The place that I live in is a small, 9x1 mile island, filled with natural landscape and gorgeous ocean views. I have had many encounters with nature in my hometown, just enjoying being on the ocean or hiking the cliffs at the end of the island. Because I have lived there since I was four-years-old, I had taken the beautiful scenery for granted and never appreciated how lucky I was to live in just a tranquil place.

After leaving my peaceful little island for the bustling city of DC, I quickly began to realize how much I missed the calm ocean always in sight and the quiet nature. I noticed every siren that passed by my window, every loud student voice through the dorm halls, and the lights that never seemed to turn off, blocking out the view of stars at night.

When I returned home for the first time, I travelled to the cliffs at the end of the island by myself. It was a sunny day, but crisp and windy. I walked down a path that my friends and I had always journeyed down whenever we were bored afterschool on a nice day. Once at the end of the path, I sat on the rocks by the water and felt the ocean spray on my face. The wind was chilly, but it didn’t even matter because at that moment I felt free and at peace. Because the cliffs of Fort Wethirill are at the end of the island it opened up to the Atlantic Ocean. As I sat there I realized just how vast the earth is. I did not realize how much I had missed nature and the tranquility of the water until that moment. Being in a city, I have very limited access to quiet nature, and I now appreciate the small town of Jamestown, Rhode Island so much more.

Going off of this experience with nature, I do believe that saving nature is extremely important. Nature provides homes for animals, natural services and not to mention calming experiences such as mine previously described. The more we destroy nature, the more detached from those experiences we will become.