From Sea to Shining Sea

I read John Steinbeck's book, "Cannery Row" for my American Literature: Modern class, so I was familiar with his writing about "the landscape of California, particularly in the farming and fishing communities of the Salinas Valley and the Carmel Peninsula." His introduction in our textbook, doesn't really give a background on his life, just telling us he "undertook a research voyage to the Gulf of Mexico with Edward F. Ricketts," which is his basis for "The Log from the Sea of Cortez." His introduction in my copy of "Cannery Row" tells us Steinbeck grew up in the same area he writes about, which makes his writing more authentic. The introduction calls Steinbeck "a ceaseless experimenter throughout his career" and he "changed courses regularly." I wasn't aware of Rachel Carson's work. Her introduction tells she was a "marine biologist" who worked "as a specialist in commercial fisheries and as a writer." Her writing "portrayed the ocean as a single complex entity," and "the harmful effects of pesticides on the health of the environment" I think it is cool that President John F. Kennedy launch a "federal investigation, which resulted in must tighter controls on the use of DDT and other toxic products" after reading her book, "Silent Spring." That shows how much power writers can have, if people who can make a difference, read their books. I wasn't aware of Loren Eiseley's work either. His introduction tells us he grew up with a "deaf and mentally unstable mother," which must have been really tough. He is mentioned as having fused "effectively," "personal and professional perspectives" his work. Eiseley grew up to be "a professor of Anthropology" and museum "curator." His outlook is "characterized by loneliness and pessimism, he find comfort in our shared condition with other animals" and "communication with nature."



In "The Log from the Sea of Cortez" by John Steinbeck, he writes about having to write a book about the California Gulf and starting a log to write the reasons for the expedition. He and Edward F. Ricketts took the expedition to "observe the distribution of invertebrates," and "to see everything our eyes would accommodate and to think what we could." He admits, "It is good to know what you are doing," making it seem like he did research on the fish they would be studying. He seemed hopeful, the both science and experience would make a "picture more complete and more accurate that either alone could produce." In "The Marginal World," Rachel Carson writes about the ocean. She writes, "the edge of the seas is a strange and beautiful place" and the shoreline is "an area of unrest" and "an ancient world." Carson talks about identity of the shoreline, belonging to two natures and worlds of the shore, "belonging now to the land, now to the sea." She describes her most memorable and "magical" place as "a pool hidden within a cave that one can visit only rarely." When she was there, she saw a Elfin starfish, who "reached down to touch its own reflection," which she described as a moment of "poignant beauty." She calls the shore at nighttime, a "different world in which the very darkness that hides the distractions of daytime brings into sharper focus the elemental realities." In "The Judgment of the Birds," Loren Eiseley writes about seeking a "natural revelation." He writes about observing birds from his window, before he goes to work and observing them while he takes nature walks. Eiseley describes a crow who usually hides to avoid "humanity," and was scared and "lost," flying in fog. Eiseley describes a raven as "bird of death," no other bird wants to mess with. He relates to the birds and their experiences, seeing himself in their actions.



In "The Log from the Sea of Cortez" by John Steinbeck, he writes a lot of reality. He says, "the design of a book is the pattern of a reality controlled and shaped by the mind of the writer." In each book, lies the truth as the writer knows it. Steinbeck writes, they were going on the expedition "to build some kind of structure in modeled imitation of observed reality," by combing scientific study with observing the beauty of the sea. He concludes that if you just record the scientific aspects, you "have recorded a reality which cannot be assailed- probably the least important reality concerning either the fish or yourself." In order to have a clearer reality, we need to record the entire picture. In "The Marginal World," Rachel Carson writes "Today a little more land may belong to the sea, tomorrow a little less. Always the edge of the sea remains an elusive and indefinable boundary," which describes the drought and the moving of land. She writes, "In this difficult world of the shore, life displays its enormous toughness and vitality by occupying almost every conceivable niche." The shore is where most humans visit the beach, and we are reminded by the power of the waves and the strength of its water. The title comes from her quote, "Looking out over the cove I felt a strong sense of the interchangeability of land and sea in this marginal world of the shore, and of the links between the life of the two." Her point is that we as a world are all connected in somehow, no matter how different we may be. In "The Judgment of the Birds," Loren Eiseley writes about the wilderness as "a commonplace of all religious thought." In each religion, they have an example of a man "seeing visions," leaving society and living "for a time in the wilderness," making it seem like the wilderness is a place for inspiration and spiritual refinement. He calls the Raven an example of "the judgment of life against death," from which his essay title comes from.



In "The Log from the Sea of Cortez" by John Steinbeck, he gives an example of a scientific recording, naming the fish with roman numerals and numbers, such as "D. XVII-15-IX." I wasn't aware this was how scientist document fish. His excitement of heading to see, is relatable and understandable. I always enjoy being out in the open sea, on either a glass bottomed boat, a catamaran. or a Cruise ship, with nothing surrounding me but water and the sun. In "The Marginal World," Rachel Carson writes about shore and its hidden and visible beauty, so reading her work reminded me to appreciate things like the shoreline at a beach. When I go to somewhere on a coast or an island, I usually visit the local beach. While I am there, I take photographs from the shore or the pier, trying to capture brilliance. I usually try to make a collage or paint a seascape based on the photographs, but can't capture it fully. I also usually take seashells home with me as a memento from the trip. In "The Judgment of the Birds," Loren Eiseley writes about birds and their habits, so reading his work reminded me to take a closer look at the birds around me. In the past couple of months, I have had bird nests on one of my spotlights on my deck and one under my tree. They also built a nest in my barbecue, which I had to get rid of and had to put aluminum foil in the side openings to keep them out of there. The deck nest belonged to Robins, who left a few days after the eggs hatched and their babies were able to fly. The tree nest belonged to Killdeer, and while the eggs were nesting and when their eggs hatched, they were very protective of their young. I couldn't even go in the backyard, without them squawking at me and trying to lead me away from their nest, by pretending to have an injured wing. I think humans protect their young in the same ways.