Hey son, look at these minnows. Honey, check out the beachplum. I’ve overheard statements like this all summer long, and everytime I feel like interjecting myself to make the correction – they are not minnows, which are a fresh water fish, but mummichog. And those aren’t beachplum, they are Rosa rugosa. Nitpicking, maybe, but it bothers me that people only seem to have a crayon outline of other species in their mind. I’ve seen them get the group right, as in fish vs. mammal (although even then you will find the oddball that is convinced dolphins and tuna are all the same, especially in a can), but try to make a distinction between the different gulls, or terns for that matter, and you’ll get a blank stare or “who gives a ****”. All this living in the information age seems to be making us frighteningly ignorant. How did we cut the connection to the natural world? When did this happen? I remember fishermen and farmers, our direct links to the wild, being part of our fabric not so long ago… or am I really getting that old?
I guess I should be applauding these folks for at least trying to give our fellow creatures and plants a name. Most others are not even aware of their surroundings, and the only thing they are connected to is their ipod or some other device. But delving a little deeper is necessary to come to an understanding of beings other than ourselves. You’re missing out, folks. Humanity is putting itself in a zoo or reservation removed from the rest of nature, and we no longer have a clue about the visitors passing through…
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