Nature vs. Nachure

There was a moment this afternoon, about 20 minutes, where my children were playing in the backyard but each of us, myself included, was engrossed in our own activity and we were rather quiet and at peace.  It reminded me of the PBS documentary Where Do The Children Play? and the segment about the children on Beaver Island who are so intimately aware of the role nature plays in their lives and how at peace they are when they play outside.

Our moment began like this:  we all ran out into the backyard and I plopped myself down in a particularly weedy patch of lawn.  I immediately began getting my fingers in the ground, which is total Zen for me.  I noticed Wolfie had grabbed a stick from, dare I admit it, our stick pile.  He seemed absorbed in some sort of fantasy kung-fu training exercises involving said stick and the tetherball.  Tulip and Luna were occupied with mud/sand mixtures including water and leaves.  They were all playing so quietly, I think is what struck me.  No one was talking, except for Wolfie's quiet "hi-ya" utterances.  And this went on for 20 minutes.  Such peace.  Among nature...

Granted, it wasn't total nature.  Each of their activities included some sort of plastic objects; however, they each hand their hand grasping or covered in some total object of nature.  It was the nature that inspired the peaceful, creative play.

So it made me think that my funky backyard is really our "nature retreat" and not just an overly weedy, unkempt suburban lawn.  Right?