weeks." So Dusty went back to Take the Time to ask for more grant
money—this time funds to pay for fresh-picked fruit for Sisters. He found
U-Pick Farms on the Internet. With 50 dollars each week, the group's kids
could go to farms to pick and buy 100 pounds of berries—berries that
Sisters could blend into fruit smoothies, tuck into fruit pancakes, and
bake into fruit pies.
Now, every Friday in the summer, the kids go fruit picking, filling large flats
and big bags full of marionberries, blackberries, loganberries, raspberries, boysenberries, peaches, strawberries, and blueberries. It's hot work, but fun.
Kids compete to see who can harvest the most berries, and they sample the
fruit as they pick.
Feeding people feels so good, and growing a garden is so much fun
that Dusty wants other kids to try it. "Now I want to spread the word about
hunger and do gardens all across Portland and get kids started in other
places," he said. He's going to make a packet of material to send to kids
who want to start gardens to fight hunger. He'll include tips, some seeds,
and encouraging words.
"I still worry about how many hungry people there are," Dusty said.
"But I feel I'm doing the best I can, and it's helping the people I can help."
heavy stones to the dam site and shoved them into place with the side of its
strong body. I could hear the stones squish into the mud on the dam. In my
motionless crouch, I was invisible. After a while, though, my legs became
stiff and I had to stand and stretch them. Instantly, the beaver saw me and
disappeared under water with a loud splash of its flat tail.
When you witness an intimate tidbit of a wild animal's private life, glean all
you can from the experience. Pay attention to the details, and wonder about
what you see. Exercise your eyesight. Don't just look. Observe.
Fiddler Crabs to Rhinos
from
p. 354mecology. During those years I worked in the field, studying rhinos, cheetahs,
African wild dogs, and Alaskan bears. I studied other things, too, from
worms to forests.
Catastrophe
In 1972, I went back to Africa as a scientist ready to begin field research.
Poachers were killing more and more rhinos. By 1978, my wife and
I were astounded to see dozens of dead rhinos, which had been killed
illegally for their valuable horns. Almost all of the rhinos that had lived
in this place were now gone.
I realized then that learning about an animal is not enough to save it.
I decided to work to show others why wildlife is worth caring about and to
help them understand the need for conservation.
I also set out to help find ways for villagers living near protected areas
to earn money and benefit in other ways from wildlife conservation. I hoped
to help change these people's thinking and their situations so that rhinos—and
wild dogs and many other endangered animals would be more valuable to them
alive than dead. In several cases, we have succeeded.
As a result, my work includes much more than field research. I also do
a great deal of writing, speaking, and problem solving with communities.
No matter where I go, my heart always brings me back to the salt marsh.
That's where I am now, on the boardwalk, in the same place where I spent
so many hours as a child. I am happy to say that the natural world still
survives here.
T.R. TOC
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