Today, we visited Mr Ishizawa, Mr Mitomo and Mr Tate. Besides the obvious similarities, there was one key thing that they had in common. They were old, but they definitely was still kicking.
We started off the day by visiting Mr Ishizawa’s ranch. He gave a brief tour of his ranch, as well as how are cows milked. The most interesting fact that Mr Ishizawa gave was that since he only kept female cows, he would have to employ the services of owners possessing male cows. These male cows were nomadic. They moved from place to place, copulating as where there services are deemed needed. Additionally, if a cow was to hump another cow, it means that the cow was ready to give birth to more cows.
A photo of me posing in the barn courtesy of Glenn Hawkins.
Next up we travelled to Mr Mitomo’s ranch, or as I like the call it, home to the OG Milker. He started off the session with an explanation of the happiness of human beings can derive from human interaction with cows. Mr Mitomo’s lecture was filled with wise quotes, with my favourite one being “we need to strike the right balance between human nature, and this might not allow us to meet our needs, but we need to adjust our needs to the equilibrium.” His wise words resonated through me. I felt his passion, his love towards his work and the environment, and his eyes telling me that change is possible, we just need to go for it.
Lastly, we encountered Mr Tate, who works towards conservation of Blakiston Fish Owl. Mr Tate begin with a lecture on what exactly is the Blakiston Fish Owl, and why it is endangered right now. This boils down to the fact that the river environment needs to be restored. Blakiston Fish Owls hunt in riparian zones, which are currently being destroyed due to deforestation. He ultimately links the protection of the fish owl would result in protecting the industry in the area, which then leads to protecting land, sea, air and the environment as a whole. What makes his organisation even more impressive is that he does not take any money from the town, only asking for land for reforestation events, towns not to cut tree and asking for personnel.
The key similarities with all 3 guest lecturers that we had today was that they were old, but still very much active in the scene. They never started early. In fact, Mr Tate started after his retirement from his original government job. Yet, they all persevered on, not only doing their part but also trying to enlighten the next generation. We often find people saying that it is too late to start something. Look at the three of them. Age truly is no excuse.
Finally, to conclude with some philosophical words from Mr Tate. Don’t blame others, cooperate instead.
Human Ecology: Rivers 