Society and Nature

April 8, 2017April 11, 2017 / naturskrivare / Leave a comment

ABOUT MUNIN   Before the days of satellites, the Norse god Odin engaged two ravens to gather news from around the world. Their names were Huginn and Muninn. The former represents memory and logic, the second impressions and intuition. Every morning they flew out, and every evening they returned to Odin’s shoulders to tell what they had seen. Ravens are amazingly clever and attentive. I have installed a little perch under the eve of my roof, inviting the second one – because he interests me more – to stop by . . .

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MY PURPOSE is to explore NATURE, that frame within which we live, the obviously precarious “platform” we totally depend on, and how it changes, how we change it, how we change when it changes, the interaction between Society and Nature.

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I am intrigued by professor Roland P Martinson, Austin, Texas: “First we have Society and Nature. Then we have those who study Society and Nature. Then we have those who study those who study Society and Nature. Those are the philosophers. They are not in possession of (a particular) knowledge, but they posses a perspective.”  I do not call myself philosopher, but here I see that I will be busy for what remains of my life. . .

Note in March 2019: since I wrote this intro, global warming, the garbage deluge, and the fate of our earth have increasingly come in focus and very serious problems are gathering at the horizon. Some names of qualified commentators that I follow for guidance are Sir David Attenborough, Roy Scranton, Kevin Anderson – and the perplexing Tim Morton.

The Norse idea of using ravens as reporters indicates a faith – in those days – in Nature’s permanence and trustworthiness – Nature is there till the end of days, and can always be relied on as such. Do we still think like that?

I hope YOU also want to explore. I really hope you will go out and take a look, get to know better the natural world we were sent into, and pay attention to what is going on (and why not also to what happens inside yourself as you establish contact – I say that since I found a very interesting article about the habit of “Forest Bathing” in Japan.)  It is important.  I and my colleagues will be happy to guide you.

www.naturetrailsindonesia.com  gives ideas of places you will want to go to.

Nature to us “modern” people cannot possibly be what it was to the Norsemen. Nature has changed under our interventions, and so have our perceptions of it. And not only for the worse (as I want to demonstrate later). Sweden and Indonesia will serve as primary grounds for my exploration.Through this blog I will try to update you on insights on the interaction between us and our natural environment, using whatever I find from researchers, practitioners, farmers, hikers, and even philosophers where that seems relevant for my inquiry. And I hope these bits and pieces will stir your attention and will make you  go out to see for yourself. 

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ABOUT ME    Lars-Gunnar Blomkvist, born in 1938, in Malmköping in central Sweden. The landscape there is an idyllic and productive mixture of farmland and forest, as in the vignette. My grandparents grew up in this type of “tamed wilderness” and were closely tied to it through the various services it provided and in a sentiment of quiet respect. 1965 MSc in Forestry at the then Royal College of Forestry in Stockholm. Since 1967 mostly working in SE Asia.

Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/lars-gunnar-blomkvist-66889724/

Twitter   @LGBlomkvist

Facebook lars.blomkvist  AND  Nature-Trails-Indonesia

Web page Nature travel  http://www.naturetrailsindonesia.com

Email   forestlgb@hotmail.com

The photo above is of the farm Klovsten, just outside Malmköping, late summer, just after sunrise, with garden,  grazing for sheep and horses, and forest behind. When I went to school. my grandma sent me there to buy fresh eggs