Final Thoughts On Colloquium

Looking back on this semester in Colloquium, I really enjoyed taking the class.  I have to admit that in the beginning of the semester I was aware of some of the environmental issues in our society, but now I can say that I have become much more educated on the topics and have learned a great deal.  I really enjoyed getting around the Southwest Florida area for our field trips. Most of the field trips provided us a chance to get in touch with nature and spend some time out in the fresh air.  When I was younger I spent a great deal of my time outside playing in the woods and camping, however, as I’ve grown older I don’t seem to do many of the activities I used to enjoy.  That is one thing this class did show me. I have become a little out of touch with nature and haven’t done one of my favorite things to do in years, which is camping.  The one thing that I did notice in our class was how most of the students were really out of touch with nature. I remember one day when Neil suggested that we spend an hour in the woods with no cell phones.  Most of the students couldn’t stand the thought.  I am a little older than most of the students and it’s amazing to see how dependent that generation is on technology.  It made me think about my children and how important it is that I support getting them to spend time outside playing and investigating what nature has to offer. 

Although at first I dreaded doing it, the required service-learning hours I did ended up being one of my favorite activities in the class.  I helped with a dinner at Vester Marine Lab for the School Science and Mathematics Association.  It was a lot of fun down on the water and we ate the food we could.  I also helped with a field-trip to Crew Trust Preserve, which was one of my favorite field trips of the semester. I think that it should be one of the field trips for the class to take. Overall, I feel that the Colloquium class is a very beneficial class for the students to take, and for society as a whole.  Had the class not been required, I probably wouldn’t have taken it, and after taking the class I can understand the importance of taking it, and why it is a required course.

Plan B Presentation

For our class presentation on Plan B, we were responsible for covering chapter ten.  Our chapter was titled Can We Mobilize Fast Enough.  The chapter really put an urgency on the world as whole, taking responsibility for global warming and the factors associated with it.  The chapter discusses how we are marching forward to a civilizational collapse and food supply is one of the major concerns.  The thought of a civilizational collapse with food shortages is a scary one.  How is it that we are considered the most intelligent people to have ever walked the earth, yet we are now at a major breaking point globally?  What will happen if we cross that threshold and a collapse begins? 

That is what’s so scary.  Our world as a whole has never been in this type of situation and who knows how people will react, but most likely it would be ugly.  This is exactly why we need to be urgent now, and do our best to avoid such a catastrophe.  One of the ideas presented in the chapter is to lower income taxes and tax activities that contribute to global warming at a much higher rate.  The idea is to almost penalize those who participate in activities that contribute to global warming.  This would include a gasoline tax to encourage car pooling, a landfill tax to encourage recycling, and even use a cap-and-trade system where those who wish to engage in these activities are required to purchase a permit.  I believe that all of these ideas are good because they directly penalize the person or persons who choose to participate in the activities.  Those who do not engage in those activities are not penalized.  One of the final points in the chapter is that the United States should lead this charge for change and help to get rid of illiteracy, disease, poverty, and we can restore the earth’s soils forests, and fisheries.  The author makes a suggestion of shifting 13% of the world’s military budget to the Plan B budget, and that would be more than adequate to move on a path that would sustain progress.  I look at it like this, either we shift the 13% of the budget, or we collapse.  The answer seems obvious, and if we don’t do something, that world military budget is going to be worthless anyway.  We might as well adopt this plan and start moving forward before its too late. 

SW Florida Historical Museum

Last week we took a class field-trip to the Southwest Florida Museum of history in downtown Fort Myers.  The museum is housed in a circa 1924 restored train depot, and also has a replica of a pioneer “cracker” house.  The museum has numerous exhibits, including, Paleo Florida, the Calusa Indians, the Seminole Indians, Spanish explorers, and a turn of the century exhibit that included Thomas Edison.  Walking through the museum felt like we had gone back into time and there was a lot to take in.  I’m thinking about a second visit so that I can spend a little more time to absorb all of the information in each of the exhibits.  The museum also had a traveling exhibit with black and white fine art photographs from Clyde Butcher.  We only spent a few minutes at this exhibit, but I really enjoyed looking at the photographs.  That was the first time that I have ever spent any time looking at black and white photographs that were considered art.  Outside of the museum there was a replica “cracker” house. 

