GREEN NEWS & VIEWS
Time for Rachel Carson... ...continued from page 13
But most of all I shall remember the monarchs, that unhur - ried westward drift of one small winged form after another, each drawn by some invisible force. We talked a little about their migration, their life history. Did they return? We thought not; for most, at least, this was the closing journey of their lives. But it occurred to me this afternoon, remembering that it had been a happy spectacle, that we had felt no sadness when we spoke of the fact that there would be no return. And rightly — for when any living thing has come to the end of its life cycle we accept that end as natural. For the Monarch, that cycle is measured in a known span of months. For ourselves, the measure is something else, the span of which we cannot know. But the thought is the same: when that intangible cycle has run its course it is a natural and not unhappy thing that a life comes to an end. That is what those brightly fluttering bits of life taught me this morning. I found a deep happiness in it — so I hope, may you. (Letter to Dorothy Freeman, 1963) The passing of time loses much of its sting when we see it through a wider lens. Carson’s writings — from her early articles on life in the Chesa- peake Bay for The Baltimore Sun through to her exposé of indiscrim- inate synthetic pesticide use — remind us to lengthen the scale with which we understand our time on earth. While a summer trip to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean can help us recall the true vastness of time, I believe we can benefit from a more regular familiarity with not only that truth, but the more complete philosophy of Rachel Carson. Our Springsong Museum seeks to embody and impart core messages of interconnection, wonder, and stewardship, while grounding our com- munity in a deep sense of belonging both in place and time. While our work continues to refine designs and raise the funds necessary for the museum’s construction, I plan on welcoming the summer with another trip east to the beach. While we look forward
Preliminary concept rendering of Springsong Museum
to that first swim in the ocean, we also time our journey with that of the Atlantic horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus , who, following the moon’s cycle and hundreds of millions of years of tradition, migrates to bays and sounds to spawn and lay eggs in the coastal sands. Here is a creature that has known such seas and shores for eons of time, while the stream of evolution swept on, leav- ing it almost untouched since the days of the trilobites. The horseshoe crabs in their being obliterate the barrier of time. Our thoughts become uncertain; is it really today? or is it a million — or a hundred million years ago? (“Our Ev - er-Changing Shore”, Holiday , 1958) And looking up at only the sea and sky, it’s momentarily impossible to know much. But the feeling couldn’t be more certain, one of love for my children marveling at the treasures of low tide and of belonging to this earth, its ceaseless cycles, and its indomitable life. Rebecca Henson, Founder and Executive Director of Springsong Museum, is a Mary - land Master Naturalist and mother to two nature-loving boys. Most recently, she worked as an independent climate risk researcher and helped run the nature bookshop at Nature Forward’s Woodend Sanctuary in Chevy Chase. She lives in Silver Spring and serves on the board of the Neighbors of the Northwest Branch. Rebecca has degrees in History from Vanderbilt University and Politics, Policy, & Society, focused on comparative environmen - tal policy, from the University of Bath in England. To learn more about and support the progress of Springsong Museum, visit https://springsongmuseum.org/.
Why Can’t We Be More Like Trees? The Ancient Masters of Cooperation, Kindness, and Healing Judith Bluestone Polich
Reveals how we can learn from the intelligent communities of trees and plants $18.00 • Paperback • 192 pages ISBN 978-1-59143-504-4
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PATHWAYS—Summer 24—57
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