great migrations.

I was watching a documentary about wildlife and great migrations. How these herds or prides or flocks of animals move together in symphony, moving with the dawns of seasons. Around and around the plains and seas. Every time I watch some sort of documentary like this, I mourn the fact that I am not that free. I do not leave my home except when it is necessary. I have not seen the world and moved with the seasons, moved with nature. I am almost jealous, the closeness other species have with the natural realm. We are so isolated from nature's beauty that I cannot even imagine where these wildlife must preside. Everywhere I look, human civilization has taken over nature, leaving behind only scattered trees and preserves. It's hard to imagine that among the hundreds upon hundreds of species on earth, we are so different. We do not migrate for food or mating. We root ourselves in one place and find ourselves bound by friends or responsibilities or vocations, unable to wander the earth in search for something else.

Sometimes, I want to get in my car and drive in one direction until I reach the ocean. In between I might see the desert or the echoing shadows of looming mountains. In between, I might see more than this landlocked life I have resigned myself to. I think of this every weekend, that I should just go. go. go. go somewhere, anywhere, anywhere but here. I cannot help this feeling of being trapped in my own world, with no hints of escape.