I grew up in many places and during my adolescent years I never realized how special it was for me to experience daily life in different places. It might be one of the reasons I am drawn to traveling to new places. It came with its challenges, making new friends and getting used to a daily routine…But it also came with perks, exploring nature. I feel at peace when I am surrounded by nature and it allows me to appreciate how complex the biological world is. Because I moved so much I needed to find a place where I could explore yet feel grounded. I found this in visiting beaches. No matter where I am in the world I know I’ll feel at home as long as I am able to visit the shoreline. The ocean carries my history and dreams… It’s a place where I can wonder while wandering the shores. Its even the place formed by career around. These aquatic places help me to clear my head and allow me to feel at peace. I love the smells, the mystery of it’s depths, and the way I feel magnetically drawn to it.
Coastal environments mean to me what the log cabin in the woods of Walker Mountain means to Kingsclover. I love her imagery as she describes the hollow where her family dwells during summer, “ I love this rain; my soul hankers for it. Through a curtain of it I watch the tulip poplars grow. When it stops, I listen to the woodblock concerto of dripping leaves and the first indignant Carolina wrens reclaiming their damp territories” (1). This home away from home is where she connects with nature and where she feels joy. I love that! My soul is totally drawn to the sights, sounds, and smells of the ocean. Kingsclover states, “I consider myself lucky beyond words to be able to go to work every morning with something like a wilderness at my elbow” (1). I can relate to her because I feel lucky that my job allows me to spend a lot of time on beaches and coastal environments such as marshes and bays.
For work, I do Oyster and Quahog various restoration projects in local waterways around Buzzard’s Bay. I spend roughly 75% of my work in coastal habitats. This means I unfortunately see A LOT of trash and plastic waste littered along the shoreline. I think we are responsible for others unwillingness to care because it indirectly affects all of us. Williams mentions that wild places such as the canyons are becoming more symbolically significant, “as the world becomes more crowded and corroded with consumption and capitalism” (2). She urges these special, wild places need to be “willingly protected” to ensure their ecological preservation. I hope that eventually everyone sees the intrinsic value in nature and starts taking better care of the planet we call home.
Works Cited:
Kingsolver, Barbara. Knowing Our Place, PBS, 2002, http://www.pbs.org/now/printable/transcript_smallwonder_print.html. Accessed 15 Feb 2019.
Williams, Terry Tempest. Home Work, https://umassd.umassonline.net/bbcswebdav/pid-1227044-dt-content-rid-11913334_1/courses/D2830-12796_MASTER/Scanned%20from%20a%20Xerox%20multifunction%20device001%283%29.pdf. Accessed 15 Feb 2019.
First of Holly thank you for your work on restoring the coast in different ways we can forget about how important it is with what we do to take care of something. Thom Hartman writes about Godfried Muller and his little acts of compassion. He would go and pick up every earthworm and put them in the dirt so they wouldnt get squooshed. I loved this so much. This is like every blade of grass and every leaf and so forth and so on. What would your tiny acts of compassion be for your place? I really like how you brought the quotes in as you did it’s helped me to see the people places equal politics. Do you find certain types of plastics? I stopped buying bottled water when I was in highschool that’s a lot of bottles a day.
I am an earth worm saver too! The most commonly found items are plastic straws, bottle caps, and cigarette butts. All things that are easily ingested by wildlife and will easily break down into micro particles. I hope in my life time plastic straws are banned globally!