By Erin Shannon
Looking up at my surroundings, I can’t help but feel awe at how everywhere I look is magic. The calm ripples of water on a lake with a false bottom. The first layer of sand gives way to a pocket of water and a final layer of clay. A one-of-a-kind marvel. Loons floating by on the surface call to their partners while Robins and chickadees sing their dreamlike song in the trees. An Oriole makes a nest in the branches of the Willow tree that always feels like home. With its vast height, its branches stretch out like a grandparent's arms welcoming their grandchild home.
The home of my childhood. Of big dreams and fantasy woven with reality where magic was never hard to find. Trees that remain tall and strong after the harshest of storms and wildlife that always comes back after the most difficult seasons. To think of these small miracles as no more. To think of these lands as barren and quiet, polluted and poisoned, paved over for parking or travel. It ignites a fire within my soul that cannot be doused. My home, my country, my planet needs to be protected for generations to come.
Each day the lake and forest whisper to me their dreams of growing forever and their fears of humanity’s impact. Each day I promise to care for it until my last breath. It is these whispers that drive us, as a collective, and inspire us to help others lessen their negative impact on the nature around them. The whispers from Varty Lake and the Percy Road Forest inspire us each day to live and help others live in a world that looks out for nature and future generations.
What inspires you to do the same?