By: Dare Euler, Rewild NJ Movement Member
My journey into rewilding began as a child living in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Always preferring the outdoors, this rural area of Interlaken had it all. Woods, fields, lake, beaver ponds, mountain. I was the nerdy kid who had collections of the natural world around me. Rocks identified and classified. Insects mounted with common and Latin names, and ideations of grandeur as one who would discover the next here-to-fore unknown species.
On one particular insect hunt I thought I had done it. Equipped with an ether bottle, net, and box, I traipsed through fields to the lake across Route 183. Along the lake edge, I looked up and there was a dragonfly. Larger than a man’s hand, transparent gold wings with a body of burnished gold. My first thought was to catch it, ether it, and add it to my collection. Surely I’d be famous! As I readied my net, no it hadn’t moved, to swipe its hovering form out of the sky, I heard an audible voice. Deep, authoritative.
“You will never kill another one of my living things.” I looked up and the dragonfly was gone. I walked home, knowing I had heard from God. I threw away my ether jar. I retired my net from mortal capture. And I never told a soul because who would believe a 10-year-old would hear directly from God. I did.
I had always loved the outdoors. But now I saw in a new way how precious all life is. With newly opened eyes, all became valuable. To this day, dragonflies (and damselflies) are instant reminders of my connection to all creation and its inherent worth.
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