Saturday, December 18, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Matanzas Pass Preserve
O'Mara, H. (2010). Colloquium Pictures. Fort Myers, FL, United States.
As I cross the bridge to enter Fort Myers Beach, I think I am lost. There is no way that there is a Preserve on this tiny island. But then I turn on a gravel road and see the hunble cottage where I am greeted by a sweet old woman who makes you feel so welcome and warm. As I listened to her talk I hear the passion in her voice and the true love she has for this area.
O'Mara, H. (2010). Colloquium Pictures. Fort Myers, FL, United States.
She speaks of how things used to be, how beautiful the area was, and how united the people were. To me, her passion is the water. She went on forever of how blue it was. "On any given day you could see fifteen feet straight down to the bottom" she says. And then I thought of my memories of the Gulf of Mexico. I immediately flashbacked to murky water and my mother yelling at me to shuffle my feet so I wouldn't get stung by a sting ray. It was only the rarest of days in my childhood where we could see to the bottom of the Gulf, and it was never fifteen feet.
ECHO
They say it right on their website "ECHO does not teach people how to farm. Rather to make farmers more effective at producing crops under hard conditions." ECHO helps so many people with their studies and their teachings on growing food in harsh conditions.
For example, finding cheap ways to make methane gases to make fires so they can make a meal. They take a barrel and fill it half with human excrement and half with water. This makes a methane gas that can eventually start a fire. This saves so many people from having to travel so many miles to find proper sticks to make fires to food their meals.
These techniques are not only help feed people, but they are teaching people how to live sustainably. So not only are they feeding people. they are feeding people the right way.
What was most interesting to me was their ideas for the urban farmer. So many of us live surrounded by concrete it is almost impossible to farm. But ECHO has found some neat tricks for farming on your rooftop, using above all things tires. It is these unique, creative, and necessary thoughts that give us a ray of hope in the world of sustainability. It is possible, it is attainable. We just need the will and the desire to accomplish our goals.
For example, finding cheap ways to make methane gases to make fires so they can make a meal. They take a barrel and fill it half with human excrement and half with water. This makes a methane gas that can eventually start a fire. This saves so many people from having to travel so many miles to find proper sticks to make fires to food their meals.
These techniques are not only help feed people, but they are teaching people how to live sustainably. So not only are they feeding people. they are feeding people the right way.
What was most interesting to me was their ideas for the urban farmer. So many of us live surrounded by concrete it is almost impossible to farm. But ECHO has found some neat tricks for farming on your rooftop, using above all things tires. It is these unique, creative, and necessary thoughts that give us a ray of hope in the world of sustainability. It is possible, it is attainable. We just need the will and the desire to accomplish our goals.
Sense Of Place
In Southwest Florida we are surrounded by housing developments. Actually, it is hard NOT to live in a housing development in this area. Case and point, my living quarters. I live in a three bedroom townhouse in Copper Oaks just across the Estero Bridge. And although I do love where I live, it is a concrete jungle where the most exotic animal there are the ducks on the man made pond in my back yard.
As I take a walk around my loop I am noticing the considerable adsense of any type of life. The developers have completely bulldozed it. It is almost hard to believe that it was once nothing but green trees and animals. The jam packed driveways and parking spaces have proven to me that there is no chance for sustainability here.
As sad as this seems I do find some solace in mydevelopment. It is on my back patio watching the sun set on my man made pond. All I need is my futon, my cat, and a glass of wine to erase all the stress and worries from everyday life. Watching the reds and oranges from the sun reflect on the lake makes me feel at peace and at home in the most unhomely of places.
O'Mara, H. (2010). Colloquium Pictures. Fort Myers, FL, United States.
As I take a walk around my loop I am noticing the considerable adsense of any type of life. The developers have completely bulldozed it. It is almost hard to believe that it was once nothing but green trees and animals. The jam packed driveways and parking spaces have proven to me that there is no chance for sustainability here.
O'Mara, H. (2010). Colloquium Pictures. Fort Myers, FL, United States.
As sad as this seems I do find some solace in mydevelopment. It is on my back patio watching the sun set on my man made pond. All I need is my futon, my cat, and a glass of wine to erase all the stress and worries from everyday life. Watching the reds and oranges from the sun reflect on the lake makes me feel at peace and at home in the most unhomely of places.
Final Impressions
As we wrap up the semester I begin to reflect all of my learnings over the last few months. I am sitting here thinking of all of my other classes and I am left feeling a little empty. It saddens me to know that my other four courses are strictly going to be short term memory and are soon to be forgotten. Then I come upon this class and I think of all of the readings, field trips, papers, group project, and all around work involved in this required course. I am filled with so many emotions: exhaustion, frustration, animosity, but most of all appreciation. Although I was forced to take this class I do appreciate the University for making it a requirement for graduation. I now have a new found appreciation and knowledge for not just the world, but for my community. I had no idea that such wonderful things were just a few miles away from my home. I have a new appreciation for the readings such as in our Colloquium Reader and also in A Land Remembered (my personal favorite).