These homes were single room homes of the early cattleman, who were named “crackers” for the sound their whips would make when rustling cattle.  The houses had sloped roofs so that the rain would run off, a front porch, and were raised to avoid any flooding issues.  After the museum we walked around downtown and went to the Indigo Hotel.  We went to the top floor, and we were able to look all around downtown.  The view was spectacular and the most interesting part was that we could see all the trees throughout the downtown.  I could see green for as far as I could see, and they were spread out all over downtown amongst the buildings and streets.I had no idea there were that many trees in that area.  The view of the Caloosahatchee was also awesome from up on the top floor.  After the Indigo, Neil let us walk downtown a little, and we went for pizza at one of the shops. 

That was the first time I have ever walked around downtown Fort Myers, and sitting outside by the street and eating was a good time as well.  There is a lot to look at when walking around and many different shops and restaurants to stop and checkout.  This was one of my favorite field trips of the semester, and I would like to take a Saturday and go spend some time walking around, and checking out the sites.

Service-Learning Project

This past Friday and Saturday I completed my required service-learning hours for Colloquium, by volunteering to assist with a dinner and a field-trip.  Friday afternoon, several of us volunteers arrived at FGCU’s Vester Marine Lab to set up for an evening dinner on the water.  We set up tables, prepped food, and assisted anyone we could to get the event set up for dinner.  Although it was a little cool, it was a perfect setting for dinner by the water.  A couple from Gatorama, which is located in Palmdale, set up and cooked alligator ribs.  The ribs were unbelievable.  I’ve had gator tail many times, and honestly did not know that people ate gator ribs.  Along with the gator ribs, we served a variety of seafood for everyone to eat. 

Most of the people that attended were professors and professionals from across the country.  All of them seemed to have a very good time and were very friendly to all of us students.  After dinner, the couple from Gatorama brought out a live alligator and crocodile for people to hold and take pictures with if they liked.  It was pretty funny to watch many of the guests who had never seen, let alone touched an alligator or crocodile.  It was a great time for all us.  

On Saturday, I went along to assist on a field-trip to Crew Trust Preserve.  It was a great way to complete my service-learning requirement. Honestly, it felt more like a class field-trip, than anything else.  The preserve is beautiful and I really enjoyed going along.  Susan Cooper, a professor at FGCU, was very nice and was very knowledgeable about our local environment.  I really enjoyed spending time and speaking with her.  Our guide at the preserve was a white-haired lady named Brenda.  All of us on the trip really enjoyed the walk through the preserve, as Brenda educated us on a variety of things. 

One thing that I was surprised to learn was that the dahoon holly, which is native to Florida, is easily mistaken for the Brazilian pepper tree.  The dahoon hollies red berries are much larger than those of the Brazilian pepper tree.  My favorite spot along the trail was when we came upon a wooden stand that overlooked a wide open space of saw grass.  The wind was blowing from the north, and it was a peaceful site to watch the saw grass bending in what seemed to be waves of wind.  The boardwalk that followed was enjoyable as well.  I think that the preserve should definitely be on the list of field-trips for Colloquium.  In all, the two days of service-learning were a lot of fun and very enjoyable.

