Interested in our human tendency to make wild things more accessible. Such a natural, destructive desire. Ironic too: wild things are alluring precisely because they're inaccessible.
In one of my classes last year, we wandered around New England forests to learn how to identify what is old growth (ecologically). Don't get me wrong, I love Utah fauna, but East Coast forests are just so easy to fall in love with...
Wow. A forest that "forever strains at its gilded cage, desperate to expand its borders until it covers all of Manhattan, turning it back into what it was before humans made it a concrete jungle: an actual jungle." Fabulous. I think the same thing when I see an optimistic little weed or plant pushing its way up from between two concerete LA freeway panels, cars wisking past at 80 mph 12 inches away. Such blind optimism, determination. In time, nature would take everything back to herself if we let it.
Can't wait to read your reflections from walking down the Hudson.
That's a great walk! I did the Great Saunter last year (https://shorewalkers.org/great-saunter/), which is a walk around the perimeter of Manhattan. And this year I did just an informal jaunt with friends from southern tip of Manhattan to the northern tip. We called it the Broadway Walk-- we just stayed on Broadway, so it was a bit shorter than what you did here. Seeing so many different neighborhoods in one day is a truly incredible experience.
Interested in our human tendency to make wild things more accessible. Such a natural, destructive desire. Ironic too: wild things are alluring precisely because they're inaccessible.
And then in sharing them, we inevitable increase their accessibility and their propensity to be damaged. Weird, perverse motivations at work.
In one of my classes last year, we wandered around New England forests to learn how to identify what is old growth (ecologically). Don't get me wrong, I love Utah fauna, but East Coast forests are just so easy to fall in love with...
So true. They're amazing
JT: Thank you! You make me want to schedule a trip to Yosemite. Awesome!
You should do it! I'll join you; we can climb half dome!
Wow. A forest that "forever strains at its gilded cage, desperate to expand its borders until it covers all of Manhattan, turning it back into what it was before humans made it a concrete jungle: an actual jungle." Fabulous. I think the same thing when I see an optimistic little weed or plant pushing its way up from between two concerete LA freeway panels, cars wisking past at 80 mph 12 inches away. Such blind optimism, determination. In time, nature would take everything back to herself if we let it.
Can't wait to read your reflections from walking down the Hudson.
True. I want to be as hardy as a weed.
That's a great walk! I did the Great Saunter last year (https://shorewalkers.org/great-saunter/), which is a walk around the perimeter of Manhattan. And this year I did just an informal jaunt with friends from southern tip of Manhattan to the northern tip. We called it the Broadway Walk-- we just stayed on Broadway, so it was a bit shorter than what you did here. Seeing so many different neighborhoods in one day is a truly incredible experience.
Many have been sharing it with me! I should absolutely do that next year--I plan to.