Ever since we met, The Boyfriend has been trying to instill in me a love of nature. I found that attempt sweet and all, but, I insisted, I don't do nature. The closest I wanted to come to the wilderness was drinking a Brazilian nut coffee while reading the Travel section of the newspaper. And even then, I felt positively rugged.
For my part, I have been trying to instill in him a love of blabbering on about theology, attending musicals, and, most importantly, buying me presents. And my strategy has worked: he has purchased me climbing shoes, a sleeping bag (for sleeping outside!) and a quite appropriately named, Gregory 'Diva' pack. You wouldn't believe how many pairs of high heels fit in that bad boy.
I especially love nature when I can read about it in the Modern Love section of the New York Times. Last Summer, Amy Sutherland wrote that she learned to train her husband like a trainer does Shamu by ignoring his bad behavior and praising his good. Absolute genius, my girlfriends and I chimed to one another as we discussed our newfound training strategies. The word 'Shamu' has become a verb in our social circle. We have Shamu-ed our boyfriends, and ladies, we done gooooood.
The Boyfriend is presently in San Diego doing what Navy men do; I am visiting him, spending my days working a bit and enjoying the SoCal lifestyle before I start grad school. San Diego, whose weather pattern is the stuff that we Northeasterners dream about, has more than its fair share of animal attractions. In the past week I have seen a blue whale on my way to hike on the Santa Cruz Channel Island, stood next to 15,000 pound elephants at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park and watched penguins waddle at Sea World.
It was at Sea World, that Anheuser-Busch owned, free beer dispensing (really!) theme park where I finally realized the reach of the Shamu training strategy.
We arrived at the park just in time to catch a Shamu show and narrowly escaped the whale’s choreographed spray of water as we took our seats. Sure, this theme park is Nature Lite –the animals are contained behind structures, and I can safely stare at them while chewing on my $3.75 pretzel –but this Killer Whale is real. And huge. And absolutely gorgeous.
The Boyfriend says he feels most spiritual when alone and immersed in nature. I am beginning to look at creation and see the miracle. Such a recognition does not require religious belief as we usually understand it. Einstein said:
“If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it.”
That unbounded admiration is now mine, too.
So this city girl has experienced nature, and she saw how good it was. As Shamu’s performance came to an end, I looked over at The Boyfriend with tears in my eyes. This is amazing, I said to him.
He smiled back at me, the sweet look of victory on his face.
Then, it dawned on me:
I have been Shamu-ed.
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