We recently saw a documentary about several beaches in the Hawaiian Islands that are collecting points for much of the trash in the Pacific Ocean. Lilly and I have discussed this documentary quite a bit in the last few weeks during her study of the oceans. The topic came up while studying ocean currents and filter feeders. As we learned about surface currents we could easily visualize how the trash ended up on some of the beaches in Hawaii.
Surface currents in the oceans form gyres or large circular patterns. Gyres are formed mostly by the wind. In the northern hemisphere they blow clockwise and in the southern hemisphere they blow counter clockwise. The Hawaiian Islands are located pretty close to the equator. They also are located in the direct path of the north Pacific gyre. So, guess where all that trash ends up? Beautiful beaches in the Pacific Ocean and a floating trash island as explained in the documentary.
I believe we are much more impacted by our experiences. Life is made of experiences that envelop our senses. Reading and documentaries can give us an insightful perspective but experiencing both the beauty and sadness of life can be life changing. One of the reasons the Hawaii documentary impacted us is because we vacationed in Maui, Hawaii in July. The beauty of the island is still very etched into our memories. I wanted the kids to experience how even the water that flows in the creek from our backyard eventually flows to the oceans and affect the beauty God has given us to enjoy not only in our backyards but also in the places we go to vacation. I want them to be connected in a deeper way to their choices and how their actions create reactions in the world and lives around them. None of us are on an island alone.
We used Google Earth to follow the water from the creeks that run behind our house,through Southwood Valley and eventually to the Navasota & Brazos Rivers. It would have been impossible to follow the entire route of the flow of water by car. My second option, was to use the maps application on my cell phone and follow one many of the creeks I knew would be flowing out in the country where I grew up close to the Brazos River. We started at a large creek on Blue Ridge Circle. We followed the creek path on the maps application until it crossed Hopes Creek Road. Once we got to the Hopes Creek road bridge the water was flowing so high and fast the kids could visually see how the water was higher and faster than at our previous crossing. At this point we were less than a mile from the Brazos River. Zane was telling us where to turn in order to get a great view of the river as he looked at the map. We went all the way down Batts Ferry Road. When the kids saw the river flowing they were amazed at how fast and high is was. This was their first time at Batts Ferry.
The various activities occurring at the river surprising. The water was flowing fast and heavily down the sides of the steep, sloping road. Sadly, the trash people left was floating into the river. When I asked Zane where the trash would end up he correctly stated, "The ocean!". All day he was explaining to family how the creek flows to the river and the river to the ocean and that you could see it at the end of the road.
The whole adventure was quite fascinating. We saw bugs clamoring to get to safety and vultures were flying overhead. We speculated as to why they'd be circling the river when it was so full and why the bugs were crawling up the grasses and shrubs sticking out of the water. It was easy to see that if the insects that lived along the banks of the river were coming up to higher ground. The animals would be moving to higher ground too.
We saw this beautiful Black Widow climbing on a floating piece of cardboard. She is the tiny dot in the center of the photo. We watched in amazement as she tried many times to get from one stick to another safe place closer to land. She would climb to the top of the stick, add a safety
anchor of silk & try to float to the next available stick. Although we cheered her on we did NOT help her help her. It was kind of sad seeing how distressed she was. But, we all know how poisonous they are and we dared not even touch her with a stick. We noticed all sorts of bugs, snails and worms crawling up the tall grass looking for a safe place away from the flowing water. We learned much more about nature than I had intended. We thought we were learning about water flow, water runoff and how our trash really can end up in the ocean. Zane also brought up the water cycle.
He is fascinated by hurricanes and he said, "Mommy, once the water gets to the ocean, the sun heats it up and it makes clouds and the wind blows it into a hurricane and it rains back on the land." I think for a four year old he has a pretty good grasp of the water cycle. Lilly was more fascinated with the bugs and snails and helping them get to safety.We did bring a few land snails home temporarily. I guess our house is the snail evacuation shelter! Ironically, Zane, my fearless rat man was terrified by the gooey snails and wouldn't even begin to hold them. They are pretty alien like once they come out of their shells.
All our observations of nature are paying off. God has much more to teach us as we experience and observe His handiwork than we can even imagine.
Lilly and I went back today to see if the river had lowered after days of not raining. The first photo was last week. The second is from today. Where is is standing was under water in the first photo. Before going I asked her to predict what she thought we'd find. She correctly guessed that the river would be lower. She was right. But, we were surprised by how much lower it already was, as you can see by the look on her face in the second photo. If you look at the fork in tree and at the trees across the river you can really see how much the river has dropped. We will continue to go and watch as the river recedes to it's normal level which at low times you are able to cross on rocks that line the bottom. Should be interesting to see the differences.
