This film made me uneasy. This feeling of discomfort developed as a result of the juxtaposition of scenes of calm, peaceful nature to scenes of frantic human activity, vast development, and destruction. Not only did the content of the images and footage displayed give me this feeling, but the ways in which these scenes were presented gave me this feeling as well. While I cannot say the anxious feelings I had while viewing the film were enjoyable, I would recommend this film as I feel it effectively conveys a meaningful message. I believe this message was effectively relayed to me due to this uneasy, unsettled feeling it provoked in me.

The message I surmised from this film was the koyaanisqatsi, “life out of balance,” of our world currently is troubling and out of hand. The uneasy, unsettled feeling this film provokes demonstrates how disconcerting and undesirable this imbalance is. As mentioned earlier this feeling arises from the content of the scenes shown in this film, as well as the way in which these scenes are presented. The scenes of nature seemed to be calm and at peace as they generally consisted of footage in landscapes fully, or at least partially, illuminated by overhead sunlight and were devoid of much movement other than passing clouds. The scenes of human activity and development seemed frantic and overwhelming as this footage consisted of things such as swarms of people, busy traffic, complex machines, intricate assembly lines, and towering architecture. The rotation between these various nature and human scenes contributes to feelings of uneasiness, while the juxtaposition of these scenes demonstrates the imbalance of life as life in nature and life in the human world appear to be vastly different and separate in these images.

While the content in itself provokes these feelings and demonstrates imbalance, the way in which the footage is shown enhances both of these things contributing to the effectiveness of the theme. The differential pace and motion in which footage was taken and shown displays imbalance and produces uneasy feelings. For instance, the audience witnesses imbalance between footage slowly zooming in on a peaceful body of water, to a shaky view of a drive through urban traffic. In addition, the shakiness of the city traffic view leaves the audience feeling unsettled. The constant, repetitive rotation between footage types of differing content emphasizes the imbalance between nature and man. Feelings of uneasiness are also enhanced by the interludes of destruction scenes signifying the repercussions of this imbalance between humans and nature that occurs in the form of disaster. Music used such as the Hopi chants create a tense tone that promotes this sense of being unsettled. The diversity of the music utilized by the film, combined with these chants seems imbalanced and promotes feelings of uneasiness as well. The imbalance demonstrated by the content and created by the way it is presented in the film results in feelings of discomfort contributing to the theme that this imbalance of our world today is a troubling thing.

The feeling of uneasiness created by this film and the demonstration of imbalance in this film facilitate the passage of this theme to the audience. The audience finishes their viewing of the film, having seen the imbalance and feeling uneasy, understanding our world is out of balance and this is a troubling matter worthy of concern. Effectively conveying this message, as this film does, could motivate people unsettled by this to take action addressing this imbalance between man and nature in our world.

“Capitalism mystifies by converting living nature into dead matter and by changing inert metals into living money. To the capitalist puppeteers, nature is a doll-like puppet controlled by the strings of wheat trade that changes money into interest-earning capital. Male minds calculate the motions that control the inert matter below” (Merchant 152).

This description on how we capitalize on the natural world struck me while reading this piece. The idea that we are puppeteers and nature is the puppet emphasizes how we manipulate nature for our benefit.

“Nor are nature and culture, women and men, binary opposites with universal or essential meanings. Nature, wilderness, and civilization are socially constructed concepts that change over time and serve as stage settings in the progressive narrative. So too are the concepts of male and female and the roles that men and women play on the stage of history. The authors of such powerful narratives as laissez-faire capitalism, mechanistic science, manifest destiny, and the frontier story are usually privileged elites with access to power and patronage. Their words are read by persons of power who add the new stories to the older biblical story. As such the books become the library of Western culture. The library, in turn, functions as ideology when ordinary people read, listen to, internalize, and act out the stories told by their elders-the ministers, the entrepreneurs, newspaper editors, and professors who teach and socialize the young” (Merchant 153).

I thought this commentary on where the thoughts and ideas we listen to and abide by come from was very interesting, and that these people of power created the “library of Western culture”.

