Controlling Nature

I spend a lot of time close to wilderness but not in it.  How far in does one need to be to say he is truly in wilderness?  Perhaps not possible, even in a relatively unpopulated county like Plumas.  There is certainly plenty of forest and plenty of wildlife to see.  But there is plenty of evidence of human meddling (polite word for destruction).  When I come in close for a photo of a ladybug taking a long journey along a stem of Cinquefoil, or watch a Western Fence Lizard jump several feet from one rock to the next, then hide under a ledge, I think of the freedom they're experiencing.  Then, when I come back to town, I'm extremely aware of the stench of herbicides emanating from some people's lawns, pesticides wafting from gardens, and the myriad of nature-killing chemicals for sale at our local hardware stores.  Then I heard a program on NPR about the chemicals used to produce strawberries and how and why growers are resisting conversion to organic methods.  Result: we have bigger, redder, longer-lasting, tasteless strawberries that are among the most toxic foods we can buy at supermarkets.  Thoreau said, "In wildness is the preservation of the world."  I think that's a seldom examined statement.  Is Walden read any more in high schools?  Probably not.  Maybe excerpts in some AP English classes.  Michael Pollan said, "A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule."  We all know what happens to totalitarians.  It's only a matter of time.  I wish everyone would wake up and learn from ladybugs and high-flying lizards.