Roosevelt Island May 31, 2009

Today I went to Roosevelt Island, Theodore not Franklin. The island is the one in the Potomac between the Georgetown waterfront and Roslyn; you can see it from our balcony (if you can call it that). It was a fantastic trip on so many levels. The island has a memorial to Teddy that is really nice. It’s immersion in nature provides for serenity that is unmatched by any other monument or memorial that I have visited. There are paths: big and small, cleared and concealed. We kayaked over there, which some guidebooks say is the easiest way to get there. The only alternative to crossing the water by boat is taking the metro to Roslyn and then walking across a pedestrian bridge (I kayaked both ways so I don’t know anything more than this.)

The Island is pretty big, it took maybe an hour to walk leisurely around the perimeter. The natural environment there was beautiful. Lots of trees, swamps, flowers, shrubbery, and wildlife. Supposedly there are water snakes, beavers, possums, and I forget the rest, but we didn’t see any of these. Today was a beautiful day, so hikers, joggers, picnickers, and visitors were ubiquitous. As a result, the so-called wildlife was nowhere to be seen by my deteriorating vision. Though we did see (and hear) many birds, and butterflies.

It’s fitting that the Teddy Roosevelt memorial would be on a largely undisturbed island as the president was a lifelong nature-lover. Roosevelt pioneered conservancy in this country at the Federal level: he began the National Park Service (among other efforts). Teddy was fascinated by Yellowstone and Yosemite, and he spent much time in Africa on safari-like adventures. Teddy was also a big game hunter and this was usually his activity of choice while in Africa — strange for a conservancy-minded man.

Quotes by Teddy found at memorial (all great, only some worthy of our quote board where some may appear later):

“Courage, hard work, self-mastery, and intelligent effort are all essential to a successful life. Alike for the nation and the individual, the one indispensable requisite is character.”

“Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars but remember to keep your feet on the ground.”

“There is delight in the hardy life of the open. There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm.The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets, which it must turn over to the next generation. increased and not impaired in value.”

“Conservation means development as much as it does protection.”

And some photos:

Teddy was a very interesting man and President. Interesting, for one, because of his combination of machismo and nature-loving, a combination that is sadly considered eccentric in today’s culture. Enough for now, anybody know of a good biography of Roosevelt? Or, anybody want to go back? I’m down. And, PLEASE President Obama, now is the time to pass a comprehensive environmental protection plan. This is the only livable world our (meaning “human’s”) expert astronomers have been able to detect in an unfathomable amount of light years; let’s conserve AND improve the damn thing, as Teddy maybe would say.