The day started with a shuttle ride to the Plantation site. It is set up to recognize the Mayflower, but also to show what impact it had on the Native Americas. It was, of course, the beginning of the end for the Native Americans and their way of life. The re-creation part was the village. The people were acting as if they were caught in time. They had period clothes on as well as using the language of the period. If you were to ask them a question of anything that would beyond their time period they would answer you with something like, “Sir, I know not of what you speak.” One guy was railing against the leaders of their group and how the “investors’ back in England would be very disappointed with the choices that these leaders were making.
It always amazes me and helps me realize how similar and how very much different these people were. They were not unlike ourselves as they were looking for a better opportunity for themselves and their families. They had to put up with so much difficulty with this transition, but they had many of the same problems we have today.
What struck me was the fact that the Native Americans while recognizing other tribes, did not lay claim to land the way the new white settlers did.
There is a certain freedom that I recognize in being here alone. Some parts of it I like, and some I don’t. If we stop somewhere, I can take off and go wherever I want. All I have to do is find out when we are to be back. I really don’t even need to tell my roommate which by the way is a guy of about 32 years old by the name of Van Granger. He is also a 5th grade teacher from Grants Pass. He’s pretty relaxed and doesn’t get too uptight about things. If I want to go to dinner I can just wander around by myself and go wherever I want. On the flip side it is kind of lonely traveling by myself. I didn’t realize this until we stopped at a grocery store and everyone was running off in pairs or groups to shop for lunch. It reminded me of the Green Tortoise Trips where everyone is acting in very much the same way. It is only the fourth day and I’m already thinking these types of thoughts. Sometime I feel like a ghost watching the happenings around me. Not that I never talk to anyone, it’s just that I don’t make much effort to ‘hang out” with people. It’s kind of nice. Yes, it’s not perfect, but it’s not all bad either. It’s good that I like being myself. I would like to share these experiences with someone. I wish you all could be here to share this experience with me. It does bring back great memories of our trip across the US. That was fun.
To its credit, the area between Plimoth, MA and New York has its beauty, but I marvel how many people are here. Even the less developed areas have been impacted by man. The trash on a trail, the wrapper hidden in the grass, the can floating in a waterway, it’s a sign of man’s impact and I wonder what the future will bring. We see our present environment as our reality, but what would a person living here 300 years ago think of today’s world. I have to think that if there is a God he is very saddened to see the state of Earth. The transition is so slow in our lives that all too often we cannot recognize the degradation of the natural world. One of the presentations that I saw today is probably made me start thinking of this. The point was made how large some of the trees were when the people first arrived in 1620. They said that some of the trees were 10’ across at the stump and now today, a large tree is one that is 3’ at the stump. Also, the presenters said that 20 years after the immigrants arrived they had cut down for farming 75% of the forests which meant that the animals that depended on those forestlands were not able to live. The term “carrying capacity” comes to mind. I wonder at what point the Earth will reach that capacity.
It always amazes me and helps me realize how similar and how very much different these people were. They were not unlike ourselves as they were looking for a better opportunity for themselves and their families. They had to put up with so much difficulty with this transition, but they had many of the same problems we have today.
What struck me was the fact that the Native Americans while recognizing other tribes, did not lay claim to land the way the new white settlers did.
There is a certain freedom that I recognize in being here alone. Some parts of it I like, and some I don’t. If we stop somewhere, I can take off and go wherever I want. All I have to do is find out when we are to be back. I really don’t even need to tell my roommate which by the way is a guy of about 32 years old by the name of Van Granger. He is also a 5th grade teacher from Grants Pass. He’s pretty relaxed and doesn’t get too uptight about things. If I want to go to dinner I can just wander around by myself and go wherever I want. On the flip side it is kind of lonely traveling by myself. I didn’t realize this until we stopped at a grocery store and everyone was running off in pairs or groups to shop for lunch. It reminded me of the Green Tortoise Trips where everyone is acting in very much the same way. It is only the fourth day and I’m already thinking these types of thoughts. Sometime I feel like a ghost watching the happenings around me. Not that I never talk to anyone, it’s just that I don’t make much effort to ‘hang out” with people. It’s kind of nice. Yes, it’s not perfect, but it’s not all bad either. It’s good that I like being myself. I would like to share these experiences with someone. I wish you all could be here to share this experience with me. It does bring back great memories of our trip across the US. That was fun.
To its credit, the area between Plimoth, MA and New York has its beauty, but I marvel how many people are here. Even the less developed areas have been impacted by man. The trash on a trail, the wrapper hidden in the grass, the can floating in a waterway, it’s a sign of man’s impact and I wonder what the future will bring. We see our present environment as our reality, but what would a person living here 300 years ago think of today’s world. I have to think that if there is a God he is very saddened to see the state of Earth. The transition is so slow in our lives that all too often we cannot recognize the degradation of the natural world. One of the presentations that I saw today is probably made me start thinking of this. The point was made how large some of the trees were when the people first arrived in 1620. They said that some of the trees were 10’ across at the stump and now today, a large tree is one that is 3’ at the stump. Also, the presenters said that 20 years after the immigrants arrived they had cut down for farming 75% of the forests which meant that the animals that depended on those forestlands were not able to live. The term “carrying capacity” comes to mind. I wonder at what point the Earth will reach that capacity.
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