Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
‘Til it’s gone
They paved paradise
Put up a parking lot

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They took all the trees
Put them in a tree museum
And they charged all the people
A dollar and a half to see ’em

-Joni Mitchell, 1970

There was a post going around Facebook that was satirizing the last few weeks with photos of kids’ faces in the future in shock upon finding out that there is a different history unit for every week in 2020. Speaking of history, there have been many comparisons made in the news between this year and 50 years ago. Black Lives Matter today is mirrored by the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panthers then. The fight against Climate Change today is mirrored by the Environmental Movement then. Earth Day reached its 50th Anniversary year as well as the above song: Big Yellow Taxi.

I chose this song because not only does it connect to this 50 year span of time but also alludes to curated nature (trees in a tree museum…). When our group first met on Monday, someone (feel free to let me know!) said the phrase curated nature and it has stuck with me ever since. It made me realize that most of the nature I am thrilled to explore over the course of the program is very much in fact curated. The landscaping around one of the public beaches in town (pictured above) was completely redesigned a handful of years ago, although there was an emphasis on making it more natural, it was still “made”. The cemetery where I spent a good while watching a groundhog scamper by, listening to birds chirping, watching spiders crawl on the ground and a fight between a small bird (stay tuned for the species) and a Canadian Goose: it is curated Suburban nature (pictured above). The pond in the middle is man-made (I believe, I will confirm). The rosebushes along my walk to a nearby park were planted by the property owner and the pile of leaves from the sandcherry shrub was thanks to curating nature within my family’s own backyard. It was interesting to let the phrase color my thoughts and interactions with my environment outside this week.

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One of the first assignments we had this week was: Backyard Nature Almanac Project, Activity #1: Exploring your Place. As I wandered virtually in the southwest section of Connecticut, I realized there were many state parks, reservoirs and a state forest that didn’t ring any bells for me. I have lived in my town for two decades now besides for the time I’ve spent in Wellesley. I plan to visit one of them this coming week and hope to observe some not curated nature.

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The title of this post is an allusion to the flexibility and openness of the Paulson Internship Program Summer 2020. While I would have loved to be on campus and exploring Wellesley, I am eager to take full advantage of this opportunity in front of me to obtain an immense knowledge of the ecology that’s been around me my entire life and to use this as a platform to educate others about and fight climate change. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to spend so much time outside and hope to spend even more time out there next week.