Being here at
reminds me of my home, my place
where I grew up on the shores of Lake Superior .
I am a water person.
Not the type who spends time
lying on the beach or riding on power boats.
I love the craggy, irregular shorelines
where spruce and white pine and birch
bow down to pay their respects to the vast blue.
Being here with the Osprey family
behind the kitchen, outside my bedroom,
reminds me of a former colleague.
He retired before I had the opportunity
to talk to him about his project.
The one that reintroduced Osprey into Pennsylvania
And now I know
of Steve Kress and Project Puffin
and other seabird restoration projects.
I recently reviewed data,
50 years of it from a hawk watch near home.
The positive impact of banning DDT was clear.
The age distribution, the numbers
of migrating Bald Eagles and Osprey
are better now, so I am hopeful today.
Being here, I think of people
who saved this island and other special places.
A family linked to Henry David
who saved the work of a great poet, Emily.
I am intrigued by the picture
of Millicent Todd Bingham and Rachel Carson
and the ties to Audubon.
What would have been lost
if Rachel hadn’t written about the silence of spring?
Did Scott Weidensaul inspire the flyway initiative?
Lately, I have been reading
about nature and environmental writing
and the impact writers have had on conservation and awareness.
Bill McKibben asks what metaphors,
what type of writing we need now
For 21st century conservation, for the many threats of today?
Not Muir, Leopold, Brower or Abbey.
But who?
As I have been watching the water,
the seabirds, the intertidal pools,
I also wonder what each of us will do.
To make a difference,
To preserve a special place,
To continue the stories and provide hope for others.
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