meet the far away fellow…

a far away fellow was shaped by both the emotional experiences of his early years and by the wild outdoors. His solitary way of life led him to be more at one with wild things than with human beings, so he entered the animal world and it became more real than the world of man.

Through his abiding love of nature and having a burning desire to see the countryside and all things connected with it, it became a refuge of peace and simplicity.

His experiences throughout his life have taken him on a journey of discovery and made him the person he is today: a venerable, gentle man.

His writing speaks to the human spirit and reaches the very depths of the human soul, revealing how to turn a breakdown into a breakthrough. For when things are at their darkest, you often see some shining and hopeful light. This is a story about digging deep for strength you never knew you had and finding magic in things that were there all along.

 “My story begins shortly before my eighth birthday in the spring of 1962. It tells of a little boy who whilst riding the crossbar of his friends bike suffered a life changing event, and whose long journey back to health and recovery took him not to his own mother for love and comfort but to mother nature who nurtured him back to health, helping him to find solace and contentment whilst suffering intolerable pain, and taking him on a journey of adventure and discovery that changed his life forever.

After my accident and subsequent head injury I was on a long and painful road to recovery. My mum would say I was far away, that I was a dreamer, but in actual fact ‘I was lost in wonder’

Having recently moved to a semi-rural location and becoming somewhat of a loner since my accident, I would frequent the woods and fields and take notes on all I saw in the way of living things.  I never missed an opportunity to see something wondrous.  Inside these little notebooks of mine you would find all manner of oddments, a tiny seed head, a small feather or a dried root with a strange aroma; and in a moment of sadness or idleness I would be able with their aid to recall the happier moments lost in time.

My deep interest in natural history has led to my self-education and I have found a direct route to fulfilment.  I have loved the solitude and the elements of the countryside, and I am more involved in living than the vast majority; so mum was right, I became and I will die a ‘far away fellow’

Mother nature has played a vital role in nurturing me back to health and in doing so has enriched my life and helped me to understand that seeing is often more precious than having; and how rich we are if we have them in our minds.  The wilderness of my mind is one that I hoped could never be destroyed.

My parents never did acknowledge or make reference to my accident; it was never mentioned or spoke of again. The severity of the constant pain I endured every day was just dismissed, so I thought it was a normal part of life to suffer in this way.  All my pain and hurt the beauty and peace of nature can heal.

The long road I travelled on my way back to recovery took me on a wonderful journey of discovery, a journey I had no map for, which healed my soul and made me a much stronger, tolerant and understanding person.  Everything in nature points towards pleasure and away from pain, pleasure being a necessary part of a happy existence.  It is an activity of the best part of a human being (the mind) and the virtue connected with it is wisdom.

From a tiny insect on the woodland floor, the medicinal qualities of a daisy spangled lawn, to the melodious warbling of a lark singing way up high to a full moon riding in a fleece of pearly clouds,   I have had the good fortune to see and study them all.” 

Excerpt header photo by cyrus gomez on Unsplash