Forest McGee and The Magnificent Thing

Prologue

I was in the parking lot of a brand new, gleaming yellow, Dollar General. This store was carved out of the edge of a thick forest. I looked up at the looming storm clouds. I saw the most magnificent thing! An American Bald Eagle playing in a thermal wave. The brand new black rooftop of the Dollar General created a column of warmed air. Birds of Prey love to float in these thermal columns. I tried to capture a photo of this beautiful bird with my camera phone. No success. I leaned against the car and just watched, allowing the magnificence of the moment to sink into my soul.

When I was just a kid you never saw an eagle outside a book. I spent time in Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Missouri, and Mississippi, all those states and no eagle. Fifty years ago this majestic creature, our national symbol, was nearly wiped out by the use of a pesticide that promised “Miracle crop harvests and a mosquito free world” Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, DDT for short.

I left the parking lot, without going into the store. I didn’t want any human encounters to spoil this moment and erase the image I held in my head and heart of the eagle playing in the wind. I went straight home to find my story written long ago about eagles, a little boy, his two best friends and the magnificent thing they did in a cold spring back in 1972.

This is a story of a small village spurred to action by the power of children. Here above my head circled living evidence that a group of children wielding pens could change the world for the better with something as deceptively insignificant as a letter.

Forest and Friends

Forest was 7 and 3/4 years old and proud of it. His favorite activity was hanging out in the woods next to the family farm. Well, given such an important name, Forest felt a special duty to take care of the woods and all its critters.

Every morning for as long as Forest could remember, before he even ate breakfast, he walked into the woods took a deep breath and whispered hello to his tree friends and all the critters who were hiding here and there. Just as he turned to go home for breakfast each day he would spot a critter, carefully pick it up and put it in his special carry box.

The carry box was an upgraded lunch pail punctured with air holes so his critters could breath. He lined it with old soft socks. One side had a window of sorts. He had glued in a lens from one of his broken eye-glasses. Forest had a real talent for breaking his eye-glasses. Forest believed the critters would be happier if they could see-out. This way his friends could see in and he wouldn’t have to open the special carry box.

The box also had a long crossbody strap attached to it so he could carry the box hands free. He loved to bring a different critter to school every day to share with his two very best friends, Megan and Jarret. They loved the toads especially and the fire bellied salamander. Megan and Jarret were older, but hung out with Forest anyway. Forest knew more about the woods than most any one they ever meet.

Megan always insisted that Forest put the critters back exactly where he found them. "Its okay for them to take a little vacation--might even be exciting, they'd have something new to talk about--but how'd you like it if someone wrecked your house and took you away?" Jarret agreed with her. Forest got in the habit of keeping careful record in a special notebook with a special pen of each critter he found and exactly where he found it. He even glued a special pocket onto the carry -box to hold his notebook and pen.

One day Forest gave Megan a millipede--he said there were millions of them so she didn't have to worry about putting it right back. Megan's mom was not at all happy when Forest gave Megan a millipede to keep for her own. But Forest was so proud of his gift--what was she to do. Megan, Jarret and Forest made “Millie” a little house of her own.

A Magnificent Thing

One beautiful April Day, Forest was out in the woods with his two very best friends, Megan and Jarret when they came across the most magnificent thing way up high in the tree. “This magnificent thing needs investigating!” declared Megan.

The three of them determined it was best to climb the tree right next to it so they could get a better view. Megan proclaimed "Ladies First!" "Auhwaw, not fair" The two boys moaned in unison. Megan usually didn't go for such nonsense, but this time it was advantageous (she'd just learned that word-advantageous, meant to her benefit) She wanted to be the first to see what was in that magnificent thing and after all, the investigation was her idea.

On their way up this beautiful old oak tree, they came across a lovely grey tree frog, "How'd ya do-Mr. Frog. And how's Mrs. Frog?" inquired Forest so politely. "Hey no time Forest, no time we've got a long, long, long, long, longggggg way to go,” Megan cautioned him. So up and up they climbed.

"Hello, Billy Blue Jay, been beating up any body lately?" Teased Forest, ‘cause Jays could be really mean--but Billy was Forest’s buddy. "Forest, come on, we've still got a long, long, long, longggggg way to go!" So up and up they climbed.

