The Monkey Wrench Gang

- "The wilderness once offered men a plausible way of life. Now it function as a psychiatric refuge . Soon there will be no wilderness.. Soon there will be no place to go.. Then the madness becomes universal.. and the universe goes mad"

This book was generally about four people who protest o against the destruction of southwestern United States. The way Abbey forms this quote is quite interesting yet very true at the same time. He is basically explaining that at one point in life the wilderness/ nature was a huge factor in ones life, and now its simply "useless" to many. While plenty of people appreciate their surroundings, there are plenty who are uninformed and dont care. Abbey explains that since the majority could careless about nature, soon we will have no nature, nothing to see, no where to go! This was a very interesting book, and when presented in class i found the majority of the things mentioned pretty cool. I see a lot of what was happening at the time of this novel, to things that are happening now. The protest against various aspects of disagreements of society in general.

A Sand County Almanac

- "No matter how intently one studies the hundred little dramas of the woods and meadows one can never learn all the salient facts about any one of them"

- "Our ability to percieve quality in nature begins as in art with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language"

These two quotes were two of the many that caught my attention. Aldo Leopold says it very clear that although we see nature around us, we will never know the true meaning behind it. We as people tend to overlook things and take things forgranted which doesnt allow us to to see behind the white lines. Nature is more than pretty, it just takes time to acknowledge it for everything it has to offer. We need nature just as much as nature needs us! It takes time and dedication to grasp full understanding of something, therefore to understand nature time is the factor. Taking this course has really changed my mindset about things, at the beginning of the semester i had a different perspective about nature.. A more careless type feeling!

Our First Excursion..

- The expierence was great, and i saw plenty of things that i had yet too see here in the RGV. One thing that really shocked me was the fact that the birds were eating oranges. Everything was really peaceful, and it was a great bonding experience for the majority of us. I sat there for some time and talked with a couple of classmates and learned a lot things i didnt know. When everyone started explaining what we thought was interesting about the place it was amazing. To be able to interact the way everyone did was awesome! In general i enjoyed the excursion by far [;

The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons..

- It is curious how a little obstacle becomes a great obstruction when a misstep would land a man in the bottom of a deep chasm.

I liked this quote because I can really read between the lines and understand the main concept. I feel as though even if it wasnt planned, it was destined to be and he found a way to look at the positive in the obstacle. This picture of a river and the beautiful trees.. the mist.. the different colors of flowers and leaves that the valley is limited too.. all of these things are the beautiful side of nature! If i could change anything about the valley it would be to actually be able to distinguish between the seasons and what not.

- A beautiful place that would surely sooth one's mind! I found

this picture online and i immediately found a connection with the place. If i could find a place like this to sit alone and think without boundaries it would be amazing [;

Beyond the Hundreth Meridian..

- A political animal can be defined as a body that will go on circulating a petition even with its heart cut out.

-The yeasty schemes stirring in Adams' head must have generated gases to cloud his eyesight.

-It is a perfect paradise for anybody [ I saw this quote on Mariela's page and I felt like this quote really explains a lot. It explains that our surroundings are great if we take advantage of them and look beyond matters. I agree that it is a perfect paradise simply because of everything nature has to offer. For example, if one is stressed and needs to get away, theres always islands where one can sit out and enjoy the sound of the ocean and beautiful surroundings. as for me, right before finals week, i tend to mellow myself out by taking nature walks late at night with my significant other. It helps me clear my mind, and keeps me on track with school work and work in general. I believe if we take what nature has to offer, we can really understand the true meaning of NATURE. ]

Thoreau..

-Though I am old enough to have discovered that the dreams of youth are not to be realized in this state of existence yet i think it would be the next greated happiness always to be allowed to look under the eyelids of time and contemplate the perfect steadily with the clear understanding that i do not attain to it.

-A writer who does not speak out of a full experience uses torpid words, wooden or lifeless words, such words as "humanitary" which have a paralysis in their tails.

*Thoreau is one of my favorite writers up till this point. I would have never thought the day would come, where i would actually be willing to take nature this serious. Ive always been the type that enjoyed the outdoors, but was never really sensitive to certain issues such as (cutting down trees in the rainforest etc..) He's made me realize that a tree might just be a tree to me, but to people who appreciate it, its a whole world itslef. I agree with him in a lot of areas, and the main are would be that he takes nature as is comes, and is against people who damage it.Taking this class has really open my mind up to a lot of new things. I find myself looking at things very differently now, even the smallest things such as a leaf. Today i was observing a leaf that was on the ground for a long time, just to see what it really looked like. Ive learned a lot from Thoreau's writing and he has such a powerful impact and love for nature that hes still number one in my book {: