Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Hearty Plastic Soup

Paddling north in Lake Washington on my way to collect 30 gallons of plastic from the marsh for an art project. I'm thinking about ownership. What makes a house yours? What is it that makes land or water yours? How do you really own something? Legally, one pays their money and they own "it". But, this is ownership in the shallowest of terms. People that frequently buy and sell houses, moving from town to town - do they really own their house? When I talk to them, their home seems to be an investment and at best a place to stay.

Ownership isn't about an investment, or about investing in, it is about "being invested in". It is more than the easy surface, more than the paper deed, it is about "the deed", the action, the involvement, it is about "being".

I can get snooty about the bay. I have to remind myself that everyone gets to set their own price of admission. I don't have to remind myself that you get what you pay for.

Saw some geese. One eagle soaring high and one in the trees near the entrance to the northeast lagoon. Also spotted three ducks (remember how many ducks are here in the winter) but I was too lazy to dig out my binoculars. It turned out to be a very nice day and I ended up with 40 gallons of plastic junk because I was able to access a particularly rich bowl of plastic soup.

2 comments:

nsarmila said...

i was trying to understand the worth of your work... let me listen more of you.bye sarmila.

Scott Schuldt said...

One thing - snooty is slang for acting elite - when the word is used it is referring to a not admirable quality in a person.

As our ecosystem suffers from our misuse, there is a lot of discussion and writing in America on stewardship of the land and resources - It is a shift from "using" to "caring" that needs to occur for the earth to survive.