![[Image Description: Two MCC members taking a brief break; one is sitting on a rock, the other is standing nearby. They are both in their uniforms, looking out at the expansive, mountain view surrounding them.]](https://cdn.firespring.com/images/c3f85e97-43a9-4810-8081-e8e6338173d0.jpeg)
There is an essay by Mark Twain that discusses the notion that once someone has worked in their field, they begin to lose the appreciation for the beauty around them. This work explores the topic that the more one knows about something, the less they can appreciate the beauty of it. A captain may lose the ability to see the beauty of a sunrise on the water, for example.
In relation to the work being done by my crew, that would mean the more I learn about the ecosystem I’m working in, the less I’d simply view it as a beautiful landscape. This may be true. Perhaps soon I’ll only be able to look at a trickling stream and see the places in need of restoration, the areas damaged by erosion, or the height of the water table.
Yet, the essay also speaks of the knowledge gained in the same way that the appreciation is lost. I may no longer be able to look at a stream as just a place of beauty and peace, but now I can identify problems within the ecosystem and identify solutions for them. What I have lost in appreciation, I have gained in knowledge. There is beauty and satisfaction to be found in knowing that I am leaving an ecosystem better than I found it. I’m finding that that gain, that knowledge and ability to use it, has created another form of appreciation for the landscape. One in which I know that I have taken steps to preserve this ecosystem so others may simply look on it as something beautiful for years to come.