The Everglades

The assigned reading on the Everglades made me think back about a couple of things. Prior to coming back to school, I worked for a company that located underground buried electric cables for LCEC.  I covered all of Collier County and parts of Lee County.  Although I spent the majority of my time on Marco Island, I was also responsible for locating all lines within the Big Cypress National Preserve.  I traveled U.S. 41 from Naples to Everglades City, and then up State Road 29 into Immokalee.  I used to spend my lunch hour parked on the side of 41, watching the alligators in the canal on the north side of the road.  Over near Freeport, there is a waterway where every now and then you could see a couple of manatees playing, and there are some beautiful views out on Chokoloskee Island.  One afternoon while traveling north on SR 29 from Everglades City into Immokalee, I saw a black bear cross the highway, climb over a guard rail, and it jumped into a ditch full of water.  It looked like it was after something, but as I got closer; it scooted off into the woods.  During the rainy season, I even saw several otters playing in the ditches over in the Immokalee area. It was a great area to have to work in.  The second thing that the reading reminded me of was the only time that I have ever been camping in the Everglades.  It was in April of 1984 when I was seven years old.  I’m not sure where we actually were, but it was a spot that my step-father knew of.  We camped out for the weekend, fished, swam, and hiked all around.  I remember swimming in the water and seeing alligators.  I grew up on a canal with alligators, and we swam in the water all the time, so I didn’t really have a fear of it.  That’s funny though, because I would never do that now, and I probably wouldn’t let my children either.  Anyway, I spent most of my time there fishing and I know it’s hard to tell, but if you look closely at that picture of me holding up a bobber, there is a fish on the hook.  It’s really hard to tell, so take my word for it! The best part of the whole trip is that we went out there to celebrate Easter weekend.  My mom and my aunt’s had made sure to bring all the Easter baskets, candy, and of course, chocolate. By Sunday morning all of the chocolate had melted and left a mess in our baskets.  It’s funny now, but not so much when I was seven.

 

Nature-Deficit Disorder

After reading the assigned chapters from Gifts of Nature by Richard Louv, the chapter that stood out the most to me was titled Nature-Deficit Disorder and the Restorative Environment.  The chapter discusses how studies show that nature may be a useful therapy for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).  I wrote a paper about 11 years ago for a course at Edison Community College, where I felt then and still do now, that children are being incorrectly diagnosed with this disorder.  In my opinion, we are over medicating our children, so that parents can be lazy.  What we really have is a Parental Deficit Disorder.  Parents buy their children all these technologies and video games, and the kids rot inside their rooms all day.  It keeps the kids out of their way.  Then they go to school with all this wound up energy and they act up.  Immediately the school suggests medication and most parents follow through and put them on Ritalin or one of the other medications.  I personally feel that the problem is lack of parent interaction, and a lack of time spent playing outside.  My children have all the fun video games, computers, and whatever else they’ve talked me into; however, their time is limited and accounted for.  I make sure they play outside each day, and we do simple things like eat as a family and discuss our day.  Most families these days don’t even sit at the table and eat their dinner.  I even know a few that eat in separate rooms so that everyone can watch their own television shows.  I don’t think a lot of people realize how important of a connection you get with your children when you take the time to listen to them. 

We also take walks around the neighbor and talk about anything and everything you can imagine.  Two weeks ago we not only added a baby boy to the family, but we also added a 13 year old young man who has been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder.  I have known him his entire life, and he has gone through more terrible situations than good in his life.  He was about to go to foster care, and I just couldn’t let that happen to him. Adding him did make it five children in my household, but hey what’s one more.  Anyway, he was diagnosed with ADHD when he was around 7 or 8 years old.  I always disagreed with the diagnosis and have always fully thought it was a lack of parental guidance in his life. He is a kid with a lot of energy, but honestly, what kid isn’t.  He didn’t pay attention well in class and he misbehaved.  I think he misbehaved because he was acting out about his home life.  Now being that he is bi-polar makes his situation a little different, however I believe that positive adult interaction and some time spent with nature is a good way to help him fight his mental illness.  After two weeks of staying with us, the school has taken notice on his behavior and he told my sister he wants to stay with us because he feels loved for the first time in his life.  All the kid needs is someone to actually care and spend some time with him.  Last weekend we started building a fort in the woods behind the house, we are planning a family camping trip for next month, and tomorrow he is going hunting at Cecil Webb.  I think that if I keep him in a positive situation and expose him to the outside world, he can spend all that energy up, while enjoying the fresh air.     

