Think Green Thursday

My thanks once again to Michelle for hosting Think Green.


Have you ever visited Point Lobos Reserve in Monterey County, California? I have had the good fortune to visit there twice. I have been thinking of it so much recently. It is like no other place I have ever experienced. The park is located three miles south of Carmel. Like all of the western coast of the U.S., it is beautiful beyond words.


"This is the forest primeval
The murmuring pines and the hemlocks
Bearded with moss and in garments green,
Indistinct in the twilight
Stand like Druids of eld with voices sad and prophetic
Stand like harpers hoar with beards that rest on their bosoms
While loud from its rocky caverns, the deep voiced neighboring ocean
Speaks, and in accents disconsolate, answers the wail of the forest."


The lines above are the start of the prologue to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem of Acadia, Evangeline. I learned it in the 5th grade, and have never forgotten it. When I first took the trail up the cliffs at Point Lobos, and stood looking down at the Pacific Ocean, it was what entered my mind. I later found that I was not the first to have that experience, and with good reason.

If you visit their website you will also learn some interesting history of the place, such as the fact that it was once home to Native Americans, to Chinese fishermen, Portugese whalers, and an abalone cannery, among many others. As is true of much of the California coast, there have been a great many movies filmed there as well.

Point Lobos is just one of our many state parks for which we can be so grateful. The first thing you will read on the website is as follows: "Walk gently. Breathe deeply. Reflect. Discover its spirit for yourself." And perhaps, ponder what our world would become if we fail to act to reverse our actions which have caused disastrous climate change.

You will learn from the site that there are more than 250 animal and bird species to be found there, and over 350 plant species. Paradise.


The photograph and map above are from the website.