I’ll bet you never thought you would hear me say that. It’s not when it’s cold or rainy. Not when it’s hot and humid.  And not when it is frigid and snowy.  I hate Mother Nature when she is cruel! Indiscriminate and cruel.

Mother Nature can be absolutely unforgiving and totally cruel. A few days ago, LASAR, our search and rescue team, was called out to assist in the search for a 12-year-old boy who is missing in the Greenwich area. Twelve years old! It doesn’t matter if there were issues at home or if the boy was troubled in any way. It doesn’t matter if the moon turned blue and pumpkins grew upside down… he’s only 12 years old. He left his family’s home in the middle of the night and hasn’t been seen since. He entered into the outdoors totally unprepared and unsuspecting of what was ahead of him.  He’s too young and too inexperienced to know and understand that you cannot survive in the outdoors without having some basic supplies with you, the knowledge of how to use these items and some degree of basic survival training and knowledge.

At 12, you don’t know that getting wet can kill you. You don’t know that too much clothing is almost as bad as too little. You don’t know that the wrong footwear can lead to serious trouble.

You don’t know that temperatures in the 30’s, 40’s and even 50’s can take your life as quickly as a bullet.

At 12, you don’t know that Mother Nature doesn’t care. You don’t know that she treats everyone exactly the same, exactly equal, on her terms and only on her terms. There is no favoritism for the young and inexperience. No flexibility.

When we begin a search such as this one, we are provided with a description of the subject of the search. Name, how old, color of eyes, the color of the clothing being worn, style of footwear, place last seen, medical condition and what ever else we need to know to properly identify the subject of the search effort. But what goes unsaid is what we, the searchers, actually expect to find. You see, we are experienced in the outdoors. We do carry the needed equipment. We are wearing the correct clothing and footwear. And we know what the effects of temperature are, how easily and quickly a life can be ended and how weather and terrain can be beautiful one moment and deadly the next.

We hear and take notes of all the facts being supplied to us, but inside our heads we know we are looking for a body and not a little boy.

This is when and this is why there are times I hate Mother Nature. It’s bad enough that the conditions of this child’s life led him to get up out of bed in the middle of the night and leave his home.

Right now, we don’t know where he might be. For all we know, he ran off and is hiding somewhere with someone and is safe and warm with  a full stomach. However, the likelihood of this being the case is relatively slim.

So, we face the facts. Not those supplied to us, but those that are not.  We face the facts that our experience has taught us exist. Those, that because of our age and experience, we are prepared to face whenever we venture into the outdoors. We face the facts and accept the challenges because we are prepared and we know the price to be paid for not being prepared.

But, for this young man, this boy of only 12 years of age, untrained and unprepared, we who are still here face the ultimate fact that Mother Nature is a mother without children, without a womb, without a heart and without mercy…and that she is cruel. Not by intent is she cruel, for she treats everyone totally equal. It is by effect that her cruelty is exposed.

“Be prepared those of you who enter into my domain,” I can hear her saying. “Be prepared” she shouts in the wind. “Be prepared… or face the consequences,” even if you are only 12 years old. 

See you outdoors!