As a kid, my parents would take me on these walks around this nature preserve near our house.  Basically a big forest.  Admittedly I never enjoyed this.  I never understood why we had to do this.  There was nothing to look at.

Prior to that, my view of nature was the following: Central Park.  That was it.  That was nature.  As a kid going to elementary school in Manhattan, that’s where they took us to see “nature.”  Not to knock Central Park because it is very beautiful, but it isn’t wild and unspoiled.

Well, neither is Spectacle Island and George’s Island, where I now love to visit but there is something just wonderful about being out in the nature.  Something that makes you feel very good about your surroundings.

I’ve finally learned to love nature: