Species Discovery

While I was in California this summer I had the luxury to see other species outside my usual sites of Florida :-)

Aeonium Haworthii

Aloe California

Bird of Paradise

California Gull

Cezanne Rose

Foxtail Photo #1

Foxtail Photo #2

Harris Mud Crab

Jade Plant Photo #1

Jade Plant Photo #2

San Gabriel Mountaints Liveforever

Santa Rita Cactus

Snowy Egret



<3

Reading #15 - The Land Ethic

The Land Ethic: Enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively (aka the land).

Ethics are a type of moral code we live by. Aldo Leopold who published work on this in 1949 first implemented environmental ethics. He stated that, “ethic dealing with man's relation to land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it.”

It was time that man started looking out for not only its immediate family but also the home that they lived being Earth.

When I sit on my porch at home looking out over my pond to where the road lies, there have been thousands of times where I have spotted Sand Hill Cranes in my yard grazing. I feel like they are apart of my family and growing up would had been an entirely different experience without them.

Same with the snapping turtles I knew might bite my cats or finger, but I had to get my shovel out of the garage to pick him up and put back into my pond anyways.

I had an abundance of wildlife in my home sweet home of an acre yard and without knowing it I developed an ethical protection over my environment of home. My yard was my sanctuary. I grew things in my garden and picked up litter without my parents telling me. I protected my home, my environment.

People should develop his or her own respect for where we live and do everything possible to care for our area. When we have tackled the small steps of caring we should spread our love elsewhere.

We should all take the time to understand the land.

Reading #14 - Reason to Hope

I would like to believe that as youth evolves, they would grow with a conscious mind aware of each individual’s actions. In all reality however, I fear that we will only be sucked more deeply into the pit of technology and greedy actions that we are currently making.

Although there is evil within every population, the bright and pure may bleed through and spill over to the next person. The youth of our future has a choice to turn around on the path we are presently walking upon to take another road. Energy can be put forth into clubs like roots and shoots that Jane Goodman speaks on. My high school had that club and I did not take part in it. If I were educated more on the affects we are making to our world then as I know how I would have done that.

It boils down to who is wanting to help and lend a hand not if you can or not.

Reading #13 - Rachel Carson

When the concept of nature conspires in the mind, people think of Earth and all that is green. In modern day, the reality of nature is actually a false accusation. Industrialism has over swept our towns turning farmland into oil rigs and cows graze where they are fenced to. Grass in Florida is not even real and there is an abundant use of pesticides to keep it alive.

The truth of the matter is that we as people need Earth to survive but it does not need us. If the human race died and halted to exist everything around us would flourish.

A Fable for Tomorrow explains how “The people had done it themselves.” We are the true poison that is polluting our world.

Personal Journal #3 - The Wonders and Realities of Nature

I try to work out daily whether it is yoga, jogging, swimming or lifting weights. Anything active gets the job done I like to think. So yesterday I went for I jog around my neighborhood. The clouds looked like they would open up and pour down any second but I didn’t care … it was just nice to escape the humidity for a little while. As I made the jog I let my eyes wander and so many thoughts crept into my head.

I hadn’t been home for an extended stay in years and it was so weird to see how much had changed. There was more trash scattered around the sides of the road. Everything from boxers to soda cans and empty McDonalds bags. I thought that people must be high throwing their late night munchies containers outside the car.

My feet took me past a house that used to be all woods. The people had been working on that house for a decade before it was livable. My friends and I used to run in the woods past the restricted area when we were younger. My childhood is gone and so is the location of my past memories. I was a nature rat. My first kiss to my first love was in those woods. Had him pinned up against a tree and then I ran into the restricted zone past the barbed wire where I discovered an old worn down baseball field. Vines covered the chain-linked fence but we climbed them up to the rooftops anyways to watch the snakes and the gofer turtles play.

