My over all experience was a great one on our last field trip to Estero Island Cottage and Matanzas Pass. Quite possibly one of my favorite experiences of this whole course. What made it so enjoyable was getting to see a true insight of the history of Ft. Myers beach, through the eyes of a long time activist that has been there since the 1930s, Josephine Hughes. A truly passionate woman that seemingly will stop at nothing to protect her homeland, and make sure that its long history lives on through her. She was incredible about knowing details, and captivating with her personal stories and warm grandma smile. She was precious! I am jealous that when she was growing up, she could jump and play in the emerald green, crystal clear, 15-foot deep Ft. Myers water, untouched by the wrath of pollution.
The cottage itself was filled with wonders, I found all the artifacts inside to be quite intriguing and interesting…especially the seashells. As we headed out as a class onto Matanzas Pass, I very distinctly remember the smell of hot air, filled with moisture. The sun burned its way through the taller mangroves, that of which after today I can successfully identify; the red, white and black leaves of each mangrove tree plus some other defining characteristics to go along.
* Black Mangrove: expunges salt onto its leaves, root nodes stick up out of the ground
* Red Mangrove: drop down roots, pointed tip of leaf
* White Mangrove: most rounded leaf, found at higher elevations
One way that I feel the local quality of life in this area is enhanced is because of the quaint and homey nature of the neighborhood. The highlight of this “quaintness” is typified by the elementary school that has less than 200 students enrolled. Though the kids there might think it’s a pain to know every single kid that goes to their school, I feel that it gives them the advantage of being close to their home and super easy for them to be interconnected with nature. (After all, the Matanzas Pass is practically in their schoolyard.)
I think about the experiences Josephine had when she was growing up and I think about how she has seen so much change and development over her years on this little island. It makes me reminiscent of my hometown, and comparing just what changes and developments I have seen in my 20 years of living on this earth. I have definitely seen a lot of construction, building of more and more houses, more schools and more roads, dipping even farther it seems…into the everglades. (Basically my backyard!) But I am not so tied to this environment, as I am to my real childhood hometown in upstate Warwick, NY. It seems as though things have not changed a smidge back in that area. Everything is as crisp, sprawling and spacious and underdeveloped as ever, and I wouldn’t in a million year ever accept from a developer, 300% of Warwick’s market value. To me that place needs to stay the way it is, so I can go back there one day and live in nostalgia of the amazing childhood that I was blessed with growing up there.
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