"To What End Is Nature?"

 Children, in Telluride, spend countless summer days playing in the surrounding outdoors. Nature becomes the headquarters for our most imaginative games and fantasies.  A pine forest transforms into a kings fortress, the nearby stream the surrounding moat. Nature: an easy haven, and most importantly, an escape from chores and nagging parents. Through the eyes of an adolescent, nature turns from a simple friend into a complicated puzzle. Why do the intricacies of the outdoors function in the way they do? What can we learn from them? Nature then allows us to be in a mystifying state of both wonder and confusion. Though we are always welcome, we will never be "in touch" with nature as we once were as children. There will always be questions. Adults, perhaps weary and tired from the demands of reality, may be reminded (through nature) that the world is much larger than just an individual; that they are part of an incredible phenomena. Though humanity may be proud of the latest technological advance, it will never be naturally incredible like the seamless way an ecosystem functions.  Not everything can ( or should) be controlled by humanity, nature especially. Nature will always serve as a useful tool experienced, used, and most importantly, admired by all age groups.