For two years while teaching middle school in Vietnam I would end my class with the same tag line, “now go outside and play”. I saw a generation of children growing up without clean, safe, open spaces to run, laugh, hide, seek, and play due in part to prioritization of “development” over preservation. Maybe it was because I was fortunate enough to spend my childhood exploring hundreds of acres of avocado and lemon groves, or was able to access true wilderness and adventure from the back steps of my home. Maybe it was because I was raised mere minutes from the beach where fish, crabs, pelicans, dolphins, and the occasional whale were the norm. Whatever the reason, I viewed these children’s lack of a natural playground as a severe as a crime. For how can we expect a new generation of stewards to be brought up if they are never in intimate contact with that which we hope they learn to love to protect?
I’ve peered into the pool ball size eyes of a giant black sea bass off the coast of Catalina Island, I’ve foolishly chased black tip reef sharks just to watch them glide, I’ve been attacked by tens of thousands of mosquito's while trekking the back country of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Yosemite National Park, I’ve looked over the bow of a boat in the black of night to watch a pod of dolphins dart in and out of our wake disrupting the phosphorescent plankton giving the appearance of underwater comets, I’ve come face to face with an angry sea lion mom protecting her pups, I’ve seen more stars than could be counted in a lifetime high atop the Andean mountains, and in the heart of the Amazon rain forest I experienced a thunder and lightning storm that rattled my bones and mesmerized me by the power of nature. I have no idea which was more special or had a greater impact on my and how I view the world. However, I do know that my lifetime growing up in the ocean and in nature has instilled in me a sense of responsibility / moral obligation for conservation and protection of our remaining wild lands that I intend to pass on to future generations.
“The End of the Wild” by Meyer is heartbreaking. Everything is not going to be “all right”. My children, and certainly their children, will not see the same wonder and amazement I have described above. Our (humans) impact is far too significant and our reach far too great for the planets remaining species to go unaffected. We boast about being the top of the food chain and without giving our actions meaningful thought, we act a million times per day in a world suited for the comfort and continuance of a very small percentage of the genetic makeup of this planet.
The state of the natural world dominates my conversations these days. People ask how my courses are going and I tell them “terrible”. I say, “I’m doing well but I’m exposed to so much dreary information that it just makes one want to pack it all up and drop off the grid.” For the sake of my own mental well being, I need to take Chris Palmer’s advice and begin to use humor as a means of communicating these things. No one is going to ever want to be around me if I don’t. I spent a weekend in California with my extended family no so long ago and was asked the question about my program. We got into conversation about extinction rates and someone said that science would take care of it. I wish I had read Meyer’s book prior to this conversation. He points out that it is entirely possible science will keep the genetic stock circulating on some level, but his point that the systems that are in place that caused the deterioration of animals species will still be around, and will probably be far more prolific in the future.
None of this has made me want to give up, quite the opposite actually. But the complexity of the situation is overwhelming, and the gravitational pull between what is good for the individual and what is good for the planet are constantly in struggle. I suppose that if I wasn’t wrestling with these ideas and moral dilemmas, I would have cause to argue that I wasn’t getting my monies worth.
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