A Perfect Summer Day...

            A perfect summer day for me would be 80 degrees with a nice breeze.  I would jump on my bike and ride like 8 miles along a bike trail.  The trail would have people of all kinds riding their bikes, jogging, or taking strolls with their families.  Everyone would take their garbage and either recycle, compost or throw it into the right garbage bins.  This trail would be right along a lake and have the right amount of tree coverage.  I would stop a couple of time and just take in the beauty of the outdoors; snap a couple of pictures each time and continue my ride.  And best of all, no mosquitoes anywhere! 

After my bike ride I would sit on the beach.  Clouds would rarely roll in and out, giving shade when the heat got too intense.  My skin would be clear and glistening.  When the temperature rose to be in the 90s, I would jump into a kayak and spend the rest of my time on the beach out on the water.  The breeze from the water would be able to keep me cool enough in the summer heat.  The ocean would be blue and sparkling.  No trash in the water at all.  I would row far enough to be able to wonder if the world was actually flat.  When I reach that point, I turn back around and paddle back to shore.

  When I finally paddle back to shore, I would get to enjoy a nice picnic on a nice little stretch of grass.  The temperature would have went down to mid-80s by now.  No pesky bugs to ruin the mood.  The grass would be litter free and I would have a view of ocean from where I was.  Plants would be in full bloom all around. The picnic would include food from a local, no till farm.  My fruits would be free of harmful chemical pesticides.  My meat would be locally grown, not from any slaughterhouses that abuse the animals.  And the lemonade would have been made with water that came from a fresh spring, lemon picked right off of a tree, and sweet brown sugar. 

In the past three weeks that I have been in Menominee I have gone on numerous bike rides, canoed down the Red Cedar and greeted by a picnic afterwards, helped weed a raingarden, and napped in the sun.  And, I loved every moment of every experience.  I could have done without the mosquitoes, but what can you do?  I have had the luxury of being able to be apart of a great environmental program, that lets us do such outdoorsy things.  Some people do not have the luxury of biking, or canoeing, or even going outside to a nice view.  There are areas around the world that don’t have clean water or air.  They can barely take a fresh breath of air or drink a clean glass of water.  This is the reason why I aspire to go into environmental engineering.  Because people like me can have the luxury of getting a clean glass of water while other people cannot.  This is what drove me to apply to the LAKES REU program and what is driving me to complete my research here.  The fact that someday, I could help provide people with access to something we now can take for granted.  The environment should be everyone’s number one priority.  Because we all have to live on this planet.  Why not take care of it?

Red Cedar Trail

Bell outside of Jarvis Hall

Random cacti plot in front of Frykland Hall