SunFlower
I sat on top of a bluff on Santa Cruz Island, watching the sunset, wondering what lessons life would teach me today. Channel Islands, which I’ll be blogging more about my experience there in the subsequent weeks, is one of the best kept secrets of the National Park system. People rarely think to go there because it truly is cut off from the rest of California: only two boat trips a day, only a few islands have accessible water, shade can be sparse, the wind can be brutal, and help is severely delayed. Santa Cruz, the largest of the North islands, is by far the friendliest for tourists in that it has multiple harbors, a handful of Rangers, and a water spout or two for you to refill. Otherwise, you have to truck everything you need into the boat and take everything back with you. If the weather’s bad, expect to not be picked up the next day…
But somehow, in this world so far removed from the mainland, life finds a way. Channel Islands has it’s own unique ecosystem, as the islands have always known solitude. Maybe that’s why I was drawn to them this time around. The Island Scrub Jay, which graced my presence in the morning as I chowed down on some noodles, is only found on Santa Cruz Island. The Island Foxes are also only found on the islands, although the only sign I had of those were them peeing in my tent vestibule while I slept. They used to be near extinction a few decades ago when Golden Eagles plucked them and feral piglets off the bluffs as their primary food source… but with conservation efforts,
Going to these National Parks or diving in cenotes or swimming with Whale Sharks has made me really appreciate the world around me, and my desire to preserve. I came across the Island Rush-Rose while out and about, which is a threatened species of plants I believe. I felt lucky to even stumble across it… and it made me reflect on how chance and observation plays into my life.
If you pick a flower, it can’t grow. You get to cherish it for the moment, place it in a vase on your table for all to see, until it withers and dies.
If you uproot the flower, and plant it in your garden, then it may never thrive since it’s not meant to be in your climate. What’s worse, if you control it by placing it into the smallest pot possible… or over water it… it’ll get root rot.
If you hover over it, constantly attending to it, enmeshing it with your vigilance… it’ll never grow in the shade of your shadow.
No, it’s best to sit back and watch the flowers bloom. Nurture the soil, give it water, tend to its needs.
I’m not talking about flowers. I actually don’t really know much about keeping plants alive… but someone taught me a thing or two once about them without them really ever knowing they did.