Environmentalism, like feminism, reverses the plot of the recovery narrative, seeing history as a slow decline, not a progressive movement that has made the desert blossom as the rose. The recovery story is false; an original garden has become a degraded desert. Pristine nature, not innocent man, has fallen. The decline of Eden was slow, rather than a precipitous lasidarian moment as in the Adam and Eve origin story” (Merchant 155).

This passage stood out to me as it explained modern day environmentalism as compared to the “recovery” narrative. While in the past humanity may have seen the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden to be the fall, environmentalists see the fall to be a gradual decline since Eden. There has been no recovery, but instead the “original garden has become a degraded desert”.

During class the other day it was discussed that perhaps zoos and taxidermy displays are similar. While animals are killed, taxidermied, and often put on display for our viewing, animals at zoos are put on display in small enclosures for our viewing. This idea resonated with me while on my conservation biology class trip to the Lehigh Valley Zoo. Initially as the guide started pulling animals out in an exhibit room I felt this way. I felt as though these animals were be kept in cages, handled, and shown for our benefit. However, after reading more about this zoo and hearing about this zoo from the guides and Doc R, I found this zoo does not keep animals just to display them. The Lehigh Valley Zoo is part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) meaning it emphasizes the importance of conservation to guests, contributes to field conservation, and contributes, participates in, and initiates wildlife conservation programs at home and in the field.

As Erik mentioned in his earlier post on the zoo, the Lehigh Valley Zoo contains more than 294 animal ambassadors representing 88 species, 24 of which are considered to be endangered, threatened, or species of concern. The endangered and threatened species at this zoo are bred in captivity to contribute to the Species Survival Plan (SSP). The SSP is a plan in which threatened and endangered species at zoos have their genetics cataloged and mates that will produce offspring with genes most beneficial for contributing to the specie’s gene pool are matched across the nation. The resulting higher diversity gene pool gives species a better chance of surviving and re-establishing numbers to deliver them from the endangered and threatened classification. The guide specifically told us a great deal about this program in relation to their Black-Footed African Penguins since they currently have a female mate in from a zoo in New York for one of their males in hopes they will produce viable offspring due to their compatible genes. Unfortunately their offspring will be sent to another zoo for breeding, but the hope is that that next generation could be placed in the wild to help bring numbers back up. As well, the remaining species here that are not part of SSP are either being studied for conservation research or they came here due to injury that prevents them from surviving in the wild. Hearing about this program and the reasons why the animals at the Lehigh Valley Zoo are there shed some light on zoos for me, as I realized the ultimate goal of this zoo is to benefit the species, conserve nature, and educate the public about conservation.

This is a Prehensile Porcupine (Coendou prehensilis), one of the SSP species at the Lehigh Valley Zoo.

Injured Eastern Screech Owl (Megascops asio)

Despite the good intentions of this place to conserve species and educate others about conservation, it was saddening to see these animals in captivity are put on display; it would appear that is trade off for zoos to have the funding for conserving and caring for these species. It is unfortunate that one of our methods for conserving endangered and threatened species involves the captivity of individuals, but hopefully this is worth it and will benefit these species in the long run.

Going from bird watching atop Hawk Mountain to spending time getting the Cabela’s experience was quite the adventure. These two places operate and exist based on two different interpretations of nature. Hawk Mountain appears to promote nature as something to preserve, learn about, and admire, while it would seem Cabela’s promotes nature as a form of property and a sort of prize to be had. Visiting both of these places on the same day emphasized this difference all the more and heightened how I experienced the two places as I could see one in juxtaposition to the other.

