Ecotherapy 365/200 : Free Rein

Congratulations!!! Today we have now spent 200 days together investigating the value of nature's beauty in our everyday lives. Thank you for being here!

I had a long think about what I wanted to share with you to celebrate this milestone and of all the worthy candidates I chose this video featuring an extremely happy moment from my first summer in Norway. Being Australian I was missing the beach incredibly much, even though I was delighted to be living in a snow globe. When the first warm, sunny days rolled around friends told me there was a local beach where everyone went swimming. Naturally I went to investigate, fully kitted out with towel, swimmers, hat, sunglasses, snacks and the like... but I was immediately both disappointed and disgusted. Haha, it's funny now, but it is difficult to convey just how dumbfounded I was to find a tidal mudflat with murky knee-deep water and kids splashing happily in it. Me, I shook my head and got back in the car. Just no! I was left asking myself if 'beach' was defined differently in Norway...

Today's video is the result of my subsequent google-sleuthing where I literally searched maps along the coastline in an arc from east, through north to west around my house until I found something that appeared to be a white strip of sand. It turned out be a pretty little isthmus between the mainland near Talvik and the tiny island of Langnesholmen. Best of all it was within an hour's drive, so I was thrilled and planned to visit the next sunny day. So here we are, standing on that island, even prettier in real life as you can see. And my delight to find a small troop of reindeer taking their summer holidays alongside me. I had such a wonderful day here that it warrants several of its own upcoming videos.

Now we have to address something far less happy. It's the reason behind today's Ecotherapy tip, which is to 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. On this occasion (as shown in today's video) the reindeer were expert at dealing with humans and gave me a wide berth, even though I later realised I was standing in their path and not the other way around. (It takes time to understand any landscape you live upon, and I was still ignorant at this stage). I had a lot of going back and forth with myself about the wording on today's video. In particular the wording, 'This will minimise your impact on their behaviour and help keep them safer', originally was too anthropocentric. I had '...help keep you safer', but in reality it's the animals that need protection from our behaviour and not the other way around. Although I knew this conceptually before, I came to a proper understanding in practice through tragic circumstances also involving reindeer.

During my third summer in Norway I moved from Alta to Hammerfest which meant many car trips across Sennalandet, a high mountain pass through the wild Finnmarksvidda. If you want to encounter large numbers of reindeer it’s basically guaranteed on this road. So I was driving slowly through the reindeer zone when I spotted a herd with several large white males, and a few pretty white calves. I pulled over and did my best to get a good photo. I didn't really succeed and so I started chasing after them (on foot) which ended up splitting the pack into three groups. I kept following the nearest group as they doubled back across the road. Thinking I had a good chance of getting the photo I was after if I headed them off, I diagonally moved through the trees hoping to arrive before them in the direction they were running. In that regard I got what I wanted, plus a short video of them running past, closer than in today's post. But that is where my happiness abruptly came to an end. Due to my selfishness the reindeer calves became disoriented and ran straight out onto the road. To my shame and horror a tourist motorhome that was travelling too fast (and obviously had no experience with the erratic behaviour of reindeer) slammed straight into one of the babies. It had no chance and mercifully it was killed outright. But I knew that I was directly responsible (along with the driver of course), and I really took this terrible accident to heart. I was so traumatised that I couldn't drive. After some considerable time sobbing, I called a series of my Norwegian friends in floods of tears confessing my guilt. They were kind and consoled me but to this day I carry that pain. Please, let’s do our best to respect the needs of wild animals and not allow our own desire to interact cause them harm.

Smile to yourself

#ecotherapy #friluftsliv #naturetherapy #outdoors #wellbeing #animalwelfare #reindeer #rein #summer #frihet #freedom #arctic #altafjord #isnestoften #finnmark #norway #twowildfeet
____________________

Location : Isnestoften, Norway

Music : Roaming the Island (Adriel Fair) - Epidemic Sound

Видео Ecotherapy 365/200 : Free Rein канала Two Wild Feet