Chaparral Wisdom
To celebrate the magic and beauty of Nature & the chaparral
You and I Will be the Last to Feel an Emotional Tie to D-Day
This morning, June 6th, eighty years ago, your father, mother, grandfather, or grandmother likely participated in some way in the greatest battle ever fought to preserve the civilized world. And they did so as Americans. Together.
There’s only around 200 veterans left now who hit those beaches of France on D-Day on June 6, 1944. We are celebrating them this week. When they are finally gone, a piece of America will vanish with them. And within another few decades, when you and I are gone, the sons, the daughters, and grandchildren of the Greatest Generation, D-Day will only speak from the history books as we know of the Civil War today.
Do what you can to preserve what you have. And if you are one of the lucky few who still have a veteran parent or grandparent who is still with us, who fought for our country in World War II, take some precious time to honor them in whatever manner seems proper.
I’ve been shifting through my dad’s records the last few months to prepare them for safe keeping by his 381st Bomb Group’s historians. I wish he was still here to talk about what I’ve found. But then again, he never talked about the war, so I suspect he wouldn’t now.
His personal journal was filled with detail and anticipation after he arrived on base at Ridgewell, England, November 10, 1943 to fly a crew of nine other men in one of the most storied planes of the war, the B-17. As the mission descriptions progressed, and his men, his friends, didn’t return, the sentences became shorter, the rhythm increasingly unsettled. On December 24th, dad was given command of the 535th Squadron. On February 19, 1944, dad stopped making journal entries. He had only completed half his tour.
A page from dad’s squadron crew book. He kept track of every member. This Berlin mission was described by some in the 381st as the toughest of their tour. Six 381st aircraft were lost. The Higgins crew was flying in the Flying Fortress B-17 “Spamcan”. There were six killed and four POW. Higgins’ dog-tags were found in the wreck as he stayed with the plane for the crew to bail until it exploded midair per witness statements. There are lingering questions about whether Eddie Delgado died in the explosion or whether he was killed on the ground by civilians after he bailed out. Thanks to the 381st Bomb Group Association for this information.
Read MoreNature is Not Our Garden in Need of “Tending”
– How the California Coastal Commission is Failing Us –
The clearance of old-growth Bishop Pine Forests at Tomales Bay State Park
In the summer of 1972, my friend Eric Strom and I went door to door to encourage our neighbors to vote for Proposition 20, the landmark initiative to create the California Coastal Commission.
After suffering a defeat in the legislature the previous year, citizens had rallied to place the proposition on the ballot. As high school students, we dove into the battle through the neighborhood environmental group we formed, Help Our Environment. Our monthly publication, The Conservatory Tribune, published courtesy of the ditto machine in our school’s copy room, was distributed by mail to around 100 people. We covered a lot of issues, garnering support for the causes we championed during the heyday of the environmental movement. But the cause we were most proud of was our participation in the effort to establish the California Coastal Commission to protect our fragile coastline.
Prop 20 passed, Eric and I graduated from high school, and a wonderful assortment of laws were on the books to protect Nature. We felt the natural environment was finally given a fighting chance.
Although the laws are still with us, anthropocentrism has slowly crept into the collective mindset, elevating human interests and desires above the needs of native, wild life forms. The Tomales Bay State Park Public Works Plan (PWP) is unfortunately a reflection of this change.
We lost Eric on Easter Day, 1995. He lived large. I can still hear his booming, beautiful voice singing his favorite songs on stage. Both my parents passed away about the same time. I remember the animated disagreements we had over Prop 20 at the kitchen table. Mom voted yes, dad voted no. In 1972, people could have opposite opinions and still respect each other.
And so, as I reflect on my decades-long effort to protect Nature from misconceptions and vested interests determined to demonize vibrant ecosystems, it is bittersweet to be writing this letter. It has been difficult to see the California Coastal Commission, under pressure from Cal Fire, helping to facilitate the loss of the very coastal habitats it was originally chartered to protect.
Read MoreAn Inspired Spirit for Thousands
Dr. Marvin Druger – Emeritus Professor of Biology, Syracuse University
Below is the note I sent to Dr. Marvin Druger this morning, to thank him for the inspiration he has shared with so many.
Dear Dr. Druger,
I met you at a AAAS conference in San Francisco, I think, back in 1985. You presented a remarkable set of examples of how to motivate general biology students to not only enjoy your class, but the entire field of biology. As a beginning high school biology teacher, I was constantly searching for ways to inspire. What I learned from you influenced what I did over the twenty years I spent in the classroom, as well as the years that have followed when I’ve endeavored to communicate my ideas effectively as an advocate for the environment, and again, now, as a teacher of our Chaparral Naturalist course, a program our organization founded in 2015. As I ramped up for the tenth year of our class starting next month, you came to mind as the mentor who set the stage for so much of how I have approached teaching.
When I looked you up on the web last night, I was not surprised to find your infectious smile and welcoming eyes greet me. It’s obvious your zest for life and enthusiasm for teaching continues to shine!
