When we’re stuck inside for so long, it’s easy to romanticize nature in every facet of our lives. We see how lush our forests are during late spring in photographs on Instagram, watch people jump from precipices into a cold lake on YouTube, and scroll through hundreds of posts on social media, the majority of which only deal with the best things our world has to offer. And these beautiful things are deeply respected and loved. But what about The Ugly--or, at least, what many of us consider to be ugly?
Losing power during a Nor’easter doesn’t bode well. The sudden crack of thunder less than a mile away is terrifying. And parasitic insects that come out during the peak of spring aren’t exactly the silver-lining of warmer weather. Nature is a drama mask split down the middle--one side is the Tragedy, and the other is Comedy. But they’re still two halves of the same face.
I’m not complaining about the Tragedy side of the mask, or what would be considered The Ugly--just the opposite, in fact. I think we, including myself, need to understand that what we don’t like about the outdoors doesn’t invalidate it being there. You can’t take the salt out of the ocean (first and foremost because it’s impossible) because there are so many other things that rely on it.
At GMCG, we have a very important program that’s called SRSCAP, short for the Saco River Stream Crossings Assessment Program, that we started in May. The purpose of this program is to understand whether or not the structures (culverts, headwalls, etc.) and stream banks are able to withstand flooding as well as support wildlife passage, particularly fish. Before doing this program, I have maybe thought about the existence of culverts a handful of times in my entire life. But now everytime I drive over a bridge, my brain will immediately try to identify what the structure is made of and how it’s positioned. I caught myself a week ago saying out loud, “Dry-fit stone headwall with zero degrees wingwalls!” when I drove over one.
But it isn’t all fun and games. In order to assess a culvert, you need two people: one to record all the parameters and another to step down into the stream with the culvert to take all different kinds of measurements and assessments. And while doing assessments in or near a stream on a sweltering summer day in New Hampshire, you get a lot of solicitors--mosquitoes, deer flies, ticks--that want whatever it is you have to offer them. It’s all also very situational; one site could be shallow and easily-accessible, another could be steep and absolutely covered in poison ivy. You’re basically playing Black Jack with nature. And you tend to get a bust more than nature does.
So it’s not all sunny beach days and walks in the park for us. But it’s important to collect all this information. And it’s important to remember that, through the squadrons of mosquitoes and a possible water snake, this environment is intrinsically valuable even if it’s not very photogenic.
Jessica is your typical rowdy Bostonian, but with a passion for nature and writing. She is currently working on a short story titled “The Haunting of Huntress House” much to her roommates’ dismay. Learn more about Jessica here!