RATTLESNAKE BITE

 

Last week when we were walking along the path at the Fort Myers Historic Cottage, there was a black snake that slithered across the ground.  As soon as I noticed the snake I jumped out of the way and a couple of people kind of laughed.  It was funny, but my fear of snakes is definitely real.  When I was 11 years old, I was bitten by a 29 inch eastern diamondback rattlesnake.  Prior to being bitten, I had a couple of close calls with snakes growing up. A couple of years prior, I was in my backyard and jumped over a pile of wood and my foot landed on the head of a water moccasin.  I jumped and was able to get away, but that was the first time I had encountered a snake that put fear in me. Then, two weeks prior to getting bit, I was walking across the street from my house to go fishing in a canal, and I noticed a large snake coiled up next to our mailbox.  I walked close and the snake did nothing.  I thought it was dead, but decided to go get my older brother.  He came outside with a shovel and took a poke at the snake.  It was an eastern diamondback rattlesnake, and as soon as that shovel got close that snake struck the end of the shovel, recoiled and did it again.  We both jumped back and the snake scurried away across an open field.

Two weeks later, May 4^th 1988, I had just got home and my brother and I were going to go over to our friend Billy’s house.  My brother called me a name when we got out of the car and I proceeded to chase him through the back yard, into Billy’s yard and in between Billy’s house and his neighbor’s.  As I passed the air conditioning unit on Billy’s house, I felt a sharp pain around my ankle on my right foot.  When I looked down, there was a snake clamped onto my leg.  I screamed and tried to kick the snake off. I eventually managed to shake him loose and as I tried to get away, fell to my knees and began to crawl to the front of my friend’s home.  My brother was screaming like a little girl too, and all the commotion led Billy’s mom to come outside to see what was happening.  She immediately called 911 and tied a tourniquet just below my knee. At that point I began to pass out and really don’t remember much for the next two weeks or so. By the time the ambulance had arrived, my foot had swollen so large that they had to cut off my shoe. My step-father went to look for the snake and found it in the exact spot where it had bit me. The snake was digesting a frog when they found it.  They killed the snake and brought it to the hospital.  The doctor told my mother that the snake had injected two and a half teaspoons of venom into the muscle in my leg.  They told my mom that there was a 50% chance of survival and that if I did survive; they were going to have to cut off my leg at the knee.  Somehow, with a lot of prayers, the majority of the muscle in my leg was healing and after 5 opinions from doctors, I was able to keep my leg. I initially had three surgeries to open the wound, which was a long cut from the knee to the ankle, and then two cuts on top of the foot, to relieve pressure and allow for cleaning of the muscle.  About a week later, I had three more surgeries to close up the wound and had it stapled and stitched up.  After about 3 months of physical therapy I was able to walk and eventually able to play football, baseball, and basketball in high school. So, if I see a black snake and it makes me jump and even scream, I think I’m entitled to that.

FORT MYERS BEACH HISTORIC COTTAGE

 

Earlier this week, we took a field trip to the Fort Myers Beach Historic Cottage, which was truly a step back in time.  Our host was a very nice little old lady, named Jo Hughes.  She and her family had lived in the very cottage that we were visiting.  Jo shared with us some of her experiences growing up on Fort Myers beach and created a great picture of life in the 30’s and 40’s on the beach.  She told us about no electricity and the excessive mosquito problems.  The cottage is now owned by the Estero Island Historic Society and contains old Indian artifacts, sea shells and other items from those earlier times.  I sat in the very back of the room when Jo was talking, and noticed a wooden school chair for a small child that was marked that it was 100 years old.  It made me wonder how many children had sat in the chair over the years.  I will say that it was built very sturdy, which is why it has lasted 100 years.  The cottage itself was the fourth home built on Fort Myers beach and was previously located on the shoreline. Three generations of the family lived in the cottage, before it was converted into the islands first preschool.  After Jo was done speaking, like a grandmother would, she offered us juice, cookies, and some home-made jams.  As I sat there enjoying my refreshments, I looked around the small cottage and thought about what life would have been like back then.  Yes the cottage was small, but even now it still had that feeling of home to it. After we finished with refreshments, we walked out behind the cottage for a walk along the boardwalk. On my way down I noticed a rain barrel that was built in the 1940’s next to the cottage. The barrel was used to collect rain and be used for drinking water.  Along the boardwalk we walked in out of mangroves.  The boardwalk reminded me of Ponce De Leon Park in Punta Gorda, where I have spent quite a bit time playing, fishing, and walking the boardwalk growing up.  The boardwalk came out to a beautiful opening to the water. This was a very peaceful place where you could sit and enjoy the view for quite some time.  We were also able to see some oysters in the water growing on the mangrove roots.  The next time we head to down Fort Myers beach for the day, I’m going to take the family by to see the cottage and walk along the boardwalk.  We also took time to look up online about many of the historic buildings and areas located here in Punta Gorda so that we can visit them as well.

