How I Became Interested In Nature

Being encouraged by one's family definitely helps, and there is much that parents can do to teach their children about nature and the environment. When my great-grandparents came to Canada, they had a choice of several farms and they chose the one which was most scenic, because that was what my great-grandmother liked.

Her son (my grandfather) used to stay up late at night and read the Encyclopedia Britannicas by oil-lamp, so that he could learn about the different kinds of plants, trees, animals and birds etc. He became very knowledgeable about the subject and he got along well with the Indians, as they both shared a concern about nature. He passed on his knowledge to his son (my father) who, in turn, taught me a great deal about it.

When I was young, we still lived on the family farm and my mother used to take us on walks to the nearby lake, a pond, the woods and fields. She taught us about the different plants, birds, etc. which we saw and when we were a bit older, she taught us about gardening.

As a student, I did not have as much to do with nature but I gradually came back to it. I learned a great deal from the Conservation Authority at Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto. I also joined the Toronto Field Naturalists and went on their nature walks and attended their lectures. This was a good learning opportunity as well, because the group included very knowledgeable people, some of them retired biologists.

Then I found that I could learn more about nature by going on outings by myself, because in a group there is more of a tendency to pay attention to the other members of the group than to be able to use your senses and experience nature as a deeper meditation. So, I went on quite a few outings by bicycle or on foot to various parks in Toronto.