Two Thoughts: Venturing out and into the Mind

"Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” ~ Rachel Carson, 20th Century nature writer and scientist

Rachel Carson, renowned for her 1962 book, “Silent Spring” with its warning of the dangers of the indiscriminate use of pesticides, is often associated with the movement to establish Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Earth was her beloved domain.

Having just returned from the Hawaiian Islands, for hours mesmerized in a cruise along Kauai’s 17-mile Napali Coast with its 4,000-foot mountains and canyon, I feel drawn to connect with her and all who never weary of minding our planet, though it seems a long slog.

Fifty-six years ago, Carson felt the force of chemical industry foes who established a war chest to attack her as an un-American kook. They succeeded in disparaging Carson among conservatives. Even today, the right-wing operates websites maintaining “Rachel was wrong.”

Carson might be surprised to learn this month people will march to defend science, especially environmental science, in more than 200 international venues. As others rally to defend American society against assault weapons, thousands are pushing back on a misguided Environmental Protection Agency and it's turn for the worst.

As current events meet Carson’s dark predictions, what to do but affirm life itself is worth defending, especially given the loose talk by warmongers of shiny objects - nuclear weapons being lifted from their cradles and hurled into our atmosphere.

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Carson said she maintained three homes: her residence in Maryland where she worked for a precursor of the United States Department of the Interior; her summer home in the coast of Maine, where she explored marine life; and the home she inhabited in her mind when writing.

In her lifetime, Carson studied anemones to whales. In Maine, she trod a rocky shore to collect sea life samples, examine them under a microscope and return them to the sea. Long before she exposed harm in the atmosphere, her diligence netted readers poetic and scientific prose.

Having lived in Florida since 1995, spent summer months in the Hudson Valley since 2013 and decades writing, I relate to Carson’s three homes. For blissful years on an island within the City of St. Petersburg, I marveled at the dolphins, manatees, sharks, sting rays and schools of fish swimming by our bayou dock. In New York, I celebrate the efforts of the Hudson River environmental group Riverpool and the late folksinger Pete Seeger in cleaning the river.

And, in the days before publishing a blog, I retreat to consider thoughts worth sharing with you. As writer Kyle Chayka's said in a New York Times article about the destination of digital nomads,” finding it possible to “block out your sense of place entirely and exist in a … space that could be anywhere.”

Wherever you go, there you are, whether venturing out or into your mind. The 1960s spiritual guru Ram Dass, who wrote the book, “Be Here Now,” suggested moving “towards … a kind of joy that is not in time.”

So, the thought is to exist happily, everywhere, out of time. Fleetingly happy as one can be cruising along the Napali Coast - despite today’s alarming headlines. Or, gathering with those of like mind who will not suffer this gorgeous planet's destruction in silence.