Monday, March 19, 2012

THE GREEN IS GONE

IN 1969, my first letter to a newspaper was published.  I criticized the Ficus benjamina trees mutilation the Caguas Country plaza, with  custom/use ice cream cone standard pruning style. Them trees are gone, slowly killed with the procedure for decades.

Fast forward to 2002.  I returned from my economic exile in the USA with a certificate in Commercial Horticulture Landscape Management, with the naive idea of having a landscape maintenance business.  Then, not knowing any better, I  followed trends that shortly afterwards, after some thought and practice, found absolutely useless. I sinned, paid my dues. 

The intention of working for myself was not going anywhere. My  poor people skills, non traditional landscaping views and direct use of language did not help. I decided to try other venues that somehow opened my eyes in terms of practice/theory regarding  wide concepts of agriculture,  horticulture, landscape installations and maintenance principles learned/practiced in the New York Botanical versus dominant backwards/primitive views/custom/use, still around, with a total lack of aesthetics, composition in every garden installation all over Puerto Rico in residential, commercial, public or private contexts.

I landed in the Luis Munhoz Marin Foundation, a plantation like run cave of useless thieves and a parasite tumor, Parque Donha Ines. The PDI was ran by a Cuban phd and Mexican who had no bleeping idea of what forestry, propagation, landscape  installation/maintenance is, or necessary criteria/credentials, theory or practice, to be in  charge of such a project.  The phd ordered the tractor operator to destroy all the standing vegetation in 12 acres of land without any inventory of  flora and fauna or  soil analysis since the Mexican wife had no valid credentials to practice agronomy in  Puerto Rico.

Check under those names in  this blog to get the full view. After all, that sour experience among the biggest jerks, foreigners and natives alike, with elephantine egos in egg shells, only interested in advancing their bank accounts and stalling careers,  motivated your humble servant to become the  juan and only in the Caribbean dealing with every other pertinent issue  to flora/fauna/environmental spectrum, at least in my imagination.

This post resumes a decade, a life watching with a critical view the result of stupidity, arrogance, ignorance,  sweeping under the carpet.
The experience left me rather inflexible, only willing to debate if the other shows criteria. I am not in a competition feisbuk like to make friends or disciples.

During this voyage, I have discovered other people with opened minds,  fingers of one hand, with similar views,  here and there, with whom I have shared  horticulture, flora, fauna, and other issues discussed openly, offending more than one without any malice.  

EDITORS NOTE


These pictures, depending on your background will tell a lot, a little or nothing about the reality, the present, past and future of landscape, vegetation and Nature in Puerto  Rico. These 3 residences are not own by some illiterate peasant, except the one on top, with the qualities and virtues expected from that social background, lawyer and architect own the first two.

The total destruction was not noticed by anyjuan, is pretty much an itch, an urge to obliterate standing vegetation with some sadistic pleasure if you ask me. This senseless attitude towards nature, flora and fauna is not different from the one displayed towards animals of companion or pets if you prefer.

Keep one thing in perspective, vegetation reduces heat, noise, blare,  dust, increases humidity, lowering temperatures, particularly in a concrete asphalt context as ours.   It provides food, shelter, to insects, birds and reptiles.  Only imbeciles of the worst kind will do this over and over.  I have witnessed it since my adolescence..

That is that.


Search for further old news
regarding these two:
 Parque Donha Ines
Plantation Luis Munhoz Marin
  http://endemismotrasnochado.blogspot.com/2007/08/el-parque-mas-caro.html


 

2 comments:

  1. Igual el problema es que los ojos de muchos no están conectados por nervio optico alguno al cerebro. O la falta de cerebro. O aceitunas en vez de ojos, vaya usted a saber. Encima importamos gente para la destruccuón de lo poco verde que queda. Tal vez desarrollamos sin saberlo una capacidad para metabolizar cemento y asfalto. Le ha contado de nuestras locuras a extranjeros? Yo a algunos y siempre ponen ojos como platos al no entender nuestra locura.

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  2. Nuestra locura es igual a otras, ruido, 100 universidades, desempleo, ruido, exceso de poblacion, narcotrafico, dependencia del auto con embotellamientos a diario, deuda publica igual al ingreso nacional o mayor, curas i reverendos pedofilos, ilegales de kiskeya cada quien tiene los suyos, politicos ladrones, arquitectos de cajas/cajones de fosforos, concreto i asfalto con cojones. Por tanto, que de original tiene nuestra locura, para que otros se asombren? Con decir Grecia/Portugal bastaria. Ahora las deudas de los especuladores bancarios las pagan quienes trabajan de a belda.

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