Grey to Green

Grey to Green

"‘Awareness of the world around me.' Why didn’t I think of that last week. I could have had this paper done.”

Katrina had been struggling with her homework. This first year of university had been pretty good, but the assignments were kind of different. Their prof only gave out a topic, the length and the format and after that they were all on their own. The Environment was their topic. She thought of marine life and icebergs and volcanoes. All things that she knew absolutely nothing about. There was no time to research any of them enough before the end of the week - an extension to the original deadline. 

The cement steps were cold and hard, but she had to figure this out. Sitting outside by herself, she stretched her long legs, leaned back on her elbows, stared at the sky. Interesting clouds. Clouds. That’s part of the environment. Wind snatched at her hair, swirled errant leaves in the air and ruffled the carefully landscaped campus. Wind. That’s another part of the environment.

The greyness of the day fit her mood and then Katrina smiled. Green lawns and spring flowers brightened the greyness. Katrina sat forward to clear weeds away from the new growth. Hmm...Her granddad had taught her many things about gardening. He hated pesticides. He always talked about the balance of nature and how pesticides were destroying that balance.

Katrina gathered her books into her backpack. Turning back into the library building, she was ready to write about what she knew. Any research was in the books of the library and from her grandfather’s wisdom. The greyness of the day was suddenly not so grey.

“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and 

realities of the universe, the less taste we shall have for destruction.”

~ Rachel Carson