The Power of Nature

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shibapawz

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This evening I sat out on my porch watching a massive thunderstorm rolling in. I watched the clouds blow by, I watched the "pieces" of the thunderstorm cloud move in - the wall cloud, the rain base, etc. I thought about how this process is just so amazing. I watched and heard the wall of rain coming in. I felt the calming coolness of the rain as it blew in after a hot, muggy, sticky day. I thought about how this powerful event is a balancing of energy.

And I nearly cried.

It was so moving. Sometimes I watch these events unfold and I think about how insignificant my problems are, how myriad my existence is. I thought about how the world will go on regardless of what happens to me and how it will bring its beauty to everyone who pays attention to it.

While I write this I sit and listen to some of my favorite songs and I'm even moved by the physics involved in something so simple to bring me great joy. At times I've credited my music with saving my life. It stuns me how the simple collision of air particles compression under the movement of a cone can trigger such emotion.

I just wanted to get that out there. Does anyone ever have these moments? If so, feel free to share them.
 
I agree: thunderstorms are amazing. I have had the privilege of watching thunderstorms form up in the mountains of the western part of the U.S. and I think that is even more amazing: to watch them come over the peaks and send the lightning out in all directions--or to see a double rainbow up against a mountain peak. It is also wondrous to be on a mountain road and have lightning flash and strike BELOW you, altitude-wise. Nature is truly powerful!
 
Wow! That sounds just amazing! I've never been able to see the Rockies, let alone leave my State :rolleyes:

So much of it has fascinated me for a long time. I love to photograph the spectacles whenever I can. I've got a nice collection of amazing lightning shots.
 
shibapawz said:
Wow! That sounds just amazing! I've never been able to see the Rockies, let alone leave my State :rolleyes:

So much of it has fascinated me for a long time. I love to photograph the spectacles whenever I can. I've got a nice collection of amazing lightning shots.

Thinking about what you've said. As small and numerous as we humans are, we may also be the most important part of the world. It's us humans who can not just experience the storm, but sense its wonder. I watch my wonderful golden retriever, and as smart and intuitive as she is, she's simply afraid of the storm. She stays close to us for protection.

But you have connected it to the wonder of sound and music. I'm a church music director and in my prayers to the choir, I thank God for the gift of sound, hearing and the complex mystery of music. The world is still full of mysteries and I'm more grateful for that, than many of the answered questions.
 
Shibapawz, what an excellent thread. I will share one of the most profound moments I have experienced in nature. It was on one of my many trips to Colorado. I was driving in the State park near Pikes Peak. I found a lake in the mountains with Pikes Peak visible in the distance. It was brilliantly sunny but cool. I walked to the shore and sat down and listened. You could hear the wind rustling the leaves of the Aspen trees, and the gentle lapping of water against the stones. And that was it! No people, no cars. Just the quiet sounds of nature against a majestic background. For just a moment, it felt eternal.

Wow! Anyway, that is my peacful place.
 
dogboy said:
But you have connected it to the wonder of sound and music. I'm a church music director and in my prayers to the choir, I thank God for the gift of sound, hearing and the complex mystery of music. The world is still full of mysteries and I'm more grateful for that, than many of the answered questions.

I too have laid out in my prayers my thankfulness for such a simple gift, and for all of my senses. As you mentioned before the gift of sense and our ability to understand the wonder is something that I am eternally thankful for - what a gift!


Philosophy said:
That sounds amazing! I live next to a mountain and I can see thunderstorms get stuck up on the mountain, almost never make it to me. Very cool to watch though.

I bet that is awesome to watch! For some reason storms near me don't always make it here so its fun to watch the thunderstorms off in the distance!


Little2Roo said:
Shibapawz, what an excellent thread. I will share one of the most profound moments I have experienced in nature. It was on one of my many trips to Colorado. I was driving in the State park near Pikes Peak. I found a lake in the mountains with Pikes Peak visible in the distance. It was brilliantly sunny but cool. I walked to the shore and sat down and listened. You could hear the wind rustling the leaves of the Aspen trees, and the gentle lapping of water against the stones. And that was it! No people, no cars. Just the quiet sounds of nature against a majestic background. For just a moment, it felt eternal.

Wow! Anyway, that is my peacful place.

Thanks for sharing Deke! I do the same thing when I travel to one of my favorite rivers. I'll just sit on the bench nearby and listen to the water glide by, and its even fun to watch the occasional coal train run down the line beside the river.
 
dogboy said:
Thinking about what you've said. As small and numerous as we humans are, we may also be the most important part of the world. It's us humans who can not just experience the storm, but sense its wonder. I watch my wonderful golden retriever, and as smart and intuitive as she is, she's simply afraid of the storm. She stays close to us for protection.

But you have connected it to the wonder of sound and music. I'm a church music director and in my prayers to the choir, I thank God for the gift of sound, hearing and the complex mystery of music. The world is still full of mysteries and I'm more grateful for that, than many of the answered questions.

Philosophy said:
That sounds amazing! I live next to a mountain and I can see thunderstorms get stuck up on the mountain, almost never make it to me. Very cool to watch though.

Yes it does, I'm gonna be honest I'm mostly a home body due to the fact that I don't have a car.
 
Little2Roo said:
Shibapawz, what an excellent thread. I will share one of the most profound moments I have experienced in nature. It was on one of my many trips to Colorado. I was driving in the State park near Pikes Peak. I found a lake in the mountains with Pikes Peak visible in the distance. It was brilliantly sunny but cool. I walked to the shore and sat down and listened. You could hear the wind rustling the leaves of the Aspen trees, and the gentle lapping of water against the stones. And that was it! No people, no cars. Just the quiet sounds of nature against a majestic background. For just a moment, it felt eternal.

