Scars.

An abandoned railway somewhere between Whistler and Blackcombe (Canaydia).

As I write, I have gentle goosebumps sweeping across my skin, thinking about a conversation (one of many subjects!) I had with a very special hooman this morning. He said, ‘that’s the thing about scars in our landscape and how nature reclaims what we have abandoned.’

And so my mind began to stir. What does nature get up to after we’ve gone?

Decaying railways, industry, buildings, reminding us of the inevitable process of history. And, eventually the wild world reclaims what it once called its own. Like an open book, when things are left behind by us, our incredible planet reveals this incredible primordial geophysical process called the re-emergence of life! This journey through time, space, and diversity that strengthens our bond with nature and inspires respect for the Earth. When nature reclaims the scars we have created, the industrial pulse we have left to decay, the beauty and breadth of untamed nature that rekindles life is utterly extraordinary. Sometimes unbridled, sometimes serene, always moving and eloquent – nature is an unlimited source of inspiration.

Nature returns industry to the origins of life (Scotland).

The ground we walk on has been shaped, since its origin, by the wondrous forces of nature. The soil is a great connector of our lives, the source and destination of all…like actors on a cosmic conspiracy, meteorites, volcanoes, earthquakes join forces with wind, and water, and gravity and keep transforming the Earth’s crust and we are privileged to experience the striking phenomena of peaked mountains, vast plateaus and plains, depressions, deep natural scarring ravines, fjords, ocean trenches, dunes, cliffs. Such potent force: life. Ours is a rocky planet, born out of chaos, driven by evolution, home to hundreds of habitats and millions of species. It’s no surprise really, that when Homo sapiens have finished harnessing what they need, that nature has this incredible capability of re-forging lush, bountiful, magnificent landscapes. Nature’s kitsugari.

Somewhere near Snowdon. Nature transforming the scars we have left behind (Wales).

I suppose when you find pockets of abandoned places like ghost towns, church yards or disused mines that hold stories, some might see the darkness, as to what a world would look like after an apocalypse. To me, it shows how much stronger Mother Nature is than us. While two-leggeds are intelligent enough to appreciate the remarkable history of life on our gorgeous planet, I think even today, we’ve yet to grasp fully, the responsibility that comes with this awareness, and figure out how to protect Earth, rather than ravage it for it’s preciousness with our unrelenting industry-driven ambitions.

Haunting remnants of human life, ivy and creeping plants reclaiming what once was theirs (Dartmoor).

Take a look around next time you head out on a mooch – the past lingers in the corners and just there, through broken windows and cracks on railway bridges, nature is reclaiming the places it has lent to us. Incredible. Simply so.