"GRATITUDE unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more."
I have much gratitude for Earth Mother today. I did as a child, lost in later years, didn't even think of it during active days, and now cherish and advocate for plants, animals, and even the insects. Your life will be full again if you truly have gratitude. Gratitude for the small things in life. We take so much for granted in today's world. You might have an appreciation for life, but gratitude makes what you have so abundant you will have to share your gratitude with others. Talk about your gratitude.
All over the United States wildlife is disappearing. In 1921 Rudolph Steiner predicted the United States would have a problem with bees. His vision was unfortunately true. Due to mono crop pollination, pesticides, and mites, the bees are disappearing. In 2005 this was called Colony Collapse Disorder. (CCD) The pesticides and drugs to kill the varroa mite have been a major cause of CCD. In general all pesticides will kill some form of wildlife, whether animal, plant or insect. We all know that spraying needs to be done, but do we consider the outcomes and harm done to other creatures? Or do we even care? I do. As a child I lived behind a horse stable. The spraying occurred on a regular basis. As children we all would run through the smoke. The smoke was a toxic pesticide. I never heard anyone express concern about toxicity of these chemicals we relied on. Communities, towns and states spray pesticides to protect themselves, their crops et al. Did you ever think pesticide could cause damage? The statistics are there.
In Fire Island there is the National Seashore mosquito surveillance and management program. This year, for the first time in 13 years there is consideration to spray the community, Cherry Grove due to the mosquitoes. I know from reading that the pesticide is under direct supervision of New York State. The primary aim of low risk pest management plan is to reduce pest presence, thus reducing the hazard to the national seashore and its communities and to humans.
Lets take this a step further.
Hypothetically, there are two identical twin brothers. Both have the same genome or genes. Both brothers are gay. One lives in Canada, and the other brother in Rhode Island. The Canadian brother visits Montreal for his summer vacation, while the Rhode Island brother visits Fire Island for his vacation every summer. Both have the same genes. Both have the same risk for disease depending on their genes. The Canadian brother is healthy while the Rhode Island brother develops testicular cancer. How is this possible that one twin gets testicular cancer and the other brother does not? These are identical twins, both have the same genes. The difference is what each eats and drinks as well as the environmental toxins he is exposed to. Remember the Rhode Island brother annually visited Fire Island where he was exposed to the pesticide spraying. Enough said...
The goal of this program is to reduce human health risk from mosquito-borne illness while adhering to the NYS legal mandate to protect the park. It is admirable and a worth while program. Monitoring is passive surveillance, and setting up traps. What is the risk to humans versus the devastation of plant and animal life, specifically insect life?
I know these programs are useful, but has any mosquito program looked at the effects of pesticides on honey bees and their production of honey, diminished bats (because we are killing off the mosquitoes- their source of food) and other insects like butterflies? We have these programs to protect humans from disease. I understand that. So where is the study stating the number of humans affected by and/or the morbidity and mortality from mosquito bites? Compare that mortality to the mortality of all the plants, bats, bees and butterflies that will die.
Photo credit: Photographs 2-4: 7song: Ithaca, NY; Friend, colleague and mentor;
Until tomorrow...
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