Denise Carey
Synthesis Essay
Can we Appreciate, Enjoy, and Preserve Nature?
What does nature mean to us today? Do we ever stop to appreciate or enjoy it? Or do we just take for granted? I believe we are too busy in our everyday lives that we do not stop to notice the beauty of nature that is all around us. We do not stop and enjoy the simple things. Can we care enough to try and preserve what nature we have left? I wonder how we can tear up the seas and use up the trees all in the name of progress. It is such a tragedy that we are damaging things so fast and they will soon be way beyond repair. While investigating these questions, I read two texts: Living Like Weasels, by Annie Dillard (594-597) and The Late, Great Outdoors, by Keith Goetzman (361-363).
Maybe we as humans should learn to "Live under the wild rose", like Anne Dillard, author of "Living Like Weasels" (594), stated.
Dillard Mill
Dillard Mill
Mother NatureDillard points out that a weasel is wild and she explains how a weasel kills its prey. She shares a story about a naturalist who refused to kill a weasel socketed into his hand like a rattlesnake. The man could not pry the weasel off and he had to walk half a mile to water in order to soak off the weasel. Dillard includes another story about a man who shot an eagle out of the sky. Upon examining the eagle he found a dry skull of a weasel fixed by its jaws to the eagle's throat. She describes a beautiful scene by a pond where she is startled by a weasel. She explains how she and the weasel's eyes were locked, with both of them stunned. Dillard wonders what goes on...