Throughout this class, I have discussed the idea that humans need to live in rhythm with the environment, to build a harmonious relationship where we can become a team helping each other thrive. In “The Trouble with Wilderness or Getting Back to Wrong Nature,” William Cronon suggests,  “the tree in the garden is in reality no less other, no less worthy of our wonder and respect,” meaning that nature in every form is a part of our lives and is deserving of our attention (Cronon, 24). Cronon communicates how the environment is our living reality that we must acknowledge, no matter how big or small, which in turn helps our relationship with our environment get back into rhythm. 

William discusses how the tree growing in our backyard could easily be one that has grown in an extravagant forest, but humans grasp onto the sense of ownership over the tree in their backyard because of its location. Though he conceptualizes that the tree in our backyard almost ‘humanizes’ the tree, “teach us to recognize the wildness we did not see in the tree we planted in our own backyard” (24). Since humans have ownership over their planted garden, similar to a pet, there is no ‘otherness’ attached to the plant. The plant being domesticated, in a sense, contributes to how humans struggle to break the boundary of the need to control the environment. Cronon asks humans to view their tree or garden as if they are of one that lives in this grand wilderness, because at the tree’s root is. If humans begin to look at the environment as their home garden, this could break the boundary and build sympathy. He reveals in truth the ‘otherness’ may be more familiar than what humans believe: “otherness in that which is most unfamiliar, we can learn to see it too in that which at first seemed merely ordinary” (Cronon, 24). The ‘otherness’ becomes familiar when we learn to see it as the familiar. In context with the environment, viewing our own home gardens as the extravagant beauty of wilderness, or viewing the wilderness as our own ordinary home garden, we tend and nurture. 

Overall, Cronon’s essay demonstrates that once humans take the step forward of seeing nature as their own reality will be the first action to restoring our rhythm within our relationship with the environment. Humans must make themselves familiar with the unfamiliar to live in harmony with one another.