ECHO GLOBAL FARM

Last week we took our class fieldtrip to the Echo Global Farm in Fort Myers. I have lived in southwest Florida my entire life and hadn’t ever heard of the farm.  When we first got to the farm we were introduced to a very friendly little man who was our guide for the fieldtrip.  I didn’t catch his name, but his humor made the walk through the farm interesting and enjoyable.  According to the Echo website, (http://www.echonet.org/), Echo is a non-profit organization whose vision is “to bring glory to God and a blessing to mankind by using science and technology to help the poor.”  The website also goes on to say that ECHO understands that there is a wealth of agricultural knowledge among the poor farmers we seek to assist.  As such, Echo does not “teach” people to farm.  Rather we work to make farmers more effective at growing food producing crops under harsh conditions.  I find that to be a very interesting concept.  As we walked around the farm there was evidence of this concept all around.  In some areas they were using old tires filled with soil and plants growing out of them.  Another very interesting concept was using the roof to grow plants and crops.  In third world countries, this allows individuals to grow their own crops, and not use up the surrounding land while doing so.  Our guide also said that this also allows the housing, or shacks that the people are living in, to stay cooler under the hot sun.  So you end up not only having food to eat, but also cooling your home.  One of my favorite spots along the walk through the farm was the rice patties. I have never seen them before, and thought that to be very interesting.  My Dad served in Vietnam and I have a couple of Uncles as well, and they had made several references to rice patties, and I guess there was some sort of connection there when I saw them. Another area I enjoyed in the farm was the bamboo area. It was nice and peaceful over there with a lot of shade.  I could have hung out in that area for the afternoon.  Echo is a very interesting place and holds a wealth of knowledge when it comes to farming in extreme conditions.  They also have a seed bank that contains some of the most rare and hard to find seeds that thrive in the tropics.  After sharing the field trip and looking at the website with my family, we have decided to visit Echo in the near future.

HOT, FLAT, & CROWDED

 

After reading Hot, Flat, & Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman, I was left thinking about how large the issues of over population, an even global economic playing field, and global warming are at a point that if we don’t act now, then we’ve acted too late.  One thing that I guess I really haven’t thought about is that the projected population is expected to be more than 9 billion people by 2053. If we don’t start getting involved and educating people right now, by 2050 we will be in a lot of trouble.  More and more countries are growing and advancing much like we did as Americans.  With all this growth there has to be some form of world-wide unity to correct the mistakes of our past.  If not, our over-crowded planet will be fighting for whatever remaining resources are available.

