Pajer - Journal #3 - September 22

Word Count 319

Journal 3:  Reflections on the field trip to ECHO

                      Echo is to serve as a resource for people working in tropical settings around the world. For farmers and growers really it helps to give the necessities of life without all the technologies of the information era. But I really see it as a place where Americans use innovations that are low cost and from common things to help poor unruly countries. To me, this seems like a step backwards but it might help young inventors see the world a little bit differently. Echo started in 1981 on five acres and now has about 50 acres. The first tree that Bob the guide showed us was a Juju tree, which is drought tolerant fruit tree. Another tree we saw was a bamboo tree which I don’t know if it is a tree or grass or something, but standing near it you could nearly hear it grow. With some kind of crackling noise, must have been from the wind. Neem was an interesting plant from India (right now I am taking a class and have to read about 7 books about India) that is a pest repellant plant.  The twigs kill bacteria and many people in other countries use them as tooth brushes because it kills bacteria.

            Jatropha was another poisonous plant which they said could be used as an oil substitute, but I doubt that will go anywhere with corn ethanol being a problem as it is. I wonder what would happen to my car with this gas in it. My overall experience of Echo was nice.  My mom said I went there on a field trip in first grade; of course I didn’t remember that. It is nice that people work in these kinds of fields but I don’t think there is much for me. I like nature as much as the next man but a pit of worms would keep me away for good amount of time.

Pajer - Journal #2 - September 22

Word Count:  337

Journal 2: Your neighborhood-either at FGCU or at your childhood home. Use all of your senses to describe the things you care about and that you notice.

             My childhood home is about twenty minutes away from where I live today. It was a nice: three bedrooms, a master bed room, two baths, living room, family room, dining room. It wasn’t huge but very homey. To the back of the house was a preserve with a forest of trees and shrubbery. It was one of those houses and communities which you knew your neighbors and very calm and laid back kind of setting. My home now is a bit larger, and after ten years of living here finally feels more like home. It doesn’t normally smell bad; it use to smell like a dog at times and had tumble weeds of dog hair. But we lost our dog last year to heart disease. So we have most of the hair out of the pool and house now. The house has a rather large yard for a gated community, and it sits on the biggest single lot as well. My room is devoted more or less to a few good Beatles and Pink Floyd posters and I have a nice collection of vinyl albums to complement that. We (my brother, sometimes his girlfriend, me, my girl friend, and our dad) painted the inside of the whole house which took us a good chunk of the summer to paint. We also had crown molding installed which my dad wanted since we moved in but, things take forever to get done in my family. So we just had it installed and the house looks ten times better, classy, and richer, with a bit of depth. Last year seems to have been the first year we got our house into order too because we have this middle room in between mine and my brother’s room and for the first time in a long time we aren’t just using it for old storage.

Pajer - Journal #1 - September 22

Word count 411

Journal 1:  Your connection to the Florida environment and how much time you spend outdoors  

My connection to the Florida environment runs deep.  Since childhood I have been an outside kind of guy. As young as I could remember now, maybe five or such, I remember being outside and always loving it. So much time I spent playing in the sand, riding my bike, swimming the pool, rollerblading, and even on the rare occasion swimming at the beach! Which I find no delight or wish nor anything to do with that dreadful water. It was surely a different time back then. The fresh air and cool breeze was always a joy to be in. Surely when I was young the heat wasn’t as noticeable for me as it is now. This is a killer to us all. As a child and until the summer after my freshman year in high school I played baseball on little leagues. Nothing too serious but at the time it was fun and I’d still like to play now, but I think only softball leagues are for my age or really advanced baseball leagues.

             So I bet you’re asking this question to find out if this younger but growing generation still goes outside. Well the fact of the matter is on occasions. In the summer time it’s too hot to go outside. Then in the winter it gets dark so fast. Two real excuses I know I have made for not going outside. But when I do go outside I have done a number of different adventures. Well after high school my twin brother and I got into play air soft. It was something new to try and had lots of fun, but we only did that for a year or so. There is just a few number of people play that around here and traveling especially now is rather expensive so we don’t do that much now. We still play catch with the baseball. Also I swim in the pool mainly in the summers but once in a blue moon I’ll go out as well. I also do a ton of yard work! We built our house and my dad got my brother and I as well as him at the time to do most of the landscaping which at the time was a chore but now maintaining it just as big and my brother does not really help with that. With our yard being massive the job in its self is immense so it gets halfway done at times.