A Land Remembered Character

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Tobias MacIvery is the husband of Emma and the father of Zech. He moved his family from Georgia in 1858 to the Florida scrub with nothing but a horse drawn wagon, a sack of corn, a sack of sweet potatoes, a few packets of seeds, a shotgun and a few shells, a frying pan, several pewter dishes and forks, and a cast iron pot. For clearing the land in the scrub he had two axes, a broadaxe foot adz, crosscut saw, auger bite, a fro and drawing knife. Thinking about it, this is not much to attempt to start a new life in a place you know nothing about, but Tobias is a very determined man. He’s very tough, loves and cares about his family, and is set on providing and making a good life for him and his loved ones. Every time he is called away to help with the war efforts he is distraught about leaving his family alone to fend for themselves and as soon as he is done he rushes back home to make sure everything is ok. Whatever challenge rose up in his way he did what ever he had to, to conquer it. When his wife Emma passed he was truly saddened and distraught. Not too much longer after Emma passed Tobias fell ill and also passed. Tobias built a great life for Zech with the cattle herd and the orange grove.

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Tobias lived off the land. He traveled all over Florida trading, herding cattle, and then eventually creating an orange grove. Tobias was not afraid of the land; he worked with it, changed with it, and lived with it. He took the Indian’s advice and let his cattle roam free following them where they go eventually accumulating enough to sell and be able to eat better. Tobias also decided to create an orange grove, continuing with his working off of the land and using the land and what it offers to his advantage.

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I believe Tobias feels a strong sense of place at home with his family. Tobias, as I mentioned before, will do anything for his family and everything he does is for his family, to give them a better life. Tobias left everything behind for Zech when he passed away, the cattle, the orange grove, and the property. He gave Zech a better life that he won’t need to figure out for himself like his father did. The legacy I believe he left behind, besides all of the physical aspects, was his kind nature. Tobias was a very kind man, he helped a great deal of people and he left a great impression on every single person he helped. I also think that this quality was passed on to Zech.

I relate to this character because I believe we have much of the same qualities. We both have a strong tie to family and will do anything for them. Both Tobias and I are very caring and kind towards others. When a helping hand is needed we would both do what ever we can for that person, especially if they had done something for us.

Marjory Douglas: "The Nature of the Everglades"

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In “The Nature of the Everglades” Marjory Stoneman Douglas talks about the Everglades. She discusses in such a way that it almost seems like a place you would see in a fairytale. Every description she makes displays the Everglades as being a beautiful, wonderful, and one of a kind place. For example, the quote “Then the lion-colored light shuts down as the rain does, or the clouds fill with their steely haze every outline of the visible world and water falls solid, in sheets, in cascades” (Douglas 115). Douglas could have just said something like ‘when it rains here, it pours, one can hardly see two feet in front of them’, but instead she made it beautiful, a work of art using literary devices and she does this throughout the excerpt. Doing this leads me to believe this is a place that is near and dear to Douglas, she cares about it and wants to represent it in the best way possible.

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Douglas also goes on to talk about the development of the earth, focusing on the development of Florida and the Everglades. The section entitled “The River of Time” takes a look at Florida from the time it only looked like an island to its emergence from the ocean to the state we know it to be today. I enjoyed this section because Douglas went through all of the different events that Florida endured to form its shape and size, its lakes and rivers, and the formation of the Everglades. To get to its current picture, Florida went through times of high sea levels and low sea levels due to glaciation, which really formed Florida’s shape, lake Okeechobee, rivers, the Everglades, and the Ten Thousand Islands. Douglas ends this section with mentioning that even though Florida and the Everglades seem established, over time there is going to be change both by man and the earth. “Time moves again for the Everglades, not in ages and in centuries, but as man knows it, in hours and days, the small events of his own lifetime, who was among the last of the living forms to invade its shores” (Douglas 134).