 All of this fighting and misuse of resources will surely doom the human race.  We have a chance right now to avoid all of that, but it seems like not too many are concerned.  Friedman also writes about how the internet has created an even global economic playing field.  People from all over the world can use the internet to create work and money from their own homes.  He also tells about how this has allowed many poor people to rise out of poverty and better their lives.  However, the more and more people we have on the planet using up more of the advanced resources we are currently using as Americans, is actually hurting our planet.  The fact is we are going to continue to grow as a population. It’s what we do with our resources, and how we renew these resources that is what is going to matter into the future.  A third and very important topic covered in the reading by Friedman, was how global warming is affecting and will affect the planet into the future.  It’s kind of sad, but many people think that global warming isn’t real, or that it’s something the government makes up.  That kind of thinking is what helped get us all to this point and is something that must be changed right now.  Deforestation, agriculture, and industrialization is vastly increasing the levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, yet most of us turn our heads and act like these issues don’t matter.  If scientific data isn’t enough to get everyday people and governments to take charge of this issue, then I don’t know what will be good enough.  I do know this though, we better starting caring, we better start acting, and we better start coming together as a planet and stop trying to outdo one another.  Because if we don’t, there is only one thing that we will have done as a human race on our planet it. DESTROY IT!     

CORKSCREW SWAMP SANCTUARY

Our class field trip to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary was a lot of fun and relaxing.  It has been quite awhile since I last spent any amount of time in the woods.  Growing up in southwest Florida, that is all I ever seemed to do, whether to just hike and explore, or to go camping in the middle of nowhere and spend two or three days.  Walking throughout the boardwalk left me reminiscing about those times and at the same time showed me how out of touch with nature I have become over time. 

Over the years I have become so consumed with making money, taking care of children, and whenever I get a chance, trying to find some me time.  Every now and then I set out to go fishing and that’s about as close to nature as it gets for me.  After the fieldtrip I came home and planned a family trip down to the Sanctuary.  We haven’t made the trip yet, but in the near future we will. One of the things I enjoyed most about the walk was how I could easily see the distinction between each of the habitats.  My favorite place was where the Pine Flatwoods met the Wet Prairie and then met the Pond Cypress.  The distinction between the Pine Flatwoods and the Pond Cypress was very evident in this area.  I also like that along the boardwalk there were several spots to sit and just enjoy the view.  Although we didn’t see a large amount of animal life, I’m sure if you took the time to just sit in one of these areas for a little while, you would probably be amazed at what you might see.  My second favorite stop on the boardwalk was at the Lettuce Lakes.  I was really hoping we would get a chance to see an alligator in this area.

There wasn’t a lot going on when we were there, but we also had a larger group and perhaps that played a role in how much activity we saw. Nonetheless, this area is also a place I want to spend a little more time at next time I go.  I also saw on the Corkscrew Sanctuary website that from late December through early June that if the conditions are right, wood storks come to nest.  I would definitely like to plan a second family visit to see this as well.     

MY ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY

Over the last few years I have become more aware of the environmental issues in our society, and have become to have my own personal environmental philosophy.  I believe that each and every one of us has a responsibility to not only one another, but to our future generations to take care of the place we call home.  Currently, I believe that we are consuming the earth’s materials at a rate that most of us don’t even understand.  At the same time, some of these same materials we are consuming for our own conveniences are destroying our surrounding environment.  At what point will people say enough is enough?  I believe it will be when it’s too late.  Most people will look back and say we should have done this and we should have done that.  The problem with that is it is us Americans who will more than likely be the one’s saying that.  We as a country are mostly responsible for the situation we are in.  We are so willing to do whatever it takes to advance in society without looking into the future to see where this hastiness will lead us.  And now that there are other countries out there working feverishly to advance and grow much like the way America did.  If all of these countries continue to grow and we do as well, at some point we are going to begin to run out of the materials and a world-wide power struggle is almost certain to ensue.

I hate to admit it, but much of the time it feels like we are already too late to fix things now. Not because I don’t want to, but because I feel like our society just doesn’t care much about anything except for what is happening personally in their lives.  If more people understood how severe the issue was, maybe they would care.  However, because they aren’t currently affected by the issue, they just brush it off and figure it’s not their problem.  The funny thing is, at the current rate, it could possible become issue before many of us even think.  I would like to believe that as a planet, that we could all come together to do what’s best for our survival and our planet.  To think that we are the smartest creatures on the planet, and we are willing to overlook a problem that could potentially wipe out our species by our own doing is an unbelievable thought.