iPhone mania, and the attached natural history dilemma

You were sending a text message. Meanwhile an Osprey crooked back strong raptor wings, turned rigid into a controlled free fall dive from far above a trout-stocked lake. The splash as the Osprey entered the water, and the splash as the bird exited were both graceful. Doing a flyby to shake off water and boast the catch of the day, Osprey chicks were being fed in the distance when you hit "send."

You were posting a photo of yourself in front of a sign to Instagram. The entire field of Belding's ground squirrel females go into estrus for a constant 6 hours a year. Belding's mate above ground - the only ground squirrels to do so - in a terrible, but terribly interesting, frenzy of nature. Done, they go about their day.

You were checking Facebook on your iPhone. In the perfectly clear night sky, silent pop, pop pop pop, pop pop of light, nature's fireworks, a meteor shower.

Your phone started ringing, and you tear apart your backpack to find it. On a Mariposa lily, a butterfly alights, slowly beats its wings, the flowering grass sways back and forth with the breeze. Pollination occurs.

Nature's moments are just that; moment after moment, all special, but all there to experience. More often than not, nature viewing happens past the length of your arm, very unlike iPhone interactions. The digital world blurs vision, intent, and acknowledgement of our surroundings, and I fear our natural places will only be respected by a "like" via a screen, largely obscured by a "filter". Blame cannot be placed on the younger generation, because grandparents and parents are worse: they pay the cell phone bills and have the same gadgets, perhaps less expertly, attached to palms.

Put them down. Not in a natural place? PUT THEM DOWN! Put them down and talk. Put them down and observe. PUT THEM DOWN and drink a cup of coffee without taking a picture of it. Just try. Try to remember something by cataloging in your brain, not your photo stream. Try to look someone in the eye. Try to talk to someone face to face. TRY TO NOT GIVE A SHIT what others think about your current location. You are there. That used to be enough.