Although this course was hands down my most time consuming, and at times confusing course, I now see the reasons why. We need to have these ideas and realities drilled into our heads, for we are the future. We are the answer, and we are the way out of the mess we have made. The world will heal itself, if we just let her.It is because of your class that I went to Panther Island, and am finishing up the remainder of my service learning hours there (SO EXCITED!). Had I not been required to take this course I would have never known of any of these places and opened my mind to the things in my own back yard. I thank you for all of your hard work and for opening my eyes. Have a great break.
Although this course was hands down my most time consuming, and at times confusing course, I now see the reasons why. We need to have these ideas and realities drilled into our heads, for we are the future. We are the answer, and we are the way out of the mess we have made. The world will heal itself, if we just let her.It is because of your class that I went to Panther Island, and am finishing up the remainder of my service learning hours there (SO EXCITED!). Had I not been required to take this course I would have never known of any of these places and opened my mind to the things in my own back yard. I thank you for all of your hard work and for opening my eyes. Have a great break.
Sense of Place Interview
One day i struck up a conversation with my Grandma about sustainability. At first she had no idea what I was talking about. But once I explained to her what it was and what it meant she was all for conversation. My grandmother has been a very sustainable woman for most of her life. She grows eighty percent of her own food and it is all completely organic. She has even lived in Florida for over fifty years and has never owned an air conditioner. The biggest thing that we realized together was that she was being sustainable without even realizing it. She looks at the things that my generation owns and consumes and she thinks it is all "rubbish". She sees my generation and thinks that we are all lazy and just don't know "how to get our hands dirty". I see some of the things my generation owns and consumes and I see it as taking a shortcut to the same final destination.
The biggest difference between her generation and mine is the road to the destination. My generation is all about getting there. If we could, we would get there yesterday. We want to get there so we can move on and go to the next stop. Her generation is all about the journey. It is all about how you get there and what you learn along the way. It is all a growing experience to her, and my generation is missing out on it. Her greatest point was "what will have to happen for you to learn that it is the wrong way of thinking? What tragedy must happen?"
The biggest difference between her generation and mine is the road to the destination. My generation is all about getting there. If we could, we would get there yesterday. We want to get there so we can move on and go to the next stop. Her generation is all about the journey. It is all about how you get there and what you learn along the way. It is all a growing experience to her, and my generation is missing out on it. Her greatest point was "what will have to happen for you to learn that it is the wrong way of thinking? What tragedy must happen?"
Museum of History
When I walk into the Southwest Florida Museum of History I am greeted by a nice older gentleman. We talk for a few minutes and he sends me on my way. I round the corner and I am greeted by a large mammoth head and I definitely did not expect to see. I found myself standing there, amazed at it's size and in wonderment that something like that used to walk the very ground that I drive on.
I mosey along and stop and read some of the signs and learn about Indians, and the Myer's family. But I truly begin to slow down and enjoy the museum once I hit the Clyde Butcher exhibit. I have always been a fan of his pictures, but I have never really studied him. Once I walked into his exhibit I stopped at every picture and read every excerpt. His love for Florida and for the Swamp made me want to go deep into the Everglades and search for the elusive ghost orchid (my favorite picture of his).
At the train car I got to see how the richest people traveled back then. I was amazed at the architecture of the car and could not believe that it cost $80,000 a year to run it!!! That is a lot of money in today's world! I can't even imagine today's equivalent. I loved how the car was so beautifully layed out. They have put a lot of thought on how to use every inch of that car to their advantage (who cannot appreciate a chair/toilet?).
The museum wraps up with the cottage displaying how normal families resided. Seeing this cottage made me think of the book, A Land Remembered. "Being a Cracker", living in a small cottage, doing your cooking in a different area so not to attract animals, that was how everyone lived back then. How do we get back to that simplicity?
O'Mara, H. (2010). Colloquium Pictures. Fort Myers, FL, United States.
I mosey along and stop and read some of the signs and learn about Indians, and the Myer's family. But I truly begin to slow down and enjoy the museum once I hit the Clyde Butcher exhibit. I have always been a fan of his pictures, but I have never really studied him. Once I walked into his exhibit I stopped at every picture and read every excerpt. His love for Florida and for the Swamp made me want to go deep into the Everglades and search for the elusive ghost orchid (my favorite picture of his).
O'Mara, H. (2010). Colloquium Pictures. Fort Myers, FL, United States.
At the train car I got to see how the richest people traveled back then. I was amazed at the architecture of the car and could not believe that it cost $80,000 a year to run it!!! That is a lot of money in today's world! I can't even imagine today's equivalent. I loved how the car was so beautifully layed out. They have put a lot of thought on how to use every inch of that car to their advantage (who cannot appreciate a chair/toilet?).
O'Mara, H. (2010). Colloquium Pictures. Fort Myers, FL, United States.
The museum wraps up with the cottage displaying how normal families resided. Seeing this cottage made me think of the book, A Land Remembered. "Being a Cracker", living in a small cottage, doing your cooking in a different area so not to attract animals, that was how everyone lived back then. How do we get back to that simplicity?
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