My wife and I were doing some hiking this weekend. This past weekend was an iconic beautiful New England weekend - high cirrus clouds not too humid, not too hot, just beautiful. We went on a walk at a place called Sleeping Giant -named this because it looks like a rather large man laying on his back See Here .
So the winding streams and summer smells all made it yet another wonderful hiking experience. Until:
CRASH-YELL-CRASH-YELL ETC…ETC…
Down came this woman and her teenage daughter. She was a rather rotund woman carrying a two liter bottle of coke, and a grinder [Sub for all you non-New Englanders] yelling, talking loudly, and carrying on.
Now that our relative calm was shattered, she walked past us stating that she, “hated nature”. Her daughter walked past and just coyly smiled.
My wife and I almost awestruck by her boisterous outburst just noded and watched them walk on. I looked at my wife and she at me and we mouthed to eachother {what was that???}
Well I guess she was a woman who hated nature. I guess there are those who do not like the great out-of-doors and those who loath it’s very existance.
So why enter it and walk around rudly stating you hate nature? I mean coke is not necessarily something you’d bring to hydrate yourself on a hike, but I suppose to some it’s fine to bring.
To paint a little picture for you, there is my wife and I both in shorts, hiking boots, camelbaks and walking sticks. One might think we liked what we were doing there in the woods.
Then came nature hater in a sky blue tank top with tight-as-all-get-out black jeans.
If you hate nature, why would you go out in it? That’s the part I don’t get. As for me, I like nature, except for the bits that like to crawl down the back of my shirt when I’m in the woods.
Perhaps that person was there against her will, or maybe she just saw a cute little critter disemboweled by a hawk, or she got jabbed in the boob by a tree limb, or started her period and was frantic to find a whatchamacallit.
I’ve gone places I didn’t enjoy, although I’m not very damn likely to rant loudly about it, so I can understand how your kid could beg and plead for weeks to go see something that turns out to suck.
Or she was just a miserable old hag that wanted to suck the joy out of all existence and shame her daughter out of trying anything new ever again.
Bugs. I love the outdoors, but flies, wasps, mosquitos, etc. sure do test my patience. And having to pee in the woods. It’s brought me the closest I’ve been to penis envy.
I don’t get it either. After a week of thunderstorms, my local creeks and rivers were wild this weekend. We kayaked two different rivers on Saturday, and one other on Sunday. Saturday night we put the sleeping bags out on my deck and watched the meteor show. I invited a friend to come kayak with us, but he declined because it was “too hot”. WTF?
As long as nature haters stay home, that’s cool. More to go around for the rest of us.
At a guess, she was there against her wishes, if not against her will, and she wanted everyone to know it. Everyone being anyone who had talked her into coming. So that they could know that they were putting her out and to encourage them not to do it again.
I know that bugs and weather can get in the way of an enjoyable outdoors experience, but for me the fresh air and natural beauty of it all makes the negatives seem trivial.
Having said that, after being in a tent for 3 nights I’m ready to be back inside and shower fresh.
People who “hate” nature like you describe are probably dramatic and used to being pampered. In my experience the people who hate getting outdoors hate being bothered to do much of anything.
Yes, it just sounds like family drama. My guess would be that, amoung other things, she dressed and packed for a picnic at a park (hence the 2 liter) and then found out too late that she had to walk through the woods. I wouldn’t assume she really hates nature, unless you saw her carving up a tree or starting a forest fire or something.
I don’t the fact that she was a bad dresser is really relavent, I love nature but I’ll wear old street clothes to a picnic and such, I’m sure I don’t exactly look like a LLBean model. Its not like you need proper hiking gear to enter a state park.
I think this is close to the mark, but not quite. All of the things listed so far: bugs, getting sweaty (implied: physical excertion), providing for yourself (bringing along water/food) are characteristics of the underlying reason: discomfort. Nothing more than that. The people who “hate” nature, hate the discomfort involved with experiencing nature. That is, they’re pussies ! The insulation of “civilized” life has reduced their tolerance to discomfort to almost nill.
Put another way, the people who love nature are willing to sacrifice some level of discomfort to experience and expose themselves to the beauty of the natural world (first hand - as opposed to seeing it on Discovery channel). That is, they accept the “price” they must pay to experience these places - and it is worth it.
This has struck me most when backpacking. Despite whatever anyone may tell you, backpacking is…work. Days without bathing, food you would only eat out of desperation, sores on your hips that last for days, etc… But then you wake up to see the reflection of this mountain peak in a mirror-like lake. And after you awe in the beauty and serenity of the experience, you wonder just how many people get to see/experience this first-hand. And even on the most popular trails, you realize it is a VERY small number. But it is worth all the discomfort. Those images and experiences are etched in your psyche, and you can always draw on them (like I just did to brighten your day/your life.
I hate nature. And I take a LOT of shit for it. I’ve seen my fair share of spoiled people who wouldn’t go camping because they ARE too dramatic and pampered to be away from showers, e-mail, air conditioning, restaurants. But if you’re like me, you just don’t “get it” I just really really don’t. I’ve tried. I’ve been on a few weeks long camping tour of new england.
I do not think that it is me being dramatic or spoiled or any lack of vision or insight on my part. I mean I do work in science and I’m good at math and not really your typical creative type but I do find beauty and appreciate what I consider to be majestic and powerful.
For example, standing in the signature lounge at the top of the John Hancock building in chicago at night for the first time is my equivalent. I’ve been camping, i’ve seen sunrises, waterfalls, beaches, deserts, and this was the first time I felt like I was going to cry because something was so amazing. It was incredible to think about how humans are such small animals yet managed to build something like Chicago with nothing but steel, cunning, and determination.
My friends know better than to ask me along when they go the tourist club in muir woods. Its a several mile hike up to a bar where you drink, and then hike back. I REALLY don’t get this. I’m just usually like “what the fuck guys…there’s a bar right down the street”
But those of us who hate nature, we’re not bad people and we’re not shallow. Everyone likes what they like. Some of us get terrible sunburns and bug bites. Some of us like to go skiing, and camping and hiking. And some of us like to have like to sip wine at a cafe in the middle of Paris. To each his own.
OH! Nature knows damn well why I hate it and until it apologizes, I aint talking.
The real question is why was she there. If she hated nature, why not do what she likes. Maybe teen daughter was trying to get her mom to be more active.
Because hiking and camping and fishing and hunting are so BORING! I can’t get into any of them. Sure, I don’t like bugs, and I don’t like to sweat, but these activities just don’t provide the same excitement potential for me as for other people.
I wouldn’t have been that lady, because you wouldn’t have ever gotten me to go into the damn woods to begin with.
I don’t hate nature - but I don’t really like hiking that much.* From time to time, I go anyway thinking that this time, it will be different; occasionally it is. Sometimes, the experience is just awful. I’m getting eaten alive by flies, no matter how much repellent I’ve used or I’ve fallen, or gotten hit by branches, or dirt has gotten into everything, or there were slugs everywhere (in trees and underfoot), or thorns or whatever. At the end of those hikes, I hate nature.
*My ideal camping trip would be using my transporter beam to end up in the middle of the forest, hanging out for a couple of days, and then beaming back to civilization. Sadly, no one has yet invented that pivotal piece of camping equipment. I like riding, so horseback is a pretty good way to get out to nature.
to brighten your day/your life.
