Tales, Thoughts, and Tidbits

First, I would like to post about two pseudo camping trips I had in November of 2010. I had participated in a protest to support the labor workers of Sodexo, a multi-national corporation that abuses workers everywhere. It's headquarters are in Paris, and it threatens workers trying to form a union/cuts the wages of those who already are in them. It gives unfair hours and poverty wages in America. There is rampant racial, gender, and age discrimination. In other places, like Columbia, a pregnancy test is required before women are hired. In Africa, they still have segregated cafeterias for the workers! The previous year, actor Danny Glover participated in a civil disobedience demonstration in our very own Columbus, Ohio. There was another CD event this year, but I was unable to make it. Anyway, I slept in a tent on campus for the entire week (monday night till friday, I had missed sunday night though). And you know, it was better sleep than what I had gotten in the dorms, even with the artificial lights.

We were given bagels for breakfast all the time. It was nice getting to know everybody in the cold weather, and I'm now good friends with a lot of them.

After this event, I went with some friends (who were also involved) from an environmentalist/social justice group known as Free The Planet to Hocking Hills. I just remember the absolute relief I felt when we arrived. Peeing and staring at the starry, clear, open night, taking in the silence and fresh air... We camped on the property of someone they knew (who was apparently trying to turn the big field into an eco-community). We had a great night, eating pasta and cold salsa, drinking wine from a jug, and talking by the fire. But due to the wine and perhaps some herbs, I got really weird during the night, and felt terrible the next day. Vomiting, awkward bowel movement, etc. The mere smell of the campfire smoke sickened me. So I stayed in the car while they hiked Old Man's Cave. It was a good bonding moment though!

Anyways...

I just have two nature-related thoughts. One: My cousin Robby once told me that it is natural (or at least this happens when camping a lot) to wake up frequently throughout the night. And indeed, this certainly happens when it is cold. I wonder if first, this is true. And if it is, I wonder if it is a way for the body to appreciate sleep in the present moment. That might be too metaphysical/philosophical for some, but all I know is living in the present is good, and when you are aware of how precious that sleep is, it helps you do that.

This is especially relevant to my next post about an impromptu camping trip we took to Hocking Hills on January 15th, 2011. That will come later.

Another thought I had came to me last year as I looked over a paper I had written during the Spring Quarter of my freshman year at college. It was for an Environment and Natural Resources/Landscape Architecture writing course, and was about a place we valued in our heart. Mine was Shenandoah National Park, and I talked about how at first, I was underwhelmed by the constant, seemingly unchanging forest environment. Compared to the Sierras of the west, it at first seemed slightly boring.

But I realized just how connected this environment made me to the landscape and to nature. I found beauty in it anyway, not only in its aesthetics, but also the values it taught me of simplicity, freedom, and more.

What I realized was that too often, we objectify nature.

Think about it. Take Sarah Palin's show on TLC for example. The very same politician who's motto during the election was "Drill, baby, drill!" and who does not support the poor and oppressed said of the Alaskan wilderness: "Why can't everybody enjoy this tranquility?"

The extreme hypocrisy bothers me. She wants to drill for oil, and calls any policy to help the poor (who don't get nearly enough exposure to nature, especially wild nature) "socialism," yet she wonders why every American cannot enjoy the absolute privilege she has of being in the wilderness?

This comes from this objectifying mentality. A congressman once made the argument in support of drilling in ANWR because it looked like a blank, white piece of paper he held up. Not only is this a complete misrepresentation of the land's beauty, but it misses the point entirely.

We cannot only preserve those areas that are undoubtedly and obviously beautiful. We cannot let the simple forests of the midwest, or snowy, rocky tundras, or any other generally aesthetically "unappealing" wilderness go to waste and become developed. These areas have their own beauty, and they teach the important values of simplicity, true happiness, etc., that are so lacking in society.

There is an eco-feminist movement, and though I don't know if they have talked about the objectification of nature, I do know that the idea is that mother nature is, to the male gender role mentality, a feminine object meant to be destroyed and controlled. Masculinity as defined by society as tough, strong, uncaring, ends up not only harming women, but also raping the environment. I think there is certainly truth to this sociological perspective.

This overtly masculine, socially constructed mindset can result in the objectification of nature, where landscapes that are extremely beautiful are held in esteem, but for all the wrong reasons. Like a supermodel on the cover of a magazine, Yosemite or Yellowstone are reduced to non-living objects, to be viewed at a distance from the roadside.

Landscapes that do not meet the social standard of natural beauty are undervalued, and thus mountaintops are removed for coalmining. Who would do this in the rockies? Perhaps these lands, being undervalued, are seen as "vulnerable" and therefore people "rape" them.

Well, all I know is that I've grown extremely fond of the plain old forests of Shenandoah. I hope soon to go backpacking in the Great Smoky Mountains, which I imagine have a similar landscape.

Oh, I have a few more things to write about: Just before winter break, there was at one point a very snowy storm that went on while the red sun was setting. It was one of the most beautiful, alluring, mysterious things I had seen. The video does not do it justice. It was a chaotic flurry of snowflakes everywhere, and in the distance, they blended into a crimson haze. The sunlight seemed to diffuse through the cold haziness, making the air glitter and glow.



Also, check out these pictures/video of a hawk eating a cold squirrel on campus that I photographed recently:







And now, a couple obligatory sky pictures and a video:


"Burn the land and boil the sea; you can't take the sky from me." - firefly



Oh, one more thing: I've been reading this great environment-related book called Greed to Green by Charles Derber. It takes a sociological look at the global warming issue, illustrating how denial is still produced with corporate green washing, and how global warming may be far more catastrophic than people say. Also, it often hits on how the environment is related to social justice and inequality, which is extremely important considering the white, upper-middle class air a lot of outdoors/nature activities have.

Nature is for all.