The Monkey Wrench Gang

"The lights of drill-rig towers glimmered in the distance, far off across the unihabited immensities of the Escalante benchlands. They passed, from time to time, familar names on little metal signs at turnoffs along the road: Conoco, Arco, RExaco, Gulf, Exxon, Cities Service."

"The bastards are everywhere," Hayduke grumbled. "Let's go get those rigs."(pg. 150)

The first thing that comes to mind when I read this quote is the recent oil spill in the Gulf. They say that they are working as hard as they can to stop the spill but unfortunately the damage has been done. So many animals and the ocean have suffered because of this. Now I understand why the monkey wrench gang hated machines so much.

How Long She'll Last in This World

Backcountry Emigrant Gap

"I thought we fell asleep
austere and isolated-

two frogs calling across Rock Lake.

By morning, deer prints
new-pressed
in the black ground between our tents-


more lives move beside us
than we know.


I chose this particular poem because it reminds me so much as when we would go to San Isidro Mexico to visit family. My great grandmothers house was a one bedroom home so not all of us were able to sleep inside. My mother would set up tents for us outside every night. While we laid there we could hear everything, from the dogs barking to the howls of the wolves from the mountain that was across the street. After reading this poem, I can imagine all the animals or creatures that might have walked right by our tents while we were alseep. What also comes to mind are the people from other countries that are at different time zones than us so they are awake while we are asleep. It amazing how the world functions.

A Sand County Almanac

"There are two spirtiual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnance." (pg. 6)

Everyday we ask ourselves, what are we going to eat today. We are so used to just going to the grocery store and buying all the ingredients we need to make whatever dish we are planning our making. It even easier just to go to a fast food restaurant and pick up something quick to eat. This is why most of America is unhealthy and overweight. Everything is bascially handed to us on the palm of our hands. We should all take the time to go and plant a garden and learn to harvest our own vegetables and fruits. Odds are they will be way better than the processed one we purchase at the grocery store. We need to learn to interact with Nature alot more than we currently do.

My First Summer in Sierra

" In the great Central Valley of California there are only two seasons,-spring and summer. The spring begins with the first rainstorm, which usually falls in November. In a few months the wonderful flowery vegetation is in full bloom, and by the end of May it is dead and dry and crisp, as if every plant had been roasted in an oven." (pg. 5).

I know that this is the first paragraph in the first chapter of the book but I chose this passage because it reminds me so much of the Rio Grande Valley. It seems like its always hot, or the sun is always out. We are never able to enjoy snow like other states. I'll take that back, we did back in 2004. Wouldn't it be beautiful to actually see the change that every season brings instead of always seeing the same thing and on occasion exprience some cold weather. I would love to see and experience the changes of every season instead of just seeing them in pictures or on the television. All we seem to see here are dried up plants and grass that are in desperate need of water.

Beyond the Hundredth Meridian

"You ask me the question, and I will answer. I think it would be almost a criminal act to go on as we are doing now, and allow thousands and hundreds of thousands of people to establish homes where they cannot maintain themselves." (Pg. 333).

I chose this passage because it hits close to home. During hurricane seasons and when there is alot of rainfall we always see on the news of the small colonias that get flooded and the people are forced out of their homes and even lose everything they own. It seems as if people are finding any way to make money, even if that means selling land for residental homes where there is no irrigation system and eventually the lands will flood. Something has to be done about this situation or it will continue to occur. This is what Powell was fighting for.

The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons

"The Yellowstone Park is at the southern extremity of a great system of mountain ranges, the northern Rocky Mountains, sometimes called the Geyser Ranges. This geological province extends into British America, but its most wonderful scenery is in the upper Yellowstone basin, where geysers bombard the heavens with vapor distilled in subterranean depths. The springs which pour out their boiling waters are loaded with quartz, and the waters of the springs, flowing away over the rocks, slowly discharge their fluid magma, which crystallized in beautiful forms and builds jeweled basins that hold pellucid waters." (pg. 67).

The book overall reminds me of when I was young and I would migrate with my parents to the state of Wyoming. Every summer we would go to Powell, Wyoming and my parents would work in the fields. I remember that we lived in a mobile home that was about 150 feet away from the cliff that led down to the Colorado River. I used to love going and getting as close as I could to the edge of the cliff and look down at the river. One summer my grandparents went up to visit us for two weeks. Their next stop was California and on the way they had planned to stop at Yellowstone Park. They invited me to go with them. I have to mention that Yellowstone Park was the most beautiful place I had ever seen. The trees were hundreds of feet tall and you could see the vapor of the geysers floating in the air. I actually tried to touch the water of one of the geysers, but luckily my grandfather pulled me away before I did. I was just curious to see how hot it was. This passage reminds me so much of the time I went to Yellowstone Park.

Thoreau's Journal

Dec. 29- "We must go out and re-ally ourselves to Nature everyday. We must make root, send out some little fibre at least, even every winter day. I am sensible that I am imbibing health when I open my mouth to the wind. Staying in the house breeds a sort of insansity always. Every house is in this sense a hospital. A night and a forenoon is as much confinement to those wards as I can stand. I am aware that I recover some sanity which I had lost almost that instant that I come abroad." (pg. 428-29).

In this passage, Thoreau is expressing the importance of interacting with nature everyday. The weather shouldn't be a factor in deciding whether you will go out or stay indoors. I am always hearing people say that they are "home-bodies". They hate going outside and will not leave their home unless it is necessary. We have to go out and enjoy the beauty of nature and what it has to offer to us. You can enjoy nature in any type of weather. Thoreau mentions that even on the winter days you should go out and interact with nature. We are always making excuses on why not to go out such oh its to hot, its to cold, or im tired, etc. Not only are these excuses affecting us but also our children. When a parent doesn't feel like going out, they sit their child in front of a television and have them watch tv for hours or send them to the playroom. I would rather have my child hear the chirpping of the birds then the laugh of an animated character on television.