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The last section of Douglas’s excerpt is entitled “Life on the Rock” discussing the inhabitants of the Everglades. First mentioned are the different plants that reside there, what they look like and how they shape the environment. Then the animals and how they interact with each other as well as with the habitat they live in. Eventually the first humans come into the picture, Indians decided to settle there where the pines are thin. Douglas discusses how they lived off the land and eventually white men came to live there as well. Through the rest of the section more plants and animals are discussed, how they live, what they do for one another, how everything lives in harmony. This section in my opinion is fantastic because you’re learning about how everything lives and thrives in the Everglades, something you otherwise would not know, even if you visited the place itself. “Where these mangroves came from, to this young mud over the older rock, cannot be guessed…The mangrove here is at least as old as the Everglades, of which it marks the end” (Douglas 149).

Aldo Leopold's "The Land Ethic"

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Aldo Leopold’s “The Land Ethic” begins with discussing the term “ethic.” Here Leopold describes it in two ways, ecologically and philosophically. Ecologically an ethic is described as a “limitation on freedom of action in the struggle for existence”(Leopold 58). Philosophically an ethic is a “differentiation of social from antisocial” (Leopold 58). These are two different definitions for the exact same word, which Leopold brings about the idea of co-operation, or symbioses. It is mentioned that when talking about ethics it usually relates to the relationship between individuals and society, but there really is not a relation between an individual and the land along with the plants and animals that live there. Leopold’s reasoning for this is that the land relation entails privileges, but not obligations. I agree with Leopold in the fact that people take the world around them for granted. Since the beginning of the human race people have just seized whatever land they fancy and do with it what they will with no regard for what was there before. I do believe that an ethic must be put forth to better take care of the world we live in, one that will make people realize what they are doing to the world around them. “A land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it” (Leopold 60).

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“An ethical obligation on the part of the private owner is the only visible remedy for these situations” (Leopold 68). This is arguing that the government cannot control things that are too complex or too widely dispersed and it is then up to the private owner. I agree with this to an extent, but I believe the government has much more control over things than we think it does. If the government gets more actively involved in conservation more people are going to become educated on the topic, more

people are going to become passionate about it, and more people will change their ways to better conserve the land. When conservation becomes more of a prominent feature in our society, people will be less resistant to jump in and make a difference.

“Obligations have no meaning without conscience, and the problem we face is the extension of the social conscience from people to land” (Leopold 64). I understand what Leopold is saying here, but shouldn’t the social conscience include both people and the land? The idea of being social is interaction, something shared. People interacting and being social is something that can really help

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conservation efforts, getting together and making a difference. We have to be conscious of both the people and the land around us because no one person can change the world. It takes a group of committed people who continue to gather others who are made aware of the problems and are willing to help create a better land, a better future for those who come after us.

David Orr: “Love It or Lose It: The Coming Biophilia Revolution”

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David Orr’s “Love It or Lose It: The Coming Biophilia Revolution” discusses the difference between biophobia and biophilia. Orr explains Biophobia as ranging from being uncomfortable in natural places to absolutely hating everything that’s not manmade, managed, or air-conditioned. “ Biophobia in short, is the culturally acquired urge to affiliate with technology, human artifacts, and solely with human interests regarding the natural world” (Orr 187). I do agree that there are some people whom go out of their way to avoid nature, but not all people who use technology or that are interested in human artifacts hate nature. People use technology all the time when they are out in the woods or on the ocean or in the mountains. Compasses, GPS devices, cameras, and much more are all used in these places so people can explore our natural world and preserve its beauty.

Biophilia, Orr defines as an “affinity for life”(187). Enable to be a biophiliac one must love all living things, which I think would be quite impossible. A person may love many living things, but there is

usually always that one thing that you can’t stand or are afraid of. For example I love many animals and being out in nature, but I am petrified of most snakes and spiders and I know many people are like that.

