I walked along the edge of a marsh yesterday, and I came upon the body of a stingray. The ray had been dead a day or two, but it still seemed sentient to me, the way its wingtips rose and fell, gentled, in time with the small beats of the tide. Hermit crabs were making a meal of the ray’s body. With their front claws, they excavated bits of flesh, and fed themselves. They nibbled at the edges of the … Continue
Category Archives: Advocacy
Do you remember pivotal moments when you realized, or began to grow into, your purpose in this lifetime on Earth? I’ve been thinking about such a moment in my own life. It took place in a most unexpected setting, an introductory ornamental horticulture class at theUniversity of Florida, about 1980. Our professor, Dr. Bill Barrick, was a gifted man of plants. He was younger than most of the other instructors, dressed stylishly, and invited us graduate students to elegant dinners … Continue
It’s still early spring, botanically speaking, in the Okefenokee Swamp. I had hoped to see legions of blooming pitcher plants, as I have on visits past, but very few are flowering on the last weekend in March. Jeff and I are paddling with one of my oldest swamp companions, Bob Knight, and his wife, Debbie Segal, from the Florida Springs Institute in Gainesville. We four are all activists and lovers of nature–three scientists and one writer—eager for wilderness renewal. … Continue