Remember to admire your homeland

[The Blackangel]

We all take our home for granted. We look at things around the world, and think about how beautiful it is, and how much we would like to live there, and how boring it is here. But there is always things here that we take for granted because we're used to it. For example, here in the states we have things like the Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone park, Death Valley, Bear Tower, and the great lakes (shared with Canada obviously) just to name a few. If you wanted to go more local, you can find even more. For example here in Missouri, we have dozens of public caves. Meramec Caverns is one of the more popular. It was revered by the local tribes as the home of the Gods. There are also the lakes, many of which are man made, some that are natural though.

Look around the world. Greece has its isles. Scotland has the Cairngorns. Australia has the outback and Uluru. Congo has jungles. Brazil has the Amazon. India shares the Himalayas with Nepal and China. Antarctica is in it's own category.

That is just one thing from a quick selection of countries around the world. There are also things man made that are something to admire as well. The pyramids at Giza, Stonehenge, the great wall, Nazca lines, Moai of Easter Island, the Colosseum, Teotihuacan, Mount Rushmore, and the Taj Mahal just to name some.

Then there are our nonhuman companions of this world. The vast majority of which we could never encounter firsthand without the benefit of a zoo. The zoo that has repeatedly been listed as the best zoo in the world is the San Diego zoo. I've been to many zoos in my life, in several countries, including San Diego. Including one that I was able to play with tapirs and a jaguar in. As well as things like dolphin encounters. Not meaning Sea World, although I did go there once before it was thankfully shut down. And I can say without any doubt that the SD zoo is the best of them all.

We have the mysteries of the unexplained and paranormal that have yet to be understood or solved. The moving coffins of Barbados. The Flying Dutchman. Annie Palmer in Rose Hall. The ghosts of the Tower of London. La Lloronoa. Nessie. Kraken. Spedlins Tower. Location of the Ark of the Covenant. Alien abduction. The Roswell incident. Ntavelis's Cave. The hungry ghosts of China. Monte Cristo. Duppies of Jamaica. Big grey man of Ben MacDhui. Bigfoot. And so many more.

Then there is the last thing that we know next to nothing about. Our oceans. We can map them using sonar, and catalog different species that we have encountered. But that doesn't mean we know the "hows" and the "whys" of the ocean. If it wasn't for sonar we never would have found the wreckage of the Titanic. Nor would we know about the Mariana Trench. We still don't know how animal life is able to survive at such depths, especially the trench, under such tremendous pressure.

 

So don't just take everything around you for granted. There's always something there that is worth more than you realize.

[killamch89]

I'll always love my country and that will never change no matter where I may live in the future. It's given me some of the best memories growing up and I'll never forget them. It's fun travelling the world but your home country will always be the place that will accept you irregardless.

[ZandraJoi]

Nice topic! I grew up learning not to take life & family for granted. I'm in Michigan, USA & we used to go camping with my parents years ago. They are my best friends! We stayed in MI 'cos there was so much here we could see, why travel out of state? We have the Great Lakes as well as a wide variety of inland lakes. Old ruins. Shipwrecks, lighthouses. I even got a Michigan History book detailing some of the things here. 

[The Blackangel]

I don’t know a lot about Michigan. The only thing that I do know for a fact is that I’m a long time die hard Detroit Red Wings fan. Correction: hardcore DRW NUT! I love the Wings and always will. That pisses a lot of people off here in MO. Apparently it’s an unwritten rule here that, if you’re a sports fan, you’re required to be a fan of a team that’s in Missouri. Cardinals, Royals, Chiefs, blues (fuck the worthless blues), and when they were here, the Rams were also tolerable, but Chiefs were the proper choice. The only people allowed to be Royals fans are people from KC. Otherwise you’re required to be a Cardinals fan, if your game is baseball. Or as I call it: Ambien.

This state has a lot of bullshit rules when it comes to sports.

[Reality vs Adventure]

I love mountains and where I am in Texas, the closest mountain is about a 10 hour drive which I endured once. The beach is 2 hours away. Bunch of lakes and rivers around though. It is nice out in the country but the weather sucks and the people suck. I also lived out west in Vegas and I love the desert and canyon country. I wish there was a high speed rail to get out west. I like the drier weather. Love the rain too, but in Texas it just stays humid and spot showers here and there. It just doesn't rain the way rain is supposed to be. So i have a split heart; one for the country and another for the west. But one heart for the homeland. My countrymen want to destroy my homeland. So sad my neighbor is also my enemy. But I won't take for granted the beauty of this land they contaminate.