Beginnings

I arrived at the preserve on Sunday evening, after dinner with the Executive Director and his wife at an amazing Vietnamese place in Albany. I've felt welcome since the moment I stepped off the train, and find new things to give me joy all the time. It's beautiful here, of course... but what an inadequate word. There are evergreen woods that make me want to run and spin until I can't move anymore, wildflowers everywhere, moving water giggling and burbling and shining greetings, and everything changes with the light... every moment is fresh and new and glorious. I've only begun to explore.

We all have many reasons for our choices. Partially I came here simply because I wanted to get out of the city. To see a new place and not have to lock my door or live behind protective bars. To step on something besides concrete and cockroaches and cigarette butts, smell rain falling on trees and earth instead of roads and sidewalks, to worry about ticks instead of muggers. I wanted off my couch and away from my television... the sounds of warblers instead of sirens. I realized last night, when I stepped out of the field station into the darkness, that I had begun to forget about stars... about what it is to look up and see the heavens spread above you in glorious unbridled confusion. I have missed that.

Partially I cam here because I believe in what the Preserve does. I'll write more about that later. Partially I came because I was impressed with what the Executive Director said in our interview, and partially because I was ready to jump at any chance to do work I love. Partially I came because of a passage in Thoreau's Walden.

Whatever reason rings true for you, I am glad to be here.