Not a Petrified City

 Novalis, the 18th century German philosopher, mystic and poet, wrote, "Nature is a petrified magic city." I wish I could have read this quotation in its wider context, because as it stands, I could not disagree more. At least with his first adjective... magic city, yes, petrified...?

Because one thing I know for certain, Nature is *never* petrified. Since lockdown began, I have been walking most days in Salcey Forest, the entrance to which is only five minutes' walk away from my front door. And I have been thrilled by being able to witness the ever-changing landscape of my daily walk, from the buds and new growth of Spring, the full glorious greenness of Summer and the wonderfully changeful colours of Autumn. Even today, on a grey and misty morning, I have seen things still growing, still changing. And I know that even in the depths of Winter, there will still be activity in the natural world - I will still be able to see evergreen trees, and holly berries and listen to the birds overhead. Seeds will be waiting under the soil, ready to burst forth with new life next year.

Even mountains and rocks, like the ones pictured on the postcard, are not entirely petrified. They may seem so, to our human eyes, but if they are also subject to change as wind, sun and rain act on them. And rivers and seas have the power to soften jagged outlines over time. One of my regular activities, when we visit our favourite part of Wales, is to walk along the stones thrown up by the tide and marvel at the rounded shapes and multifarious colours of the pebbles.

A while ago, my son persuaded us to watch an astonishing video on YouTube, called Timelapse of the Future: A Journey to the End of Time, which took the longest view of our future as it is possible to take. It is here and is well worth a watch. It showed that everything, absolutely everything, is subject to change.

Watching it made me feel very small and insignificant. On the scale of universes, we are not even microscopice dots on microscopic dots. Nevertheless, we are here in a particular time and place, and it is our responsibility to do whatever we can, where we are, to ensure that Nature continues to be a magic city, not a petrified one.