Starting our day off at Hawk Mountain, Jackie, Lori, and I spent some time walking through the museum area in the education center. Early on, while perusing the exhibit we realized that Hawk Mountain sells a version of nature that promotes the preservation, education, and admiration of nature. We learned specifically that raptors are a part of nature we should work to preserve, learn about, and admire as we walked through. First we were educated about their important roles in ecosystems, that they play a complex role and share complex inter-relationships with living things. We then learned about their history at Hawk Mountain. As mentioned in Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in the chapter titled “And No Birds Sing” the exhibit also explained why so many raptors migrate through Hawk Mountain: the easternmost ridges of the Appalachian Mountain Range here form the last barrier to the westerly winds before dropping towards the coastal plain resulting in upward wind deflection in the autumn that provides a continuous updraft for raptors to ride without effort on their southward journeys (119). We learned that these species are worthy and in need of preservation as we were educated that raptors used to be considered vermin with a bounty on their heads and Hawk Mountain was the perfect perch for shooting them. As word of this happening became known, a woman named Rosalie Edge moved towards preserving the area and these birds by creating the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. We also heard about a later plight calling for further preservation here from Rachel Carson in Silent Spring, that these large migration numbers passing Hawk Mountain were altered as it was observed during the days of DDT and related chemicals fewer and fewer immature eagles were migrating through signaling a reduction in reproduction (120). We then learned of Maurice Broun, the first naturalist at Hawk Mountain, who continued and expanded this desire to preserve, learn about, and admire this piece of nature. He considered this place to be a “school in the sky” and became devoted to protecting these raptors. His commitment to admiring and recording the birds contributed to the viewing and recording that still occurs atop Hawk Mountain today.

Atop the mountain, I finally had the opportunity to experience firsthand this unique phenomenon that before I had only known in an academic way. Comfortably situated among some choice rocks I was surprised to see how many raptors passed by us. After seeing the photograph of raptors lined across the ground in the education center I realized how fortunate I was to see these birds at all.

I was thrilled that there were eagles overhead, and particularly excited by the Goshawk we saw as Jeremy and I noticed on one of the tally boards on the trail only 3 have been seen this season. After learning even more about Hawk Mountain from Dr. Laurie Goodrich and spotting some birds, I began to take note of the people participating in these counts. The man next to me sat perched in the split trunk of a tree with a bleacher seating pad and a sandwich. The man in front of me had a large hiking pack and the woman beside him wore thick, insulated trousers. These people were not just here for an hour or so, they made this excursion a full day trip. As I looked over to the professional recorders I noticed how enthralled in and scrupulous they were about their counts. It was inspirational to hear these people, all so passionate about these counts, discussing sightings and teaching each other about what they had seen. I realized I had witnessed Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and the frequenters practicing stewardship of the environment, as it was clear that the protection and care of this nature was a priority to them. Not only does Hawk Mountain Sanctuary sell nature in a way that promotes the preservation, education, and admiration of nature, they sell it to and meet the demands of a culture of nature interested in the preservation, education, and admiration of nature.

Walking into Cabela’s, I was immediately overwhelmed. My eyes first darted towards the front left corner of the store where I saw a taxidermied lion on display and proceeded to trace the path of exotic animals lining the ceiling around the entire store. This path was only briefly obstructed by the mountain covered with a plethora of taxidermy in the middle of the store and the airplane hovering above. In this moment I found Cabela’s to be selling nature as a form of property or a sort of trophy to be had. Walking through the center of the store toward the mountain this notion of nature as a trophy became more apparent to me as I noticed many of the stuffed animals were marked like prizes as they were labeled by weight, year killed, and who hunted the animal. I next walked into “Deer Country” and saw replicas of record-breaking deer that had been hunted mounted on the walls.

Here I saw evidence of a competing narrative for Cabela’s version of nature as I was exiting and saw a sign overhead reading, “Ensure the beauty of the outdoors-support wildlife conservation.” However, I felt as though this version of nature as something to conserve being sold was drowned by the other version of nature being sold at Cabela’s; perhaps it was drowned out even more so for me since we had just come from another place I found to be more noticeably focused on conservation. After “Deer Country” I proceeded to the large taxidermied elephant with a picture underneath displaying Dick Cabela after he had shot the elephant, and it became even clearer to me that the version of nature in this place involved the perception of nature as a prize to be had. Watching Diver Dan go straight for the largest Catfish in the tank, weighing 48 pounds, to show the crowd first this trophy of a fish, further reinforced my perception of how nature was sold in Cabela’s. Once I made it upstairs this idea of nature as property being sold by Cabela’s became evident with things such as jackrabbit mounted heads, badger pelts, and chandeliers made from antlers for sale. In addition, the sale of weapons and much of the gear stood out to me as a way to facilitate the attainment of nature as a trophy or property.

