Weeelll, humans are out of touch with the Earth and we are depleting it’s life force. I spend a great deal of time in several ecosystems, have some education in general science, botany, biology, etc., and a great deal on interest in all life sciences.
I think about this a lot, and don’t want to write a wall of depressing shit, but our ecosystems have changed drastically since I was a wee lad in the 70s. And nobody notices! When I point out a given fact to people my age, they’re clearly taken aback, had not thought about it. “Remember when cleaning bugs off your windshield was a common task?”
I can go on for an hour, but all is see is death, or rather an absence of life. If I could teleport a 20-something to the 70s, they would freak out over the abundance and variety of animals, in the city. We had more mammals in my mid-town Tulsa hood than I see on the edge of town in NW Florida. Again, I’m outside a lot, I’m looking.
Walking around outside Aldi yesterday I was looking at the perfect grass. Where most see a well kept lawn, all I saw was a barren desert. How much insecticide and herbicide did it take to make that perfect monoculture? Money says you couldn’t dig an earthworm out of that “soil”. Know how I used to find worms? Pick a random spot of dirt and dig for a whole minute. Now I don’t even see them crawling around after a rain.
Another random fact: Global warming has ponds drying up in the summer that didn’t dry up even 10-years ago. Dragonflies take 2-years to mature underwater. Put that together and enjoy all the mosquitoes.
Good news! My efforts have brought frogs back to my yard. They were deafening last night! Hoping to have mature dragonflies next year, or barring that, 2-years from now after I get the 150g pond set up.
(I know that’s not what she’s talking about, just had to get a bit off my chest.)
Literally talking to my wife today about how bugs on the bumper/windshield isn’t a thing anymore in 90% of places. It’s sad. Like you, all I see is death.
Weeelll, humans are out of touch with the Earth and we are depleting it’s life force. I spend a great deal of time in several ecosystems, have some education in general science, botany, biology, etc., and a great deal on interest in all life sciences.
I think about this a lot, and don’t want to write a wall of depressing shit, but our ecosystems have changed drastically since I was a wee lad in the 70s. And nobody notices! When I point out a given fact to people my age, they’re clearly taken aback, had not thought about it. “Remember when cleaning bugs off your windshield was a common task?”
I can go on for an hour, but all is see is death, or rather an absence of life. If I could teleport a 20-something to the 70s, they would freak out over the abundance and variety of animals, in the city. We had more mammals in my mid-town Tulsa hood than I see on the edge of town in NW Florida. Again, I’m outside a lot, I’m looking.
Walking around outside Aldi yesterday I was looking at the perfect grass. Where most see a well kept lawn, all I saw was a barren desert. How much insecticide and herbicide did it take to make that perfect monoculture? Money says you couldn’t dig an earthworm out of that “soil”. Know how I used to find worms? Pick a random spot of dirt and dig for a whole minute. Now I don’t even see them crawling around after a rain.
Another random fact: Global warming has ponds drying up in the summer that didn’t dry up even 10-years ago. Dragonflies take 2-years to mature underwater. Put that together and enjoy all the mosquitoes.
Good news! My efforts have brought frogs back to my yard. They were deafening last night! Hoping to have mature dragonflies next year, or barring that, 2-years from now after I get the 150g pond set up.
(I know that’s not what she’s talking about, just had to get a bit off my chest.)
I wish more people had your perspective
Literally talking to my wife today about how bugs on the bumper/windshield isn’t a thing anymore in 90% of places. It’s sad. Like you, all I see is death.