Growing up, my family moved around a lot. But, there was always a reoccurring theme to each move. We lived in the city. In other words, we were surrounded by man-made nature. The grass in my front yard was there because someone had laid down sod, or planted seeds to make it grow. The same can be said for the trees and the shrubs. They were all there because the owners of the houses planted them. The nature I grew up in wasn't 'natural'.
I was born in Washington state, and six months later, I moved for the first time to Illinois. This started the journey of moving every three years. Illinois is a strange state. It's full of cornfields, random farm houses, and then all of a sudden, you're in the city. The place we moved to is called Morton, Illinois. It's the pumpkin capitol of the U.S., all the canned pumpkin you buy at the store will most likely come from Morton, IL.
So it's not like I wasn't surrounded by some type of nature. I had corn fields on the other side of the houses that were across the street from us. But I've always lived in houses that were less than 20 feet away from the neighbors to the side of us, and maybe 20 yards from the neighbor's behind us.
I didn't grow up with 'natural' nature, but I wouldn't say that I missed out on anything. I wasn't surrounded by concrete, or in some type of living jail. My life just didn't have 'natural' nature in it. The fields and crops were all planted by man. Also, the grass in all of the neighborhoods were planted by man. Actually, the grass was more like crab grass, which my family always called fake grass, and it was super pokey and hurt like crazy to walk barefoot on. I grew up as a 'city girl' because I knew nothing different. It's not that I don't go outside to see and appreciate nature, but I don't see what the difference is between man made nature and 'natural' nature.
I was born in Washington state, and six months later, I moved for the first time to Illinois. This started the journey of moving every three years. Illinois is a strange state. It's full of cornfields, random farm houses, and then all of a sudden, you're in the city. The place we moved to is called Morton, Illinois. It's the pumpkin capitol of the U.S., all the canned pumpkin you buy at the store will most likely come from Morton, IL.
So it's not like I wasn't surrounded by some type of nature. I had corn fields on the other side of the houses that were across the street from us. But I've always lived in houses that were less than 20 feet away from the neighbors to the side of us, and maybe 20 yards from the neighbor's behind us.
I didn't grow up with 'natural' nature, but I wouldn't say that I missed out on anything. I wasn't surrounded by concrete, or in some type of living jail. My life just didn't have 'natural' nature in it. The fields and crops were all planted by man. Also, the grass in all of the neighborhoods were planted by man. Actually, the grass was more like crab grass, which my family always called fake grass, and it was super pokey and hurt like crazy to walk barefoot on. I grew up as a 'city girl' because I knew nothing different. It's not that I don't go outside to see and appreciate nature, but I don't see what the difference is between man made nature and 'natural' nature.