Minnesota Stories:

Cindy Gentz: Links and Interactions in the Natural World

This week we begin a series of stories by Minnesota voices from across the state. Today's contributor is Cindy Gentz of Grand Marais.

All things by immortal power,
          Near or far,
          Hiddenly
          To each other linked are,
          That thou canst not stir a flower
          Without troubling of a star;

-Francis Thompson, The Mistress of Vision.

Whether you like poetry or not, whether you believe in an “immortal power” or not, it is hard not to be constantly amazed at the consequences of our actions, good and bad, on the people and the landscapes around us. The links and interactions between living things, things that were once living and between things that were never living, are infinitely fascinating to me, and I believe that is one of the causes of my interest in all things nature.

These links help me to come in to work each day (ok, yeah, the paycheck helps, too), to volunteer for beach clean ups, and to follow the unrelenting but important barrage of publications on the environment and ecosystems. After a busy day, I bring the maelstrom inside me out on a hike and I pause, finally ,and let the hidden links begin to show themselves, and I find peace in the internal organization.

The universe never ceases to astound me with the myriad and beautiful ways it can say the same thing again and again. The water cycle, the carbon cycle, the phosphorus cycle, the changing of the seasons, the relationship of lynx and snowshoe hares are all examples of the ways the world is connected. It is one repeated message I never tire of. Beyond the beauty and fascination value, beyond the reminder that our actions have
consequences for the environment, the troubling of a star shows us a model for compassion, and a reminder to live as the community we really are.

Conservation Minnesota’s own Dave Dempsey asked in a post on January 2nd if we are doing the job of conservation for the unborn generations. There are so many hidden links that we haven’t discovered yet, that there is no way we could, even if we were all doing our utmost to preserve wildlands, public lands, the integrity of our waters, soil and air. We stir flowers every day, on purpose and inadvertently, but only seldom do we see the stars we are troubling. So we must do more to stir the right flowers and leave the wrong ones. One less car on the road, one more rain garden, one more rain barrel, these things are essential pieces of the conservation matrix and will lessen the troubling of the stars for the unborn generations.

Cindy Gentz is a recent college grad grateful to have a job. Especially one in Grand Marais, where she works for the local Soil and Water Conservation District advocating for water resources. She spends her free time exploring the wonders of the North Shore by canoeing, ice fishing, and hiking.

Reader Comments (1) | Post a Comment

January 14, 2010 at 3:53 PM
Megan:
I worry about my stars!  I love thinking about things like this, we are all connected.  My motivation for doing little things for conservation sometimes starts to wane, thank you for the enlightening story!