Escape from a compelling need...

"...to make nature useful."

MH + Micah gave me "The Bedside Book of Birds." Have been spending pre-sleep hours enjoying.

From it, this:

"One of the rewards of birdwatching is the brief escape it affords from our ancient and compelling need to make Nature useful."

Amen. Rusticating in a nutshell.

And, also, with more big-thought trappings.

"I have made a great mistake.
I have wasted my life with minerology,
which has led to nothing.
Had I devoted myself to birds, their life and plumage,
I might have produced something worth doing."

- John Ruskin

C - pledging devotion