Ashley Basta, Editor-in-Chief of The Banner, WRHS

For those of us who spend the weekdays constantly going, going, going, the weekend provides time for relaxation and escape. Driving to the mountains last Saturday, I was struck by a being on this planet that seems to be more and more widely ignored every day. This being is greater than any species, religion or organization that we have created and has the power to smite the entire human race whenever it likes. During that drive, I noticed nature. It surely wasn't the first time that my appreciation was centered on the things that man has not yet affected, and I know it will not be the last. I beheld the mountains and the sky and the trees, and while nothing looked differently on that Saturday than any other day, I suddenly felt more small and insignificant as compared to the beautiful scenes flying by my car window.

Born into the "highly civilized" United States, not many of us would recognize a lifestyle outside of the city. In an attempt to create paradise, mankind has forever been developing technologically. Cell phones give us immediate contact with anyone on the planet, the Internet provides us information through the same efficient process, highway systems make it simple to travel 20 miles in 15 minutes and there have been enough entertainment inventions to keep the entire population occupied for eternity. We live in a society that completely revolves around us and our "needs." The accommodations that have been made for us are more than enough to convince our majority that we are most important on this planet, and that the natural beauties that were thrown into the deal are just as much "for us" as are the technological systems that have been built around them.

A novel that falls at the top of my recommendation list, Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, opened my eyes to a conviction that nearly all of mankind, and certainly all of Wheat Ridge, is hopelessly held captive by: that the earth belongs to man. Whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, the lifestyles most of us live are efficient, productive and completely manipulative of the resources we have been provided with. It is a sad truth but one that can be neither ignored nor immediately changed.

By simply admiring nature and acknowledging that it has infinite value, even without the influence of man, we pay tribute to its greatness. It will not be until we can reciprocate it's willingness to be modified for our well-being that we will be able to live as harmoniously as do the birds and the trees, but we of course can try. It is important to remember that the earth was not created for human beings and that we are part of the same community of life as are the animals, plants and landforms that we observe.

Nothing is more humbling than feeling the outskirts of the ocean on our feet, seeing infinity above us in the evening sky, or flying quickly down a mountain that is a hundred times mightier than we are. The earth has existed immensely longer than any form of man has, and its intricacies will never cease to put man's technological advances to shame. It is those very technological advances that condition us to forget what existence is for. We are so busy that many of us never have time to simply 'be,' or to appreciate all that simply 'is.' The world we live upon is a miracle and it would be wonderful if humans could eventually take part in it.