Wildness is very difficult to wrap my mind around. Perhaps because it’s wildness that is bigger than ourselves and impossible to comprehend fully. Over the last two years I have been exploring “wildness” in a nature based spiritual practice that requires that I spend time outside and in “wild nature.” At all times of the day and night and in all weather. Away from human built structures and landscapes. One fundamental part of this practice is to realize and accept that we are part of a larger living system, in which we have evolved and upon which we are dependent upon the natural resources provided by this complex evolving system.
With this awareness of where I stand today in contrast to where we are today as a species with our expansive growth of buildings that claims much of the shorelines of this beautiful peninsula, I enter into the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge with great appreciation for the protection of this area and a strong sense that I should not be here. To remain wild truly implies the absence of humans. My sense of trespassing is keenly felt.
At the trailhead I ask this place for forgiveness before I continue along the path marked by many thousands of hikers before me and many who will follow. I am humbled by this place as I imagine the hurricanes, pelting rains and winds and the sandy earth that shapes the character of this place, and the plants and wildlife that have adapted to living here or migrating through. Hence, a wildlife refuge in which I’m taking refuge on this early Sunday morning in December.
Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge seeks to conserve an undisturbed beach and dune ecosystem which will serve as a refuge for endangered and threatened plant, fish, and wildlife species, as well as a habitat for migratory birds.
The Refuge encompasses some 7,157-acres of Alabama’s last remaining undisturbed coastal barrier habitat. As the surrounding area becomes increasingly developed, Bon Secour is indeed a natural oasis of wildlands, where wildlife can exist without harm.
Places exist in the United States near neighboring cities that provide refuge for wildlife. The Bon Secour (meaning Safe Harbor) is one such place located just east of Mobile, Alabama along the Gulf of Mexico. I seek out these areas on my work travel to distant places. These places absent of human built structures and human population bring me closer to the heartbeat of the land and the ocean waters.
This short video captures the essence of my walk through this ecosystem unique to this southern coastline. From the vegetation of the back-dunes to the white, fine sandy beaches, the transition is gradual, marked by the barren landscape as you rise over the dunes before encountering the gulf waters. On this cloudy day, the colors are subtle, yet beautiful soft greens, greys, browns and whites.