Day Trip

For the second volunteering session, I continued helping out the Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge(CCCR). I was supposed to meet up with Kate and Britney again at Florence's home in Palo Alto at 1p.m. on Saturday, but I had a soccer game that day in San Francisco and arrived at around 2:15p.m. We were planning on fully interviewing Florence about the Committee, why she started, and so on. I felt bad because I barely made it in time to ask one question for the video, as Kate and Britney had already done most of it. Just like the last time I visited Florence's home I was warmly welcomed and she offered me some cookies and lemonade. I am now pretty comfortable going to her house and talking about wetlands, or anything for that matter. I talked a little bit more with her about (I wish I could remember, but it is just not coming to me right now). Anyways, It was an overall good 30 minutes that I was there. Then after we finished the filming the interview we drove over to the Don Pedro Wildlife Refuge to take pictures and learn a little bit more about the wetlands there. I have been there before, but not with 4 tour guides (Florence, Kate and her parents). It was really cool to see what they have been working so hard to preserve, not only plants but also all the animals. I saw tons of different species of birds, which Kate could always name, and also ground squirrels and a few fish. It was also really neat to see that trails in the refuge were dedicated to Florence and her husband. It was like I was with a celebrity. They have done so much to save these marshes and I am glad to see they are recognized for what they have done. So, at the refuge I took a lot of pictures and learned from each of our special guides about the importance of having marshes. I learned about how the marshes act as filters when all the runoff water comes from the city and goes towards the bay. It takes out a lot of pollutants and chemicals, providing the bay with cleaner water. This is the reason for the mud in the marshes smelling so bad, because it is filled with gross man-made materials. Another advantage of having marshes is that they act as sponges when there is a flood. They take in a lot of water and would have a great impact on protecting Fremont if the Bay ever flooded. Not only do the marshes help with these things, but they are also the home of many animals and some endangered species like the salt marsh harvest mouse. Most of the animals require the marshes for shelter and food, and so they could not live in this area without them. Learning about this and seeing it myself has made it more important for me to help out the CCCR during this project. This is because it is hard to fight for something you do not know much about and by knowing a lot more about it, I feel the drive to make a difference.

Looking at the rubric for this project, I realize that I again forgot to quote people from the Committee. I will make sure to do it next time!