What Big Ears You Have

Day 123: All too frequently, I see people in nature preserves and wild areas walking with their eyes glued to their phones (or talking on them), oblivious to the world around them. I don't understand the mentality. Why go into a natural area if you do not intend to experience it with all possible senses? You won't hear the soft hoot of a nesting owl with a phone at your ear. You won't see a family of deer if you're chasing virtual creatures on your screen. The family ahead of me on the boardwalk walked past two browsing does without a glance at them, missing the opportunity to point them out to the youngest member of the group (kindergarten age). Okay, deer are common. My point is that they didn't even SEE them. And what about the parties (several) who passed the Great Horned Owl by, not even curious as to what the paparazzi had gathered to photograph? Of course I don't expect people to share my enthusiasm for lichens on fence rails, but I was appalled at the number of people who seemed oblivious to nature even though they'd paid a fee to see it "in the raw."