ISSUE 3, 2018
BY LAURA JUSTIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
L
ooking into the water on a cold October evening, my flashlight found the small but already armored body of an immature sturgeon, no more than 7 inches long, and to my eyes, adorable. With its tiny snout turned up and sideways, we stared at each other in amazement. For some reason I was overwhelmed by a desire to hold it in my hand, to catch it for just a few moments but I let the idea go and just enjoyed our distant company. Walking slowly to the other end of the dock, my next encounter prompted a long scream for my husband to join me.
Together, with my shaky hand on the flashlight, we watched two sturgeon, both topping 5 feet, languidly swim around the kayaks…two dinosaurs in our little canal. This was the pinnacle of so many natural wonders we experienced over the last year at this magical little spot on the water. There was the morning I saw four least bittern, wading and weaving on both shores. The afternoon I jumped out of my skin at the sound, and then the sight of a great blue heron battling a red tailed hawk in flight. The bald eagle who came too close for comfort while I was paddling, thinking my puppy was a mid-afternoon snack! Watching painted turtles dance at sunset, the otter who slides down our
hill and the muskrat who never stops her home improvement project. Nothing compares to nature. These are the stories we remember with ease, the recollections that stay clear in our minds when we are old. What could be more valuable? How could we take nature for granted? We live here and love this place for many reasons and when you distill those reasons down, I bet you come back to “nature” in one form or another. Protecting our land and water and air with Conservation Easements and Preserves is a real and tangible way to make a difference. Together, we save land forever.