"Forest, I know you love the critters but please, we'll never get up there if you stop and chat with every critter in the tree. We've still got a long, longggggg way to go!" So up and up Forest and his two best friends, Megan and Jarret climbed.

By this time Jarret had decided it was more fun to look for critters--they'd been climbing for a long, long, long, time and he was bored. "Hey Forest, over here--quick what's this?"

"Not you too," screamed Megan. Then with a loud “whoosh” Up out of the magnificent thing came the biggest bird they had ever seen--it flew straight at Megan. She screamed again. Forest climbed over as fast as he could. he'd pulled a dead branch off the tree and waved it around like he was crazy. Jarret thought this was a good idea so he did the same.

"Boy oh boy that was close!" Megan exclaimed.

Forest looked at Megan with hurt all over his face.

Megan put her hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry Forest, I know better than to scream in the woods--I won't do it again."

Forest nodded, but it was hard to choose between one of his two best friends and the critters he loved.

“What if I had to hurt the bird to save you? How could I do that” Forest was choking back tears.

“I know Forest, I’m sorry.” Megan said with all the seniority she could muster.

Forest nodded again, this must be what grown ups hate about being grown ups he thought—having to choose between things you love. He sighed, then went back to being 7 and 3/4s.

They climbed just a little more so they could finally see into the magnificent thing--Jarret was so disappointed, "It's just a dumb old nest"

Megan and Forest rolled their eyes.

"It's not just any nest Jarret. it's a Bald Eagle's nest! Look at all the tree trunks Mr. and Ms Eagle carried up here! I bet that thing ways a ton!” Megan mused.

“Well actually, they can weigh up to three tons,” remarked Forest.

"LOOK!" Forest exclaimed so excited he couldn't help making noise. “Eggs-two of them!”

“Not so boring now, eh?” Megan teased Jarret.

“Let’s promise to come to this tree every day and check on the eagles and their eggs. I promise to not scream and scare Mr and Mrs Eagle.” Meg proclaimed in her most official voice. Turning to Jarret she asked, “Jarret what do you promise?”

“I promise to bring the eagles a nice treat to eat from our pond!” said Jarret puffed up with pride at his idea.

Forest thought for a moment, what promise could he make to the eagles, “ I promise to…I promise to….” then it came to him, the biggest promise he could make, “I promise to stay focused and not chat to all my critter friends on the way up!” Megan knew this was a promise Forest could not keep, but she decided to let it be.

They did their secret promise handshake and climbed the long way down.

Eagle Watch

Every day after school they would meet at the bottom of the tree and climb the long, long, long, long, longgggg way to the top.--Jarret didn't always climb, sometimes he'd stand guard.

One very, rainy, and cold day, Forest stood and waited and waited and waited, but Megan and Jarret didn't come. So he proceeded to climb the long, long, long, long, longs way by himself. It took even longer than usual because Megan wasn't there to stop him from chatting with each critter he met along the way.

He finally reached the top. He looked over to the nest, and let out a scream that could be heard all the way to the farm house.

Forest's dad heard him, jumped off his tractor and ran into the woods. He knew about the eagle watch, and the eagle watching tree--it was all Forest could talk about at dinner, and bedtime, and in the morning. So he knew just where to run.

Forest was sitting in the top of the watching tree crying.

“Forest what in the dickens is wrong?” asked his Dad.

"Dad" cried Forest, “They're dead--the baby eagles are dead! Someone most of come and smashed the eggs, they are dead." Forest cried.

His dad climbed the long long long long longggg way up to Forest. Mr. McGee knew how much it hurt his son when one of his critters died. He knew this was really going to be hard on Forest. To tell the truth, he was sad.

He liked to hear how the mom eagle carefully turned the eggs so they'd stay nice and warm on all sides. He loved to hear how she would swoop from her perch and catch a fish out of Jarret’s family’s pond. He and Forest sat in the tree top nearly till dark.

Mrs. Eagle never came back that day to that magnificent nest. Mrs. Eagle actually never came back to that magnificent nest at all.

Mrs. McGee walked up to the watching tree quietly holding two blankets in her arms, “My loves it is time to come down.” She had a feeling something awful had happened when she saw the tractor in the middle of the field running with no Mr. McGee insight.

