Sunday, May 28, 2006

Some thoughts on conservation




This weekend I went on a "family bonding" trip with the parents. It turned out to be a semi-mystical, if not downright religious, experience. We visited the grand canyon of Pennsylvania located 30 miles northwest of Williamsport, PA. We parked our car along a river that was surrounded by 2 huge mountain sides. Going over a rough dirt trail, we hiked to the top of one mountain side. The climb was a grueling one, the path was extremely steep and treacherous in some areas.




After an hour, we reached the summit, which is over 700 meters above the river. At the peak, the view was awe-inspiring. The river was a glistening thread of silver, winding it's way between two magnificently broad mountain slopes. The slopes themselves were heavily forrested, so that in the setting sun, it seemed that great stream of silver was strengthened, broadened, by two geldings of emerald green. Both faces of the canyon stretched far into the distance. we could see swirls of mists and cloud formations beneath us out to some 20 to 30 miles away. There were falcons flying hundreds of meters below us. The sight was almost too much for me to take in, mere words cannot do it justice.



This canyon was created by processes ungoverned by any form of reason or intelligence. Over millions of years, that river had carved a 700 meter valley out of the side of a huge mountain. Trees filled in the niche, providing for an abundence of aboreal mammals. These small creatures thus sustained the wonderous falcons which soared with such speed and grace. That canyon was a mosaic, a tapestry created by nature whose threads were that of geology, erosion, and of course, life. That canyon due to it's remote location and difficult terrain, had attracted few visitors. Besides my family, we encountered no more than 10 other people along the entire hike. This place seems magical, untouched by man and all of his foibles. I marvel at such a natural wonder, yet at the same time, I cannot help but feel a touch of loss. There are few such places left in the world. Humanity is capable of intelligence and ingenuity, yet we cannot come even close to creating such perfection. Sure, we can wipe out that canyon in the blink of an eye, but destruction is always so much simpler than creation. What are we really doing with the consciousness that has been bestowed upon us? We use our sentience to take these gems of nature and we hack it down, pave it over. We transform such beauty into parking lots, shopping malls, townhouses, and of course, office buildings. And what is it all for? So we can brag about a raise? Maybe a promotion? Or perhaps to impress that pretty girl on the other side of the office? There seems to be so much amiss with the human condition. I don't believe that we are really meant to be drones in an office, generating products that only exists to create more people. We are probably not meant to live a life where we have to watch ourselves die one second at a time while killing everything else around us. This philosophical rant has truly gone on enough, I should stick to earthly matters such as potatoes and rabbits. In anycase, this was one cool trip!

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