Grateful for the Existence of Parks
May. 1st, 2025 08:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatI dealt with my rage (see previous post) by donating to National Parks Conservation Organization. A little history for those who don't know what the US National Parks are? First of all there are currently sixty-three national parks across fifty states, and here's a complete list of them.
The first national park in the United States and the world is Yellowstone National Park. It was established on March 1, 1872 by President Ulysses S. Grant.Yellowstone National Park is often considered the national park with the most wildlife diversity in the U.S. It is home to a wide variety of species due to its vast size and range of ecosystems, including forests, grasslands, and wetlands.U.S. national parks are owned and managed by the federal government, specifically under the authority of the National Park Service (NPS), which is an agency of the Department of the Interior.
"The National Park System in the U.S. has a rich history, evolving from initial efforts to protect specific natural areas to a broad system encompassing both natural and cultural resources, with a primary purpose of preservation and enjoyment. The National Park Service (NPS) was established in 1916 to manage these areas, with the mission to "preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations".
For a full history of the National Park Service - GO HERE. States are also creating parkland for recreation and to protect land, some land is set aside for conversation purposes and recreation is limited to hiking on park trails. This is important to ensure the safeguarding of our planet.
The Trump Administration has depleted staff and refuses to provide summer hires who protect, conserve and maintain the park and enable others to visit the parks safely. They have also cut programming. Without forest fire protection - homes and towns are at risk. As is wildlife. Without seasonal hires - people cannot vacation to the parks, and are at risk of being lost or serious injury. In addition bears, foxes, beavers, birds, trees, flowers, salmon, etc are at risk. Add to all of the above - if we do not protect our land and conserve it - we are at risk of losing it and our own homes and work places along with loved ones to natural disasters not to mention disease.
Quote for today:
"Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.
Yehuda Berg"
I fear that I am not always careful or mindful of my words, particularly when I'm angry, cranky, or not feeling well, aka my best self. The difficulty with writing on a blog or on social media platforms or texting or emails, is often words get sent without much thought. And are often reactive or just random thoughts? And I've been cranky lately, combination of sleep deprivation and well other things. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and of course it will rain tomorrow - it usually rains when I have a doctor's appointment. And the doctor has been irritating me - they've texted me twenty times informing me of the appointment (I've confirmed five times already), sent a message to their portal, called, and acted like it is my first appointment (it's a follow-up), and want me to enroll in Amazon One, I do not want to enroll in Amazon One for quicker and more secure check in.
It was a lovely day, in the 60s F. Sunny. Nice breeze. Crisp blue sky. So I took a walk at lunch to Battery City Park, which has been rehabilitated. Fresh green grass. An urban garden - which was put in at the prompting of a bunch of high school students who requested a plot of land in the park to plant vegetables.
I sat in one of the little blue plastic chairs in the park (which you can see in one of the photos above, I think), for a bit, basking in the sunshine and grounding myself in nature (such that it is). Watched the high school students tour and learn how to volunteer and work in the urban garden. Then, got up, reluctantly, to leave - and as I was leaving, ran into a mad rush of gift vendors dashing across the park with their stuff - somewhat illegally, I think. Because the police stopped them and pulled them out of the fenced off portion of the park and made them go back out onto the street.
A bit of advice, if you ever decide to visit this portion of New York City and want to go to the Statue of Liberty? Get tickets at Castle Clinton, which is an old ruined historic site towards the West End of the Park or online. You can't get tickets from the people trying to sell them to you at the entrance to the park. They driven me nuts - the ticket vendors. I keep shaking my head at them, whenever they block my path - "no, no, I don't want to go to the Statue of Liberty". Today? The guy in front of me told one of them: "Local". That's all he said, and the vendor jumped back, instantly leaving him alone. I followed his lead and it worked like a charm.
Okay off to bed...leaving you all with a picture of some flowers that I saw in the park.
The first national park in the United States and the world is Yellowstone National Park. It was established on March 1, 1872 by President Ulysses S. Grant.Yellowstone National Park is often considered the national park with the most wildlife diversity in the U.S. It is home to a wide variety of species due to its vast size and range of ecosystems, including forests, grasslands, and wetlands.U.S. national parks are owned and managed by the federal government, specifically under the authority of the National Park Service (NPS), which is an agency of the Department of the Interior.