In the process of observing nature as property and a prize in this place, I found that most of the customers at Cabela’s seemed to be interested in this sort of nature as well; perhaps seeing nature as dominion. While standing at the elephant I did hear a distraught girl who was asking her friend why on Earth they would kill an elephant, however, directly next to her I saw a mother and daughter snapping a selfie with this elephant. I encountered quite a few customers taking selfies like these with some of the stuffed animals, perhaps a way of turning them into their own prize. I remember walking into “Deer Country” and passing by a “Duck Dynasty” hunting video game. I turned around to get a second look and saw two boys run toward it excitedly yelling about how it was their favorite game and they wanted to “shoot some stuff.” I also saw this interest in nature as property or a prize as I observed a group of customers participating in a gun demo in the gun section of the store where they were learning which guns best suited their purpose for attaining nature as a trophy or property. As the version of nature Hawk Mountain sold catered to one culture of nature, Cabela’s sold a version of nature that catered to another culture of nature, one more interested in nature as a prize and property.

While it may be clear from my recollection of my experiences that I identified with one of these versions and cultures of nature more than the other, I acknowledge that there are different cultures of nature and it would be difficult for one to find a sense of belonging in all of them. In the education center at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and atop Hawk Mountain at the North lookout, I felt comfortable in the culture of nature present there. I felt as though I could spend hours identifying birds from the lookout, comfortable and content, learning how to identify them by their flight and silhouette. However, the moment I walked into Cabela’s I felt anxious and uncomfortable. While I understand this is the culture of nature for some people; it is a culture of nature to which I do not quite belong. Having these two experiences side by side was tremendously valuable and made each resonate with me strongly while facilitating my understanding of differing cultures of nature. The exhibits, sights, and interactive demonstrations I experienced at Cabela’s and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary showed they were both unique destinations. However, it is clear these two destinations cater to two different audiences, two different cultures of nature.

“I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one. It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, a make a beaten track for ourselves. I had not lived there a week before my feet wore a path from my door to the pond side; and though it is five or six years since I trod it, it is still quite distinct. It is true, I fear that others may have fallen into it, and so helped keep it open. The surface of the Earth is so soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity! I did not wish to take the cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains. I do not wish to go below now” (Thoreau 351).

This passage stood out to me as he is recommending we avoid the beaten track and avoid falling into the same old rut, but is admitting this too happens to him even during his time at Walden.

“However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise” (Thoreau 356).

This passage stood out to me as I found the words to be encouraging. So often I think we do take our lives for granted; we find faults where we could not if we would embrace our lives as they are by “meeting it” and “living it”.

I thought it was interesting that these images happened to pop up in my Facebook timeline after our discussions on bears and hunting. I see the portrayal of fuzzy, cuddly bears in the form of the sleeping bag, and I feel like the first image could have been an advertisement on display in Cabela’s. I was wondering what your thoughts might be on these images after the discussions we have had in class?

Uber and Lyft have become popular methods of transport. Due to the popularity of these services there are claims they have led to a decrease in personal car ownership, but there are also claims these services are being used instead of walking, biking, or transit. In order to explore these claims an environmental impact assessment of these services is being done by The Natural Resources Defense Council and the University of California-Berkeley. This study will be done over the course of a year and will evaluate these services across the nation to determine whether there are environmental benefits or consequences to the growing popularity of these services.

I have attached the article discussing this below:
http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/13/9730458/uber-lyft-environment-impact-cost-NRDC-Berkeley-study

I am curious to hear what are you guys think about the environmental impact of Uber and Lyft. Beneficial? Detrimental?

The leaves we see piled along curbs or packed into bags in the winter are not so great for the environment. The freely piled leaves get into the sewage system and can cause algae and affect water quality, and those in bags end up in landfills. These articles suggest leaving leaves on lawns is beneficial for soil regeneration, food for animals during the winter months, and fertilization that occurs from leaf breakdown. Instead of raking and piling leaves they suggest “leave the leaves”, mulch the leaves, and/or compost them.

http://www.wfsb.com/story/30459245/uconn-laboratory-manager-explains-importance-of-not-raking-leaves
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2015/11/08/1-leaf-removal-isnt-good-for-environment.html