A Fable for Tomorrow

In Rachel Carson’s work A Fable for Tomorrow, she depicts a piece of scenery that goes through quite the change. This beautiful, once delighted town didn’t know what hit it. She describes the appearance of this American forest that went from all to none. As the reader we are warned that it is our fault, mankind that is. Carson describes the influence that people have on nature. There is no going around the fact that every person in their lifetime will witness this type of tragedy. This imagined tragedy that she describes “may easily become a stark reality we shall all know.” I believe there is no way around witnessing the destruction of a forest, animal, or even a small patch of land.
I am reminded of the amount of junk that we leave out in the once peaceful and beautiful areas of land. All my life I have loved going to my grandmother’s house. She lives in Murray but her house is tucked in a small neighborhood that lies at the end of a dirt road down a small lane. Her house, to me, was the little house you would picture when you sing “over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house we go”. Trees surround her house that we get together as a family to take care of every year, and a cute creek that runs through her front yard. I have some wonderful memories at this house. A few things we would do with my grandma I have never forgotten and will always cherish. A day spent at grandmas consisted of eating lunch with the squirrels that lived the tree closest to her house, fishing in the creek (even though there is rarely anything to catch, it was our favorite), walking across the bridge to the small piece of land on the other side, feeding the ducks walking across her front yard, and looking up the names of birds that would visit the bird feeder we wanted to fill every hour to make sure the birds had enough. Once we even saw a couple deer in her yard. Grandma’s house was the small escape in the middle of Murray, UT that nobody knew about.
Unfortunately a lot has changed in to that small piece of get-away. A large amount of homes were recently built on the other side of the creek. Soon, the man who owns the home by the bridge decided that would be a great place for his hot tub even though it legally is for the use of all of those who live in that area. Along with the hot tub, there are chairs, tables, and who knows what else. So much has changed. The animals have definitely moved on as well, because of the new arrived noise and company. I don’t think I’ve seen a single squirrel or nearly as many other animals that used to visit.
Nature is now struggling to survive. As Carson explained, I believe every person will experience the change or destruction of nature in their lifetime, there is no doubt about it.

Grandma Voorhees