Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Fear Kiboshed by Salamanders

If you watch the television, and sway one way or the other on politics, you probably have some anxiety in regards to the environment.

If you are an environmentalist (or something like that), you might be afraid that our over-use of..... well, everything, is a foolhardy path to our demise, for ourselves and our posterity.  The television is full of gloom and doom scenarios ending in your grandchildren as climate refugees in a global famine.  If things pan out in this direction, there is something to be afraid about!

On the other hand, there are the folks who think global warming is a bunch of hype, or even a conspiracy.   You might be skeptical about the those who are passionate, or even angry, about the environment.   You might feel that 'going green' is a trend, and see those who back it as hypocrites.  In a cold snap, some of your friends might say, "see, so much for global warming" as a joke.  If you are one of these types, you might not be so against conservation, just the people who say that they are.  You might not be so terrified of a bad end game, just bad political policies that hamper your liberties.

So what about my garden?  I found a salamander while weeding a bed yesterday, and I started thinking about Earth Day and Global Warming.  I'm very sentimental about salamanders.  I guess it's because I haven't so innocently found one since I was a child.  Also they are absolutely cute and say something about the overall health of my yard.   They are everything a frog dreams of being, if frogs could be better than they already are.  I have no idea why witches would use one in a brew.  I think they should use bananas or old warts, but never a salamander.

Watching that little creature, smoothly taking sticky steps in my palm, set my mind at ease about the whole debate.  It made it more manufactured to me.  What if every policy maker, creationist, republican, democrat, evolutionist, parent, grant writer, child, teacher, news anchor, skydiver, christian, and scientist had a garden, and found a salamander?  How might it change the world?

With amphibians, which seem so rare and beautiful,  hiding in my garden, the fear and hatred people feel towards one another seems rather silly.  Amphibians are very dependent on the overall health of their habitat, which is why I'm glad I gave away my television before Earth Day.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous6:41 AM

    Hi Tys,

    I thought I would answer your question: how would finding a salamander change the world? It wouldn’t change the world at all, except to the extent that people took action. Action such as follows:
    The policy maker would introduce legislation to protect it
    The creationist would thank God for making it
    The Republican would step on it
    The Democrat would want to establish a Salamander Preserve and double the taxes on the rich to pay for it even though it wouldn't be enough
    The evolutionist would catch another salamander next week and compare it to the one she or he found today.
    The parent would show it to his or her child
    The grant writer would (tada!!) write a grant to protect it
    The child would step on it
    The teacher would show it to her or his students
    The news anchor would introduce a detailed, comprehensive, 30-second report on the finding
    The skydiver would land on it but never know it
    The Christian would sing a song about Jesus loving salamanders
    The scientist would cut it open and examine the insides
    Come to think of it, adding up all of the above, this really would change the world.
    Or not.
    love,
    Papa

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