and keep it from spreading, or so that the plant can be sold or given away. People live closer to the land. They play and work in it.

Where there is forest, it is dense and plentiful. One day, I saw workers cleaning out a patch of dense forest from which the grave sites for the land owner’s family were revealed. I was told that the trees had not always been there, but that it grows in every year and then must be chopped down again.

There are no cemetaries here. People bury family on family land. Our landlord's parents are buried in a room attached to our neighbors' house. 

When I was little, spending summers in Traverse City, Michigan, I would make forts from natural materials. Once the fort was "constructed," I would find a swath of pine with which to sweep the forest floor to reveal a nice clean dirt floor (up to play fort standards). Most land-owners here take the same amount of care in the ground all around their home. To clear debris, they make and use 

outdoor stick brooms made of a bundle of the dried center ribs of palm leaves.

Forests take over abandoned cars, houses and the road around the island at rapid speed. 

Machetes are carried around to cut back the forest and reveal the road or path again. 

For years I've been saying that I am genetically designed to live in a tropical climate, with the length of my appendages being good for rapid body-temperature cooling. This is usually said through chattering teeth.

I am thankful. I feel blessed for the opportunity to live in this natural paradise. In terms of survival, there is no need for heavy clothes, plenty of food always in season, lots of seafood in the sea and fresh water falls from the sky daily. Nature provides everything the people here need. Meanwhile, the cargo ships provide what the people think they want, and across-the-board handouts diminish the potential for growth in an otherwise industrious society. Maybe that I why I love micro-loan programs. But I digress. Living here has made me feel closer to nature as well. I don't feel the need to cut it back, but my appreciation of the strength of the forest has intensified. Is it possible to root for both sides of opposing forces? Maybe only when the two are aiming for the same thing.