Nature writing

I just read the personal narratives of Alexander von Humboldt, an early 19th century naturalist. Now I'm reading Darwin. I'm starting to understand how views of the natural world have changed - in two hundred years the earth went from a force to be conquered and used to a force that is part of us, an awe-full force to be nurtured.
I'm embarking on several new "nature" poems that examine the interplay between the internal spirit and the exterior world from which everything originates.
Coincidentally, I have three already about my dog, which snuck up on me. He's 11 now and he broke his hip this summer. In many ways, I know him better than some people in my life. "Man's best friend," they say./More like "Man's first love."