The sun sets behind me illuminating a haze of clouds on the horizon as my plane jets eastward to Florida. I passed over the beautiful aridity and canyonlands of Nevada, Utah, and the gorgeous topography of Colorado, and now I’m over some farming state I can no longer identify. It grows dark as we escape the sun.
If I’ve not told you personally or you haven’t picked up on it via Facebook or something, I’m headed back to South America, solita, to do some work in the dry tropical forest at Reserva Cerro Seco, an eco-reserve on the coast. The main thing I’d like to tackle is developing a field guide to the plants of the area, though my other work will include volunteer coordination, sustainability and reforestation projects. Since everyone asks, no I’m not getting paid, yes I’m self-funded from strict and regimented saving during a couple stints of botany work I had over the last few months in the States, yes I would love to make further connections down there and learn about grant and other work opportunities, and no, I don’t have a return ticket.
The last few days and weeks have brought me a whirlwind of unexpected emotion as I prepare to leave and live in Ecuador. Not all of them have been pleasant. I’ve come to love my country more and appreciate all the wonderful luxuries we enjoy. I’ve been surrounded everywhere I go with an abundance of love from family, friends, and strangers. I’ve experienced exquisite beauty in forgotten desert landscapes that beckons tears from my eyes: the call of an unidentified bird in the sunset glow of the Sonoran desert; ochre buttes and elk herds in the Wyoming wilderness; granite outcrops punctuating pine forest in the Sierra Nevadas; Joshua Tree’s jumbled rocks. I’ve spent more time with my family in these past few months than in any other years of my adult life, and I love them.
The last few months I have been living life quite fully and have appreciated each and every day: its splendor and its sadness. I wish for everyone to live and love life as completely as is possible for them in whatever situation they find themselves able to do so.
No comments:
Post a Comment