"The National Park System in the U.S. has a rich history, evolving from initial efforts to protect specific natural areas to a broad system encompassing both natural and cultural resources, with a primary purpose of preservation and enjoyment. The National Park Service (NPS) was established in 1916 to manage these areas, with the mission to "preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations".
For a full history of the National Park Service - GO HERE. States are also creating parkland for recreation and to protect land, some land is set aside for conversation purposes and recreation is limited to hiking on park trails. This is important to ensure the safeguarding of our planet.
The Trump Administration has depleted staff and refuses to provide summer hires who protect, conserve and maintain the park and enable others to visit the parks safely. They have also cut programming. Without forest fire protection - homes and towns are at risk. As is wildlife. Without seasonal hires - people cannot vacation to the parks, and are at risk of being lost or serious injury. In addition bears, foxes, beavers, birds, trees, flowers, salmon, etc are at risk. Add to all of the above - if we do not protect our land and conserve it - we are at risk of losing it and our own homes and work places along with loved ones to natural disasters not to mention disease.
Quote for today:
"Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.
Yehuda Berg"
I fear that I am not always careful or mindful of my words, particularly when I'm angry, cranky, or not feeling well, aka my best self. The difficulty with writing on a blog or on social media platforms or texting or emails, is often words get sent without much thought. And are often reactive or just random thoughts? And I've been cranky lately, combination of sleep deprivation and well other things. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and of course it will rain tomorrow - it usually rains when I have a doctor's appointment. And the doctor has been irritating me - they've texted me twenty times informing me of the appointment (I've confirmed five times already), sent a message to their portal, called, and acted like it is my first appointment (it's a follow-up), and want me to enroll in Amazon One, I do not want to enroll in Amazon One for quicker and more secure check in.
It was a lovely day, in the 60s F. Sunny. Nice breeze. Crisp blue sky. So I took a walk at lunch to Battery City Park, which has been rehabilitated. Fresh green grass. An urban garden - which was put in at the prompting of a bunch of high school students who requested a plot of land in the park to plant vegetables.
I sat in one of the little blue plastic chairs in the park (which you can see in one of the photos above, I think), for a bit, basking in the sunshine and grounding myself in nature (such that it is). Watched the high school students tour and learn how to volunteer and work in the urban garden. Then, got up, reluctantly, to leave - and as I was leaving, ran into a mad rush of gift vendors dashing across the park with their stuff - somewhat illegally, I think. Because the police stopped them and pulled them out of the fenced off portion of the park and made them go back out onto the street.
A bit of advice, if you ever decide to visit this portion of New York City and want to go to the Statue of Liberty? Get tickets at Castle Clinton, which is an old ruined historic site towards the West End of the Park or online. You can't get tickets from the people trying to sell them to you at the entrance to the park. They driven me nuts - the ticket vendors. I keep shaking my head at them, whenever they block my path - "no, no, I don't want to go to the Statue of Liberty". Today? The guy in front of me told one of them: "Local". That's all he said, and the vendor jumped back, instantly leaving him alone. I followed his lead and it worked like a charm.
Okay off to bed...leaving you all with a picture of some flowers that I saw in the park.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-02 11:25 am (UTC)On a smaller scale, I've appreciated your various photographs of green spaces around New York, you show there are many nice things around the city.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-02 05:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-05-03 03:01 am (UTC)As far as I know, there’s also a nice view of the river and Liberty State.
At first glance, when I saw the trees in front of the glass buildings, I thought it might be Central Park. And you even have the chance to grab a coffee somewhere, like at “Central Perk.” I know that café doesn’t exist in real life, but it’s fun to imagine :)
That was my first reflection on this park — somewhere in the universe, maybe the same group of friends is hanging out.
The U.S. is really rich in national parks and reserves. It’s amazing that such places have been preserved until now. As far as I know, in Canada, these parks make up most of the uninhabited territories. It’s a great place for spending time in “bushcraft.”
There are lots of videos about that on YouTube — people just being alone in nature, enjoying the world around them.
I just want to add the quote :
The words of the reckless pierce like swords,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Proverbs of Solomon 12:18