As a girl who grew up near the ocean, I was always fascinated by what lived below and on the surface of the gorgeous body of water, steps from my door. Truth be told, although I now live in the mountains, I am still curious. So, in my vast spare time (cue the sarcastic chuckle)
I still work on oceanographic research projects. And, part of the Fischer Arts mission is to contribute to organizations dedicated to protecting our oceans (jump ahead to read more).
Sure, life is crazy. But what can I say... it's fun.
My love of the ocean exploded when I studied abroad as a college. It sounds almost made up... but I managed to spend a handful of months camped on a desert peninsula studying whales and dolphins in the Sea of Cortez.
The Sea of Cortez is a place more magical than I can possibly describe.
One memorable day of study involved documenting sperm whale behavior in the morning, swimming with a whale shark and manta rays mid-day, only to come across a blue whale on the way home that afternoon.
That was just one day....
I was there for nearly 4 months. So you can imagine, every day felt like a miracle. As a young, fledgling science student you could have knocked me over with a feather.
Months spent sleeping on a desert peninsula in Mexico, surrounded by the sea, changed me. When I arrived I was self-conscious; I didn't really fit the profile of the environmentally conscious student studying abroad. Most of my colleagues were Patagonia-clad, hiking-boot wearing, tanned, active young future eco-warriors. I felt like a slightly awkward, slightly chunky, pale, smiley-faced science geek from an all-women’s college in baggy jeans a cotton T shirts.
Like a good scientist, I started to observe. I watched my new friends, eco-groovy hiking hipsters that shared the peninsula with me. They seemed pretty joyful. Actually, they seemed charged with purpose.
So I jumped right in and joined them. Every day I hiked across our desert peninsula to the open ocean side of our little base camp. I found, to my surprise, that on most days, this was a really wonderful thing to do (the one exception was the day a rattlesnake was stretched across the trail). I started sleeping on the beach more often. I woke up at sunrise and watched dolphins from the shore. I found myself joining others in the water, in the middle of the night, when the bioluminescence was particularly stunning and diving into the water created natural fireworks. It was a revelation to learn that washing my hair once weekly was not only ok, I could consider it environmentally friendly. And what a shock, cockroaches are not really all that scary…. Just don’t kill one, because others will want to avenge its death.
In our little world on that peninsula, we learned to live in harmony with all co-habitants as peacefully as possible.
I came home feeling “different”. Not a really a new person, as a 20-year old takes decades to learn who she really is and what her place is on this planet. But next to the Sea of Cortez, I started the process. My love for the ocean, my respect for the creatures who live in it, only grew after that period of time.
At Fischer Arts, I am thrilled to see how many people in this rather land-locked area of New England have a deep and meaningful attachment to the ocean. Our "Ocean Life" area is very popular. I confess, I find myself drawn to the beautiful chromolithographs and copperplate engravings we have in that area.
And for 2024, a portion of the sales from the "Ocean Life" area will be dedicated to the Marine Conservation Institute
- an organization whose purpose is to securing permanent,
strong protection for the oceans’ most important places.
As the summer draws near - I hope you have the chance to enjoy time by your
favorite body of water.
Sending warm wishes your way!
Comments