Salma Yehia

Due: September 21st

Walk to Hall’s Pond: Assignment

Boston is filled with honking horns, smell of gasoline, and organized chaos. To expect nature to thrive in such an environment was improbable in my mind. When I first realized that we were going to take a field trip to a pond I thought we wouldn’t encounter much. Actually, I didn’t comprehend how a pond could exist in the city environment. A wide variety of tree types were what I expected at the most from the walk to the pond. To my surprise a calm, peaceful sanctuary was hidden within an urban neighborhood in Brookline. 

At first appearance, the Hall’s Pond Sanctuary seems like a small peace of heaven in comparison to city life.  At the beginning of the walk there was even an imprint fossil of angel wings dedicated by the family and friends of Hall’s Pond. 

The Formal Garden is well kept and fosters many different types of plants ranging from native flowering perennials to different sorts of garden shrubs.  As we continued to walk on the boardwalk, willow trees obstructed our view of the pond. 

Mistaken as pollution in the water, duckweed clusters floated gently in the water. Dragonflies hovered over the pond and sometimes landed on the many lily pads that resided in the pond. 

The painted turtles lazily sat basking under the sunlight on a lily pad. They moved so rarely that I had to put it upon myself to name one of them Lazy–Lily ( LL)!

A Great Blue Heron stood elegantly on the side of the pond. I would have never thought that such a big bird would have the ability to survive in such an urban environment.  It truly made me realize how important such places like Hall’s Pond could be. Protecting ecosystems is critical because every animal depends on the other. The elimination of one animal can disrupt the cycle of life. They are places where animals can thrive and reproduce freely without worry of human’s destroying whole populations—therefore protecting biodiversity. Also, everyone needs to take a break from the city life and take a moment to admire nature, examine its effects on humans and understand its importance generally.

However, deeper observations indicate some forms of pollution. Doritos bags scattered the pond. Water bottles were carelessly thrown into this supposed sanctuary. Most disturbingly, a used condom was thrown on the edge of the Gazebo. These are signs of disrespect for nature. Of course, before humans lived in these areas there was probably a greater amount of biodiversity and animals beyond our imagination. However, partially because of human self-interest and natural selection the animals either became extinct, migrated or changed their phenotypes and genotypes (traits) in order to adapt to the changing environment. 

Overall, Hall's Pond was a great place to observe animals rarely seen in an urban environment. It is also a place to escape the noise of the city and to enjoy nature at its best. I will definitely return for further observations and as a peaceful study place.