passage2

I believe watching nature programs on television is not going to give us and our children a 
real experience of nature. On the contrary, they may distance us from nature – actual nature – even further. 
Because real nature experiences mean contact with nature. It means being with and within nature, to experience it with all five senses. 
True, TV programs give us joy but they will never be able to help us form a relationship with nature. We watch our small screens come alive with the vivid colors and we all let out “aahhhh …” and “wooooow”. But, never once will we feel the pleasure of being close to nature. 
Worse still – the programs such as those on the Discovery Channel make nature seem so 
strange, and so far away, in the forests of the Amazon or in the wilds of Africa. Children may grow up without even realizing that the flowers, plants or a couple of trees in their backyard are nature and they are equally precious. The truth is – nature is so close to us. We don’t need to go anywhere far to enjoy such experiences. It is right there in our backyards. Or, in parks, gardens, forests, or national parks. 
All we need to do is make an effort to get closer to nature – know it, appreciate it, and explore it. Feeling the soil under our feet and the wind in our hair; listening to the sound of the fallen leaves and taking in the smell of the wet soil – all these are pure joy to the senses that we must experience.