Down the long climb came Mr. McGee holding Forest in one arm. Mr McGee was strong enough to use the other arm to get them safely to the ground. Mrs. McGee wrapped Forest in the warm blanket and held him tight. Then she wrapped Mr. McGee in the other warm blanket and hugged him tight. He whispered in her ear, “Molly, the eggs were crushed.” She pulled them both close and they started walking home huddled together.

That cold April night Forest asked his father, "Dad? What do you think happened?"

Dad was the one who always explained things to him--later he would ask his mom what to do, cause she always figured out what to do in their family--Dad explained and Mom fixed, that's just the way it was.

Forest's dad had a tear in his voice--"Well son, I'm afraid it's partly my fault." Mr. McGee patted a book laying on the kitchen table. It was Rachel Carson's Silent Spring.

Forest looked up at his father in disbelief--his dad would never hurt any living creature.

“See son, we use to spray our crops with stuff, a chemical, called DDT. It made our vegetables look beautiful. It killed the bugs that would eat the crops, so we had more crops, and better looking crops--I didn't know it was hurting anything. But I just read in this book how chemicals get into the water in the pond, and then the chemicals get into the fish living in the pond. When the beautiful eagles ate the fish with the chemicals in them it hurt the eagles. The DDT hurt their eggs, made the shells too soft. When mother eagle sat on the eggs to keep them warm, she accidentally crushed her own babies.”

Forest looked at his dad who was now crying big huge tears--"I know you didn't mean to Daddy" and Forest hugged his dad.

The Letter

In the morning, before breakfast, before Forest went to his woods to say good morning, Mrs. McGee sat down to her little writing table, “Forest come here and help me write some letters.” Mr. McGee asked if he could help too—“Of course my love, of course!” Mrs. McGee cried for joy.

The three of them sat there all day and long long long into the night writing letters to people to let them know that this DDT stuff was bad for the eagles.

The next day Forest took a different morning walk. He carried the packet of letters down to the mailbox with great pride. He couldn't bring Mrs. Eagles babies back to her, but maybe he could help a little for the future.

Forest fell asleep at school that day, during Social Studies. He just couldn't keep his eyes open. His teacher Mrs. Grump woke him up with shake, "Young man, what were you doing up so late that you fall asleep in my class--playing those new fangled video games I suspect?" Forest shook his head no.

"Well Mrs. Grump, it's like this." and Forest told the whole story from start to finish, he even cried some when he told how bad his dad felt." When he was done he looked up at Ms Grump-"And that's why I was up so late Mom and Dad and I, we wrote letters to everyone we could think of to ask them to stop using that chemical DDT." “I see" said Mrs. Grump. She looked around the classroom and all the students were crying. “Class get out some paper, and a pencil please.”

The only noise in this normally noisy room full of 7 year olds was children sniffling from tears being held back and the rustle of papers emerging from deep inside their desks.

“Citizens of second grade please write the following. If you’d like to add a sentence of your own please do.” Mrs Grump wrote on the chalkboard.

Dear President,

Please, please help the farmers and factories understand that they are hurting the beautiful birds, and other animals that live near them. We know that most of the farmers don't mean to do bad things--but please help them find healthier ways to grow crops.

Sincerely your friend,

And sign your name

Several children drew eagles on their letters, others wrote please all around the margins. Forest’s letter was stained with tears.

Mrs. Grump put all the letters in a big envelop and wrote on it:

Mr. President

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC 20500

“Forest, will you do the honors of mailing our letters, I know we can’t bring Mrs. Eagle’s babies back, but maybe we can help for the future.”

Forest placed the big envelop with all the letters in his special carry-box. He asked if his two best friends Megan and Jarret could come with him. Mrs. Grump made a couple of calls on the intercom and the pair of friends were brought over to Forest’s classroom.

Forest briefed his friends and in his most official voice ever he asked. “Megan and Jarret, are you with me? Can you help me deliver these letters to the President” They nodded in affirmation, then locked arms. Forest, Megan and Jarret walked shoulder-to-shoulder, arm in arm from the school to the post office. The entire class walked behind them. Mrs Grump was at the end of the line. As they were leaving the classroom she grabbed the flag. She wasn’t sure why she did that, but it felt right to carry the flag on this mission.

