My outdoor reflection this week was in an unconventional location; in the cabin of an airplane thousands of feet in the air. I always choose the window seat when I’m flying because I enjoy looking outside at the networks of houses and roads and forests, the interplay between human made structures and the sparse patches we have left for other things. Flying over Chicago, I was struck by the sheer scale of our communities, grids upon grids of neighborhoods stretched for what looked like an eternity to me, with the city itself looming over it all. But, as I looked for longer, I began to realize just how small Chicago looked compared to the vastness of the landscape and the sky. One of the largest cities on earth seemed like nothing but an anthill compared to the even larger stretch of the horizon, and for a moment I felt as if we humans are not as dominant on this planet as we think we are.

Flying over Nebraska, and then into Colorado, I was struck by the dryness and loneliness of the landscape. We break up our land into geometrical shapes for the purposes of farming, and I reflected on how rigid and non-accommodating such a way of splitting up land is. Especially in the increasingly arid west, I wondered how much longer such a rigid system would last for.

Airplanes are one of those things we take for granted in our everyday lives. The ability to go from Chicago to Colorado Springs in a mere few hours is genuine magic, and to me at least on the surface it feels mundane. So too are many of the technological wonders of our world today, from our systems of food production to the internet. I think it useful to reflect on these wonders, and perhaps even be grateful to them. Fossil fuels are another one of these wonders. Yet, in doing so, I believe it important to recognize the power and responsibility we have in wielding them. Thinking of them as mundane and as a given is partially driving our many exploitative practices. We must be better stewards of the land, and central that is recognizing the extent of our own powers.