On the other hand, we spent a lot of time in the woods – playing, camping, hiking… Back then we only thought about Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever – I’m not sure why, since the Rockies were about 2,000 miles away. Guess it was just exotic. If there were bears (surely there were) we never gave them a thought either. I guess bears had enough space to play without being near people. Evidently, I also also never read creepy forest stories about wild animals, ghosts and people disappearing in bogs either. A general fear of forests is called Hylophobia. If you only fear them at night, you have Nyctohylophobia.
Today, tick-borne diseases are keeping people out of the woods. Heck, for that matter, they are making people afraid of their neatly manicured lawns. The latest threat is the Powassan virus, apparently worse than Lyme disease. It causes inflammation of the brain and is difficult to treat. There have been three cases in NJ. The forests are dangerous now. You either go out and take your chances or you spray deterrent chemicals on your body and clothes and still take your chances.
I think an increasing number of people are afraid of nature. According to the World Health Organization, 70 percent of the global population will live in cities by 2050. We have steadily been isolating ourselves from the natural world – even as the natural world won’t be shut out…bird flu, Ebola, West Nile virus. etc… At the same time, science is showing that trees give off chemical compounds called phytoncides that naturally boost our immunity and enhance how we feel overall. Those who spend more time in the woods experience improved health.
This weekend I took a short walk in my woods – cutting wildflowers and searching for evidence of the fox den that must be nearby. I studied woodpecker holes in my trees and inspected erosion from stormwater runoff. I lamented all the invasive barberrys starting to grow again and the temporary hip problem keeping me from digging out those roots. And when I left the woods, my hip a little bothered for the effort, I still felt glad to have thrown caution to the wind and breathed in the forest.