[teorema]

Part of what the natural world imparts is a sense of wonder, things that you couldn't have dreamt up, nor anyone you know. As I've gotten older, I've developed this hazy awareness of some world that was lost to me — things that I've read about that coincide with my experiences when I was very young that I haven't encountered since then.

It's like realizing this childhood world wasn't that way just because you have changed from a child to an adult, but because the world has changed.

I'm starting to become worried over what my daughter might experience in that regard. Things that were normal for me or that she might encounter that will be gone instead. Like, will fireflies still be around for her as an adult? What about walking around with piles of snow higher than you everywhere? Will she ever see a natural unlit clear night sky? It's difficult to convey what that many stars looks like, or seeing the milky way stretched across it.

More to the point of the article, I remember freshwater bivalves walking upstream across stream beds. They aren't mussels, but still — I haven't seen any in the last several years where I used to.