As the parade of children and their teacher walked toward the post office someone started singing “America the Beautiful” and all the children joined in the song. People going about their day, stopped and watched. Something about this parade was scared and all the people the parade passed could feel it.

Forest handed the packet of letters to Mr Clark, the Postmaster. Mr. Clark was about to ask for the postage when he looked up and saw all the children and Mrs. Grump crammed into the little lobby. He then saw many of the folks from the village standing outside looking in at the children. “I see here, you want me to mail this to the President.” stated Mr Clark reading the address out loud.

“Yes, please.” replied Forest. Mr. Clark put the packet on the scale. “You got 5 ounces here, at 8 cents an ounce that will be .40 cents “

Mr. Clark reached into his pocket and pulled out a quarter, 1 dime and 5 pennies. “Well lookie-here, I happen to have that exact amount just laying in my pocket. Will you allow me to buy the stamps for your important letter to the President?”

Forest looked back at Mrs. Grump, who was dabbing her eyes with a tissue. She nodded her approval.

“Thank you Mr. Clark, Thank you for helping us save the eagles.” Forest, Megan and Jarret led the parade of children back to the school.

About a month later, Mr. Clark burst into Mrs. Grump’s classroom just after the pledge of allegiance was finished.

“Mrs Grump, excuse the interruption, but I’ve got important mail from The President of the United States addressed to you and the children!” exclaimed Mr. Clark nearly out of breath from running all the way from the post office.

The children erupted with joy and rushed to the front of the room.

“Back to your seats” barked Mrs. Grump, “My second graders know better than to be so impolite!” She beaconed Forest to come-up and asked him to stand under the flag. She sent Lisa next door to fetch Megan and Jarret for this important occasion.

Moments later Megan and Jarret joined Forest under the flag, and their entire class filed into Mrs. Grump’s room along with their teacher, the teacher’s aide and the principal. A letter from the President was not to be missed.

Forest opened the letter very carefully.

There were two photos in the large envelope. One was a signed photo of the President which Megan slowly walked around the room so all could see. Jarret walked around the other photo of a majestic Bald Eagle’s profile. Forest read the letter out loud with a little assist from Mrs. Grump.

Dear Citizen’s of Mrs. Grumps’s Second Grade,

Thank you for taking the time to write me with your concerns regarding our beloved national symbol, the American Bald Eagle. Like you, we had also become very concerned about the health of our national treasure. I would like for you all to know that as of December 31, 1972, the use of DDT will be banned for agricultural use in the United States.

With warm regards,

Sincerely,

Richard M. Nixon

Holding his friends tight, Forest called out, “Thank you everyone! Really Thank you!” Mr and Mrs. McGee walked in at the moment, the Principal had called them. Mr. McGee swooped his son up into his arms and whispered in his ear, “Forest, I am so proud of you!”

The Principal framed the photos and the letter and hung it in the trophy case by the front door of the school. Forest, Megan and Jarret went back to being just kids, that is until Jarret found a five legged frog in his pond! Mrs. Grump and Mrs. McGee started a citizens action club where they taught civic duty along with penmanship, and proper letter writing.

A Measure of Truth

DDT was first introduced as an insecticide to combat mosquito born illness. Farmers quickly discovered it also reduced other crop damaging insect populations and put it use to improve crop yields.

By 1963, because of widespread use of DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane), the Bald Eagle population was reduced to 417 mating pairs in the lower 48 states. The agricultural use of DDT was banned in 1972.

DDT had contaminated the groundwater, which contaminated the lakes, ponds and rivers, which then contaminated the fish. When birds of prey ate the fish, they became contaminated with DDT.

The DDT changed the composition of the bird’s egg shells. The egg shells became too soft to hold the weight of the parents and the eggs were often crushed. Happily, the eagle has made a magnificent comeback after 4 decades and was taken off the endangered species list in 2007. DDT, however is still used for its original purpose of combating mosquitoes carrying malaria. Therefor, DDT remains a threat to wildlife, especially birds of prey.

Recent scientific reports have stated there is an epigenetic factor in humans in relation to DDT exposure which occurred as many as three generations back. Our great-grandmothers’ exposure to DDT has shown increased incidences of reproductive issues, breast cancer, obesity, and coronary disease in the current generation.