Chapter 4

The first quote from chapter 4 in the book Mountains of the Heart by Scott Weidensaul is “Watching, I tried to find the correct analogy for the shapes the spring created.”. I really felt connected to the book when the author wrote about the bubbling spring because one of my favorite places to go is a spring in Crystal River Florida. I agree with everything he says in this section about the spring, the way he talks about watching the sand that bubbles up from the spring and not knowing how to accurately describe the shapes it makes. I can stare at the bottom of the springs forever and just be mesmerized by the dancing sand above.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Three_sisters_springs_near_crystal_river_national_wildlife_refuge.jpg

The second quote that stood out to me was “We like the certainty of starting points and ending points, serving as bookends that bracket everything we touch, perhaps because our own lives are bracketed.” (Weidensaul). I completely disagree with this statement; I personally do not like to think about or look at the ending points in anything in life. When I look at a river I like to see the never ending flow and circulation it truly has. I feel that life has no defined brackets because life us uncertain just like it is uncertain where exactly one water molecule at the beginning of a river is going to end up, and at that the water molecule will never truly end permanently.

The third quote that stood out to me was “Spring peepers are the loudest of the seasons heralds (on a still night from my front porch I can hear the clamor from a pond nearly a mile and a half down the valley), but they are not the only singers, nor even the earliest.” (Weidensaul). This statement speaks to me because one of my favorite things to do at night is to sit outside and listen to all the different creatures. I can distinguish different sounds if I pay close attention but nothing is better than relaxing and listening to the harmony that happens when all of them combine into one beautiful song. I think that frogs like the spring peepers described in the book are one of the most unique creatures. It amazes me that some of the smallest creatures can make such a loud noise and that there are creatures that can make even louder noises.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Green_Tree_Frog_(Litoria_caerulea).jpg

Weidensaul, S. (2016). Mountains of the Heart: A Natural History of the Appalachians. Golden: Fulcrum Publishing.