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“If we are to preserve a world in which biophilia can be expressed and can flourish, we will have to decide to make such a world”(Orr 188). This is one thing I would definitely have to agree on. Though I do not believe there are two completely different categories people fall under in terms of nature, I do believe we are ignoring the fact that we are continuously destroying our environment. People rely heavily on technology, which in some cases is perfectly fine, but it is taking over our world. We are destroying natural habitats left and right to build more houses, businesses, or hotels, I don’t know if

the repercussions are even thought of. To preserve such a world in which life can flourish we really do need to decide to make said world. We must change many of our habits in order to preserve and protect the natural habitats we have left.

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“The human mind is a product of the Pleistocene Age, shaped by wildness that has but all disappeared. If we complete the destruction of nature, we will have succeeded in cutting ourselves off from the source of sanity itself” (Orr 210). I understand where Orr is coming from, but I believe it’s a bit dramatized. He is right in the fact that we cannot completely destroy nature, humans would not be able to live without it, we need the oxygen from the trees and nature keeps us calm, keeps us human. Our minds have advanced much further from the Pleistocene Age, if we go back to something that primitive I don’t believe we would be able to function well either. We need a healthy balance between our old world and our new one not the complete deletion of one or the other.

Richard Louv "Nature-Defict Disorder and the Restorative Environment"

In reading Richard Louv's "Nature-Defict Disorder and the Restorative Environment" I discovered how much nature can really affect one's mood and personality. Children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are now recommended to have more nature experiences to sooth their symptoms. "This research inspires use of the broader term ‘nature-defect disorder’ as away to help us better understand what many children experience, whether or not they have been diagnosed with ADHD”(Louv 2). Due to the examples Louv has given in this piece I believe “nature-defect disorder” would be an accurate way to describe the problem.

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Attention Deficit Disorder causes children to be restless, have trouble paying attention, listening, following directions, and focusing on tasks. This disorder could also cause children to be aggressive, antisocial, or may even end up failing academically. Usually to battle these conditions the patient would be prescribed methylphenidate (Ritalin) and ampheta

mines (Dexedrine). Methylphenidate has the same effect as amphetamine, methamphetamine, and cocaine. Traditional medicine, in my opinion, should never be the first choice, but knowing that these medications children are being provided are practically the equivalent to illegal drugs I believe is wrong. I understand in some extreme cases this could be necessary, but Attention Deficit Disorder is over-diagnosed and these medications are being overprescribed. The first step in trying to calm a patient with ADHD should be to expose them more to nature and if that does not work then move to traditional medicine. Having diagnosed children out in nature has been shown to make a difference in soothing them. Parents have taken notice that their troubled children really benefit from being outside immersed in nature, at beaches, forests, and rivers. Research has even been done showing that nature is more restorative than physically challenging activities.

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“In the era of test-centric education reform and growing fear of liability, many districts considered recess a waste of potential academic time or too risky” (Louv 1). The United State government has been pushing for higher test scores and considering eliminating recess to have more time for academics. This is ridiculous. Cutting physical education and recess has been linked to mental acuity and concentration. Children need recess and physical activity to keep them going, they can’t sit in a classroom for hours continuously learning, they need breaks, and they need to be outside having fun. If you have ever met a child you would know that keeping them cooped up in a room, sitting in the same place, doing the same thing for hours is a terrible idea. They lose focus very easily and have lots of energy that they need to expend, sitting in a room and learning doesn’t cut it. Children need time outside running around in nature.

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“Yet on this afternoon, I saw no evidence of con artist in their eyes. At least for a while—a day, a week, a year, or perhaps even a lifetime—they were changed” (Louv 14). The section this quote came from discussed pulling at-risk kids out of their urban environment and exposing them to nature. These kids had never been exposed to anything but city life and they were transported to a place where they were surrounded by mountains, forests, the ocean, and many different animals. There is not much detail on what the kids did there, but something must have changed them. Maybe just being away from the place where all these bad things happened to them, being away from a city that’s nothing but loud and crazy all the time and being put into a place of such beauty, showing them what life used to be like, what it should be like. That experience will be with them forever and probably did change their lives for the better.