Luna's Story

A act of commitment 

When people think of commitment, things that come to mind are sports, (i.e baseball and going to practice every day) marriage and children, and occasionally our jobs. The problem is a lot of the time no one looks into the deeper meaning of the word. the dictionary definition of commitment is as follows,1. the act of committing or the state of being committed; 2. dedication, application, 3. a pledge or undertaking, 4. an act of pledging or setting aside, 5. an engagement or obligation that restricts freedom of action . All those definitions basically say the same thing but the most important one that stands out to those trying to make a change is the last one. The definition states that the commitment restricts the freedom of the person performing the action but what I believe the dictionary is trying to say is that a commitment is a action that the performer is doing on order to change the state of something they believe is wrong or to change the state of a action that is harmful in anyway to others around them.

I as a newly born environmentalist am taking action on my first commitment to the environment. I got inspiration for this project on a five and half hours drive from the Grand Canyon to Tucson, AZ. As we drove along the highway I gazed out the window and as my mind started wandering I wondered how many of the plants that quickly flew past my window where in any respect native, how many of our native species in AZ had been or where close to extinction because of invasive species. I wondered if one or two people alone could take on the large project of ridding areas of invasive species and bringing the native species back. 

This inspired me to try this in first a small areas such as  my neighborhood to rid peoples yards and land of species such as  bufflegrass, and cheat grass. once I have tackled those small areas I can start on other areas and eventually due to work and other  volunteers Arizona may be free of invasive species. My first course of action is to get in touch with a women named Marilyn Hanson who works at the Desert Museum and also is a active volunteer in a group called Sonoran Desert Weedwackers. Once I get in contact with them I will be instructed in the proper removal of such invasive plants. Next I will take a survey with my neighborhood consul to find out what they think of the idea. If all goes well with in a few weeks I will be able to find all the invasive species in our local area. This project could takes months or even years, but its all worth it to rid Arizona of its non native species and bringing back the native plants and cacti we love. 


July 14th 2009 7:09

Life is a precious thing, it clings strongly to the soul. We nurture it with doses with each moment of action and terror. Terror especially comes at a moments notice, terror combined with white, fierce, stormy water can throw the nervous array of stomaches into a a bottomless hole of excitement and concentration for our part. The terror of a pit of mystery. The mystery of of whether we will ever see the light of our fellow boater. We only went through two enormous rapids but it still cause a fluttering in all of our hearts. A fluttering like an injured swallow. Im sure i was not the only one. As our inflatable raft rounded its way through the swollen tongue of white water making its way through the sought after sand.