By the time I got to my turn around point I had nearly ran over manure so many times from the horses that gallop the streets. What if they let loose in the grass instead of on the pavement, would that help the environment at all? The horses do this on a daily basis so maybe just a little.

I wonder what the people that don’t care about the environment did as a child? They didn’t really have video games so how could they not want to conserve their youth? I grow sunflower gardens and love to feel the rain on my skin and breathe in unpolluted air. Do they not have the same simplistic love? Are they bitter with those memories? Is it possibly just the educated or well-off part of the population that cares? What if there was an incentive for people to care more?

As I touched down in my driveway a squirrel ran across my drive. I could see the Mallard Ducks in the pond and my fat cat on patrol in the yard. It may be only an acre of secured tranquility … but I’m happy I have a little piece of paradise that will be eternally mine.

Field Trip #1 - Neighborhood Walk Around & Questions

I have lived in the same room in the same house in the same neighborhood all my life. As I walked around I noticed how different my neighborhood is from most though. I come from a small suburb of a town called New Port Richey about thirty minutes northwest of Tampa. Here, my neighbors have farms of Zebras, Buffalo, Outrages, Peacocks and Lamas. Don’t ask me why because I have no idea! I felt that my area is on the fence when it comes to being green friendly however. This is because there are good and bad things about it. For instance, some people have solar panels to open their gates, yet the ground is still covered in litter. As I strode through my neighborhood questions came into play that I had never wondered before.

1. Is it really necessary to cut down three acres of land when only using 1½ acres?
2. Is the water we are using green friendly if it so clearly stains the outside walls of homes? (I doubt that!)
3. Why not use efficient ground cover like peanut plants instead of the fake grass we love for some reason so much?
4. More people should have ponds in their yard. Does the cost deter them away from the idea?
5. Do ponds with sealant under the water create more overflows and harm the environment?
6. Are droughts necessary in local small neighborhoods?
7. Are foreign animals residing in a fenced house proper or have a positive aspect in any way?
8. Why do more people not walk in a safe neighborhood in the evening?
9. Why do the bunnies, turtles and deer always want to head towards the street? (Not like there is any food on the pavement).
10. Would dirt, gravel or sand roads be better off than paved?
11. Wouldn’t having roads of more natural substances be easier to create in the long run?
12. Would natural roads be harder to maintain over time?
13. Do cats and dogs in the wild have an affect on the wildlife population? (My cat eats a lot of birds).
14. How much does grilling for dinner or cookouts contribute to air pollution?
15. Why are people so lazy to not get the oil changed when they should?

Reading #12 - The Nature of the Everglades

The Everglades is a national park deemed priceless to the modern day dollar. It is a wetland so precious and amazing and we as humans only have one shot at preserving it.

I thoughts everyone understood how valuable the Everglades are but I was wrong. Majory Stoneman Douglas describes the Everglades to perfection as simple, enduring and hostile and today’s people should see our land in her eyes more often.

I believe the Everglades are simple to the eyes. The greens of grass cover massive amounts of miles and miles holding mystery to what lies in and on its soils. The Everglades are enduring by their persistence to survive and overcome human’s error. The hostility within contains the aggression of its animal life that poses a threat to humans.

With the Everglades posing as something simple, the land brings a calm feeling and clarity I have found the many times I have drove through the lands. At the same time, I have seen the alligators and snakes that this massive area holds … it is danger that turns things into excitement as well.

The most important word Douglas described the Everglades as though is ‘enduring’. People need to sustain the life of these wetlands in order to keep the survival of this national park. I believe if we all work hand in hand and realize the threats we as humans pose upon our environment, which ultimately is our society, start taking care of our homes better, we still will have a chance to save the Everglades.

I never realized until reading this piece and watching the videos of how many different species there are in the Everglades. I am sure I have only caught glance at a mire fraction of the amazement Douglas captured in her first visit in 1930. I hope more of our lands in the word become protected national parks like the Everglades and the word witnesses its glory.