Wow! Anyway, that is my peacful place.

That sounds awesome. I had a very similar experience when I visited the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. About a half mile off the main road so no cars, no people, and no sound of any kind. The Tetons were off in the background breaking a perfectly blue sky. The trees completely surrounded the lake protecting it from the wind. The lake itself mirrored the entire background with exacting detail making for a very surreal experience.
 
KittyninjaW said:
Yes it does, I'm gonna be honest I'm mostly a home body due to the fact that I don't have a car.

There's nothing wrong with being a homebody! I consider myself one too - but you don't have to go far to appreciate these things. I was just out on my porch of my apartment. Nature has a habit of bringing the beauty to you when you least expect it and regardless of where you might be. :)

arcituthis said:
That sounds awesome. I had a very similar experience when I visited the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. About a half mile off the main road so no cars, no people, and no sound of any kind. The Tetons were off in the background breaking a perfectly blue sky. The trees completely surrounded the lake protecting it from the wind. The lake itself mirrored the entire background with exacting detail making for a very surreal experience.

I would love to go to the Grand Tetons. They are on my bucket list - and I've seen some stunning photographs of the area. Of course I'd have to visit the wonder of Yellowstone while I was over that way too!
 
Just had another "power of nature" moment yesterday. I was simply driving home from work. It was mostly cloudy, then suddenly the sun broke through and there were literally rays of sunlight reaching from the clouds to the ground. It looked light sunlight showers! Very serene.
 
What's awesome about this thread is that it gets you thinking about 'the power of nature'. Once you start thinking about it, you start to notice it and appreciate it more.
 
Living in the northwest, I can visit a lot of beautiful places that right outside my door.
One of my most memorable experiences was last year, just north of canon beach in Oregon. It was 1 in the morning, I was camping with the family, but I couldn't sleep, so I took a lawn chair and went down to the water. There was a beautiful full moon out, and for some reason, it had a large silver ring around it. I sat there for 3 hours, listening to the waves and just being there.
The moon, mixed with the ocean was just powerful. My problems and life seemed so small and insignificant. I felt like I was in the presence of God himself and it was just....amazing.
Here's a picture of the beach at sunsetuploadfromtaptalk1433439475309.jpg
 
Little2Roo and Chanch0, thank you for sharing those moments you've had. I love to see how other people take in the power of nature and I love to hear their tales of wonder. Chanch0, I too have been in some places that I've felt the presence of God in the beauty of the land and scene. And I love your sig - too long have I been trying to describe music in a divine way but that quote captures it perfectly.

arcituthis said:
What's awesome about this thread is that it gets you thinking about 'the power of nature'. Once you start thinking about it, you start to notice it and appreciate it more.

That was my intention and I'm glad you mentioned this, because too often do we just let the little things slip by unnoticed. Go look up how a white blood cell works, I nearly cried at the beauty of something like that. Life is just so amazing in so many ways and we just need to slow down sometimes and appreciate just how delicately complex and balanced it truly is.
 
I have seen the sun rise over the Atlantic and set in the Pacific. I’ve seen beautiful snowfalls where everything is clean and white.
I also spent four years working a national disaster crew for the Bell Telephone system. I worked floods in Pennsylvania, Hurricanes in Florida and Texas, Tornados in Oklahoma, Ohio, and Michigan, Forest fires and landslides in California, and even an avalanche in Washington State.
So I have seen mother nature at her best and her worse.
 
shibapawz said:
Chanch0, I too have been in some places that I've felt the presence of God in the beauty of the land and scene. And I love your sig - too long have I been trying to describe music in a divine way but that quote captures it perfectly. .

Thank you :). My sig is a poem that my choir director reads to us before every concert. The last concert of the year, she gives the seniors a framed copy of it that she puts together by hand. Also, this poem is even more significant because the director is my mom. Needless to say, it was a really difficult and emotional concert. Sorry to get off topic lol
 
I always feel calm during storms. It's like the wild nature of nature takes all the stress and worries out of me. I always seem to be working when they hit, though, so I do lots of window raining.

But storms are so overly loved. The towering clouds and mountains are good and all (and I live by them, so I'm always reminded of how big they are), but I also love the small power of nature... things so intricate and delicate that observing them closely crushes your grandeur and pales your senses to them. Even if it's just a web, or the leaves of a tree, or the ripples in a lake, there is so much there, and trying to take it all in is overwhelming... just in a different way.

Or maybe the things spawned from nature all have power. There's beauty and power in all its constructs, even things made by people. Even the ugly things, like the noxious brown cloud rusting the air of the town and the pure blue hovering over it, or the brilliant chrome mechanisms with their fancy reflections and twisting patterns.


Or maybe I'm just weird.
 
Chanch0,

A beautiful tale of where the quote came from and I love how it is applied. :)

Ringer,

Yes nature has her good and bad sides. I take them both in stride because it reminds us that we are not the rulers of this world, although we like to think we are, we are just but a small piece in such a large, forgiving, and resilient system.

SpottedLion,

I know the beauty you speak of. My intention was not to say that only the big things in life need to be recognized, but to show that the power of nature extends even into the smallest of places. I've sat up before for a few hours watching a spider spin a web night after night. I've watched how the amazing concoction of ingredients in the oven produces a magnificent meal. I love to watch the dance of fire and think about how amazing it is. There is so much to enjoy about nature, big and small. Thank you for sharing!

And thank you all for your comments :)
It is nice to see so many enjoy what is around us.
 
I'm sitting out on my porch having a quick smoke to round out the week, nothing better than relaxing, listening to some good tunes and enjoying the evening as the sun goes down. As I sit here, a sizeable doe just walked right past me, carefully, looking for plants to nibble on. Can't wait to move out to the country again to enjoy these sites more often :)
 
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