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| Mary Knox Merrill / The Christian Science Monitor / Getty |
This weeks’ reading
on The Nature of the Everglades delved
into one of the many reasons Florida is so popular. Millions of people travel
from all over the world just to visit the Everglades to see what it is about. I
personally have never thought much of what is out there and how it came about.
Douglas put it in perspective and what it seems to me, she really has a true
love for this special place. I found the
reading somewhat long, but I was able to grasp the reading because I have
actually seen the Everglades and was able to mentally take myself there and not
try to imagine what it would be like.
Douglas broke
down the description of the Everglades into different parts. She talks
about the grass, the water, the rock, the river of time, and life on the rock.
She allows one to see how the Everglades came about, where it started and how
it would not be complete without all of these things. One quote form Douglas
that I found meaningful was, “Where the grass and the water are there is the
heart, the current, the meaning of the Everglades” (108). She makes perfect sense as to what the environment
requires to sustain life. There is a purpose as to why things only grow in
certain climates, why there are different species and how they are able to
survive in such places as the Everglades. In the chapter The Water, Douglas mentions, “Here
the rain water is everything” (112). This is the truest statement that anyone
could say in regards to Florida, especially more in the south. Florida does not experience the seasons as
many others do in different States, as Douglas puts it, there are only “two
seasons, the wet and the dry” (112). My understanding of the Everglades is that
it depends on the water from Lake Okeechobee and rain water is needed to thrive.
If there is a drought season, this means majority of the Everglades will dry
up, meaning that all life in the Everglades will need to migrate elsewhere. In
the last chapter “Life on the Rock”, I was able to put the previous chapters in
place. She mentions, “The saw grass in its essential harshness supports little
life” (134). This may be a place that many individuals would find
uninhabitable, although, it is a place that has been able to survive many
changes throughout lifetimes and continues to thrive. She also mentions “Diversity of life lives upon the rock that holds it”
(134). This allowed me to understand that the Everglades needs the water, saw
grass, lime stone, alligators, birds and trees to survive, and as do these species
need the Everglades. They all have a specific purpose. The Everglades is a special place, and has much history in tow. I know that the next
time I am driving through the Everglades, I will take a second look out the
window and appreciate the scenery.
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