Wild Flower Meadows
Sadly, wild flower meadows are becoming a rare sight. When
I was young, I grew up on a farm and played in wild flower
meadows daily. Nowadays farmer get grants to set aside land
for the wildlife, but the problem is the land set aside is
already saturated in a cocktail of anti nature chemicals.
On the farm I grew up on the wild flower meadow was a field
that now and then would contain a few cattle or a couple of
horses and when the field was empty nature would spring up
in a glorious bloom of delicate and intricate colour. There
were lots of patches of land the farmer would leave for a
year or two so the land could recuperate and grow wild, but
nowadays farmers cannot afford the luxury of leaving a field
empty for a couple of years. The cost of living forces the
farmer, like us all, to make the most of every acre of land
because of a necessity to balance the books. I don't blame
the farmer. I blame the unreasonable pressure of modern day
society to gather wealth. Unfortunately that drive for greater
wealth has blinded us to the greater wealth that nature creates
free of charge all around us everyday.
I remember growing up and spending hours of blissful pleasure
on lazy summer days watching rabbits hop playfully around,
of watching bluetits busilly scavanging the bushes, of buzzards
circling over head, of watching the occasional fox warily
creep through a field and stalk the rabbits... Oh, how I miss
those hours of bliss spent in wild flower meadows. But I look
around and realise that today I probably would not be afforded
that simple pleasure. I would probably spend those hours playing
a computer game or watching TV.
In my opinion it is important that society rediscover the
value of the wild flower meadow. It is a place man can really
connect to nature and in so doing we discover new dimensions
in ourselves. In a wild flower meadow we can truly feel alive
and we can truly learn to appreciate all the life we share
this wonderful world with. All life forms add their own colour
in the world. It is important we embrace all the colours with
equal value.
Tim Rees
