Touching grass isn't enough

struck by the thought that more of life should feel that way—that it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect the deeply engrossing parts to be more than rare exceptions.

satisfying emotional contact, connection with the natural world, connection to the source of our being,

I found something oddly comforting in the way the greenery wrapped me in an embrace. The plants were fragile and alive and impermanent—just like me—and yet, they’d still managed to reclaim the ancient structure. It was a little inspiring.

There were other people at the gardens that day who seemed to be tuned into this secret, but most of the people I saw were going around like I always had, observing nature like scientists conducting a study. The garden was something to collect, or analyze, or capture. I’ve seen this kind of tree before, I’ll file that under “seen it.” This kind I h