Recently, I spoke with Sheryl St. Germain about my plans for my thesis next year. I told her how I wanted to write something about why I'm so intrigued and fascinated by the neotropical rainforests, and why I enjoy exploring them so much.
Knowing that I'm from south Florida, what she asked in response was, "why are you not engaged by the Everglades or some other landscape close to home?"
My response was that I've always enjoyed the Everglades when I've visited, and for a few years in high school I went quite frequently. I've also had wonderful experiences in other natural places, like the Adirondack park and the greater Yellowstone area when I lived out there one summer. But I just liked those places. I didn't love them.
A voice summoned me to that part of the world, and beckons me to return even now to continue discovering its secrets. The voice is as clear as a clarion call.
And so I wish to make sense of that summons, to better understand why it sounds so imperatively in my ear. One reason I'm aware of is that I'm completely enthralled by the biological diversity of the region, the highest in the world. There's seemingly no cessation to the wealth of creatures to be discovered personally and observed. I am a biophile, and this stream of life is extremely nurturing for me. Though I understand that desolate landscapes can earn the love of people too, for me I crave the bounty of life observable in the equatorial forest.
Somewhat contradictorily, I love the violence of the forest, a confession I'm aware has a very macabre ring to it. Just among the animals, there is much daily violence, and I think it's healthy for people to accept that animals hunt and kill each other. Too often, I think, nature is thought of as a place of complete serenity, of safety. In truth, it is not. I was once camping in the forest, and I heard the death howls of a monkey in the canopy above me in its final throes. Surely some jungle cat had killed him in the night, and it was a terrifying sound, but I was completely absorbed by that mortality. In just my shorts and sandals, I went searching in the jungle with my flashlight to see what I could see, but there was only darkness.
The jungle is such a mysterious force. It's not like other ecosystems farther north or south that have clear seasons and easily observable natural phenomenon. The rainforest is difficult to understand, and that makes it more engaging for me, more challenging.
I love, too, the exploration involved with visiting the forest. I love disappearing into those seemingly impenetrable tangles of verdure, and reemerging triumphantly. And finally, I love exploring internally why I crave that exploration.
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I can completely hear Sheryl's voice saying those words :-) I'm surprised she has never taken me to task on my lack of connection to where I'm from. I am actually quite jealous of her absolute passion for her home landscape, murky and swampy places and all. Though I do agree with her that more exploration of your disconnect is a useful idea. Perhaps that could also be an aspect of your thesis project.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's not like I grew up in the Everglades - they're just close by. My parents aren't "outdoorsy" kinds of people, so my exposure as a child to nature was very limited. I didn't get to really visit the Everglades until I was old enough to drive, and then I went a lot. Still, the nature place that really nurtured me at all was my mother's garden, as I mentioned in my other prompt, and it was just a small little thing not even big enough to run around in.
ReplyDeleteThat'd be nice to be connected to the landscape I grew up in, but I almost feel like it's a little high and mighty when people grill you about why you don't love the place you're from above all else. I love talking to Sheryl about these things (like I said I always leave with new ideas from the conversation and an interesting book in my hands), but I'd argue that not everyone has the luxury of being able to bond with the landscape they're from. The urban or suburban childhood experience, like I had, just doesn't lend itself well to that. And as I said, I like the Everglades, and also have strong sentimental feelings for my mother's garden, but I was lucky enough to later encounter a place that just matched my personality better than anything I'd previously felt, the rainforest.
Haha, I guess I'm already exploring!
I'm a strong believer too in that sometimes the landscapes you "find" and fall in love with are the landscapes you need, even if you don't understand that need for many years.
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