Shared Environments

The weekend has ended. 
As I sat here getting ready to doze off into a restful sleep, I felt the sudden urge to reflect for a moment, and well, write. It's just that this weekend was particularly special.  I didn't do anything of great significance or anything but rather I guess I am just loving the way I felt these last couple of days.  It's almost like if I felt myself growing...or at least beginning to chip away at the edges of uncertainty that many of us know way too very well.

I had picked up the Bisbee Observer, a local newspaper that detailed upcoming community events, and was suddenly inspired to go hiking.  The paper detailed a guided walk to a ranch (I can't quite recall the name) and the other was a guided walk in the San Pedro River.  One was at 7 am on Saturday and the other was at 8 am, also on Saturday.  Though I love mornings, we ended up going to the 8 am one because we were way too tired to wake up on time for the 7 am.

So as I was saying, the walk was a guided tour of the San Pedro River and it was free! Though we had both been there before and absolutely loved it, we thought it might be a good idea to learn a little about this beautiful place, I call it the place with the trees and Ray knows I'm talking about the river.  So there we were.  Lucky for us no one else showed up so we had the guides all to ourselves, they gave us so much information, and encouraged us to ask as many questions as possible and even asked what our interests where so they could taylor what they shared with us to meet our interests. 

They shared that there are many people this time of year who come out to see the birds, and so they focus on all the information about birds, and then there's others who come for the plants, or whose interests are focused on the cultural history of the place, or who are archeologists, or people interested in the water, or in the insects, and that depending on what we were interested in there was wealth of information to share.  At first, I had no idea what to say...I mean first I would have to ask myself...why am I interested? and second, what am I interested in?  I had no answer for myself so I was silent.  My instinct was that I just found the place beautiful but I was unsure if that was a good enough answer.  Lucky for me Ray jumped in and said..well we are interested in the history.  and I was.

So the walk began.  The guides are all volunteers and they call themselves "Friends of the San Pedro River."  They are extremely knowledgeable, and super kind.  Slowly they began to point out a series of details, about the kind of grasses that grow there and which ones are native to the area and which ones are not.  Then they began to point out particular insects, and then they pointed out these checkered butterflies that I had not even noticed.  They pointed out the mequite trees and how they grow in bosques, or woodlands, and the cottonwood trees and how they rely on the water of the river.  Then they showed us these birds and the seeds of certain plants. With each step we took a new detail about our surroundings was unveiled, sounds that were previously dormant began to dance around in my ears, images and details I had glanced over became crystal clear and even my nose began to notice a myriad of smells and scents that slowly triggered my curiousity and mind to wander.  This layer of sensory experiences was then followed by a series of details about the cultural history of the people and the animals that had existed and lived in this area before. 

And then out of all of it...reflection kicked in.  The guides were showing us the many ways in which all of those individual elements of nature were so very alive and interconnected, how each insect, each grass piece, each bird, how they all share a relationship with each other, and the ways in which they rely on one another to accomplish their own existence.  One example they mentioned, was regarding the birds, the birds use the San Pedro to migrate from north to south and from south to north (yes! despite the stupid border, birds migrate to and from Mexico too :)!).  That without the water and the monsoons and the rain that maintains the river, the trees would not grow, so the birds would not have the shade, shelter, and food they need to migrate and survive.  

I learned so much in just that moment.  I know that I should know this but I guess knowing can have many layers and levels of comprehension.  And I guess I had not realized it in the way that I realized it in that moment in time.  I realized just then, after 30 years of existence, that our lives are shared.  Our existence is a series of shared environments with so many different creatures, plants, and nature.  We all depend on one another and we all have our own internal knowledge of fixing and defending and displaying and existing and problematizing what is needed and what nature requires of us.  I've always believed that there's a shared energy in the world, but after saturday, I'm convinced that it goes beyond energy, its a shared existence, a shared environment with the world.  And with that we share a responsibility with all these ecosystems.  I learned that whenever a change occurs with one thing it affects intentionally and unintentionally a series of other things.  So of course, given my passion for immigration, I can't help but wonder what great damage, environmentally, the border does to our shared environments.  I wonder what animals can no longer migrate during harsh weather conditions, what they must think when they confront that steel wall.  I wonder how confused they must feel upon that barrier, or if they simply find ways around it.

I could write pages and pages about all the neat factoids and realizations that came about that lovely morning, but my words would pale in comparison to actually experiencing, understanding, and most of all feeling what I felt in that moment.  I was absolutely and positively present.  I was with the trees and the birds and the butterflies, and the noises of the wind against the cottonwood trees, the sounds of the our guides voices, the steps of my husband's footsteps, I was so very present and felt so very alive.

So before I put myself to sleep, I guess I just wanted to write about this experience, it's definitely one I do not want to forget. 

Oh..and it's worth noting that after that walk, (aside from the beauty of the place) I guess I have a series of things I know I'm interested in and I also know why...so much so that I had to pick up a book from the San Pedro House Bookstore...I was so fascinated and intrigued and excited, I wanted to learn more and more.  I'll have to write an update about what I discover...but I'm so excited about the title: Conservation of Shared Environments: Learning from the United States and Mexico.  One reviewer wrote "a comprehensive look at the challenges of conserving the interconnected ecosystems and migratory linkages shared by Mexico and the United States" (I can't wait to read it!)

but for now...in the words of my hubby...sleeeeeepy time...:)