Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Thankful

A year and a half into the Diaries, I admit that a certain gloom has been creeping in lately. So many bags of garbage, so many news accounts of declining seas & shores. Too much plastic junk, and still more being churned out every day.

So this past Monday when I hit the beach, a pall hung over my thoughts.

Which is why what I found was such a startling, beautiful surprise. Here is the grand total of debris from 500 feet of beachfront for the week:
Barely two dozen pieces. Take away the rock, glass (and of course the infernal cigarettes), and last week the sea washed up a grand total of 9 tiny things.

It was a clean beach. The kind my ancestors would have enjoyed -- probably never imagining any other kind. It was the brief vision of a future that my daughter and all of the next generations deserve. One that's worth fighting for. The kind of day where you truly could forget the modern world. See the gorgeous ripples of outflow at the far end of the low-tide terrace:
Study the beautiful striations running the length of sun-bleached driftwood:
 And admire the geometric artwork left behind by a few errand-running gulls:

I know it's fleeting. I know the challenges & the realities. To borrow Tolkien, "The land dreams in a false peace." But for the glimpse & reminder of what that peace could actually look like, I'm grateful. And thankful.



3 comments:

  1. Beautification images can be as or more motivating than images of trashed environments. Start with values (beautiful natural litter free settings) and drive behaviors that will sustain the values. Overuse of images of litter might backfire by discouraging some people and convicing others that littering is an excepted and normalized behavior.
    I like the before and after approach. Or at least a mix of showing the possible, expected, desired, and at other times showiing the unacceptable offensive break in normal societal behavior-littered landscapes.
    Thank you for showing the desired views-they are beautiful, relaxing and look to be healthy. They are an inspiration to continue to pick up littered trash and to inspire the community to maintain an attitude intolerant of littered trash.
    Happy Thanksgiving
    Bernie

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  2. (Corrected spelling errors)
    Beautification images can be as or more motivating than images of trashed environments. Start with values (beautiful natural litter free settings) and drive behaviors that will sustain the values. Overuse of images of litter might backfire by discouraging some people and convincing others, that littering is an accepted and normalized behavior.
    I like the before and after approach. Or at least a mix of showing the possible, expected, desired, and at other times showing the unacceptable offensive break in normal societal behavior-littered landscapes.
    Thank you for showing the desired views-they are beautiful, relaxing and look to be healthy. They are an inspiration to continue to pick up littered trash and to inspire the community to maintain an attitude intolerant of littered trash.
    Happy Thanksgiving
    Bernie

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Bernie, thank you much for the great note. Yeah, it's kind of how I feel -- an endless barrage of the ugly with no break, it can be chilling. It's nice to remember & celebrate why we care about this stuff in the first place.

    ReplyDelete