Growing up, we were taught that at the end of the rainbow you could find a pot of gold, and possibly a Leprechaun guarding it.
Through our youngest years, my friends and I searched and chased, hoping to find that elusive end of the rainbow. We were more interested in seeing a Leprechaun than getting the gold, and mostly we just wanted to beat what we considered our “biggest life challenge” (we were ten so life was cookies and milk).
What I didn’t know was that ten years later I would journey to Iceland for the adventure of a lifetime and find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
It turns out that the gold is actually a glacier.
Later that night, as I sat stretching out my aching muscles, I realized what a beautiful reminder the rainbow had been. Nature is just as precious (or should be) to all of us as the promise of magical creatures and mystical treasure to a child.
And yet, we take it for granted. I stared at the lagoon in front of the glacier in absolute awe of its beauty. What a sight to be seen! Seemingly endless ice nestled in the mountains kissed by a lagoon of frigid water. Then I remembered that the ice isn’t endless, in fact, humans are bringing it to an untimely end. We are speeding up the melting process and expanding the lagoon until eventually it will have consumed every iceberg and every inch of the glacier.
So I sat on my bed with my palms up towards the sky and promised the glacier to spend this semester learning how to preserve the childhood wonder it holds. No, I can’t change the temperature outside with a thermometer and I can’t hold the glacier together with my hands. But, I can spend a semester focusing on, learning about, and experiencing sustainability and conservation.
From the island of glaciers and rainbows I will take this newfound knowledge and I will bring it back to the apple orchards and horse farms of New York. And one degree at a time, we will change the world.
We have to, I promised the glacier.
And a promise is a promise, big or small.