The environmental history of my family has transformed since the early 20th century. Our family began with farming for subsistence. My grandparents used the land for subsistence and profit. My father left farming for a recreational relationship with the environment, while I have developed an appreciation for our land and its conservation.

My "Noni" ( grandmother in Italian) saw nature as land, something you buy or rent to farm. She lived with her family of 6 sisters on a small farm in Knights Landing, north west of Sacramento, where they had wheat fields, two mules, cows and pigs. The land had already been cleared for agriculture by the previous owner but her father transformed more of the environment around him by cutting down trees, brush, removing stumps, and burning. After harvesting the wheat they kept just enough to feed the animals and sold the rest. Butter and cheese were made from the milk of the 12-13 cows that her father milked. Water was brought up to the house in barrels on a sled from a spring. The spring was also where they washed clothes, "poor mother had to haul all of those wet heavy clothes back up to the house to dry" she sympathized. Transportation for her family was by mule drawn wagon but as she grew she watched cars populate the growing and diversifying human world.

As a woman Noni married an immigrant Italian farmer and continued the life she was familiar with, living off the land, preparing food and raising a family in Davenport. My father grew up as my Noni did in a farming family. He remembers Davenport as a tightly connected rural town of Italian, Mexican and Philipino farmers. His father grew fields of artichokes and brussle sprouts to sell and had a garden at home with pens of rabbits and chicken. In one generation the family changed from subsistence farming, growing hay for the animals, toward growing monocrops for profit. Perhaps their goals had changed away from just subsistence toward obtaining extra money to buy luxuries like a TV or car.

It was in Davenport where for the first time pollution impacted their lives as the cement plant spewed ashes that blanketed the town. My dad remembers a gray hue to the lawns from the ash which actually had a beneficial impact for the farmers by eliminating many flying insect pests.

As my dad grew up with a recreational relationship with his environment. He and the boys would go out hunting for quail or rabbit, "strictly for entertainment, we never came back with anything." They didn't think about the ecology of the area as they'd dam up a creek to make a pool of water and remove the rocks to play on the sandy bottom. My fathers involvement with the landscape around him was more for pleasure not for subsistence or profit as had been his family's history. My dad had experienced the life of farming and didn't want anything to do with it. He remembers standing out in the field crying of loneliness. From there he decided to leave this lifestyle for a white collar job. In his work environment he receives greater monetary rewards with less time commitment. This has allowed him to save money and take time off to travel which farming never would have allowed him to do.

I've grown up surrounded by the white collar world of two parents with eight to five jobs, babysitters and TV for entertainment. But away form this insipid lifestyle comes benefits like school and travel. I have developed an appreciation for the environment and other cultures because I've had the opportunity to live with families in Central and South America, see natural treasures like toucans in the rain forest canopy and sea fans stretching form the sea floor. I've learned a second language which has allowed me to break through veneers as I choose to prepare Mexican traditional dishes and appreciate their tight family life. In the near future I would like to be a bilingual teacher and share with others how intricate and interesting the natural world is and promote conservation through opportunities in recycling, and sustainable agriculture.