My admiration for nature and the folks who are leading us.
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Greetings GreenWave contributors. My name is Ray Altemose. I live 30 minute north East of Craig Patton. Hello neighbor Craig. Hope to meet you soon. So my story is I come from a family of farmers who had professional careers as musicians pre-move to Connecticut. We moved right into the original farm house in Norwalk , which was built 1667. And while commuting to Stamford for work at Barnes engineering my dad incorporated his little labor force of children, into the production of a small garden. About a half an acre. Who would have thought that his influence on me would have been farming? We had more fun than he knows when his back was turned while we were shoveling fresh manure for mothers day. As the manure arrived in ball form primarily, I decide to throw a chunk at my older brother. Needless to say the menure did get distributed, just not where our dad wanted it. In short we answered to that debacle and placed the rest where dad intended. And so my career as of now is to assist surgeons conduct surgeries. It's a wonderful and rewarding career . I get to hang out with super sick people and get to cheer them up right before we correct what ails them. As well I hang out with super smart people.
What brings me to GreenWave is my concern for our oceans and its aquatic residents. I am one of many who were friends with the Sound keeper from Ct., Terry Backer. Mr. Backer started the farm at Stratford where for $30 dollars you could rent a piece of property from the town and have a hand ot gardening. There were just a few renters then, but the stipulation was that we give back 10% of our yield to the less fortunate. It made us feel like, we contributed to our community. And during gnome conversation with Mr. Backer I learned that the Sound , in the area of orwalk and farther South , was experiencing low oxygen in the salt water. This disturbed both of us as we discussed why. Without oxygen our fish were not migrating down because the could not survive.
That was the start of my interest in the ocean and its survival from being destroyed. My family and I have had so much fun in the past, while vacationing to the tropics and Hawaii. I once held the canoes while my wife and kids swam with a pod of dolphins in the wild at Kaolokokooa Bay at the big Island. It was a dream come true for all of us. My children love aquatic life and animals as well. Soon my wife and myself will retire and we want to give back to mother nature for allowing us to absorb a fraction that she offers and Gree Wave seems a place to get started. My hopes is to transfer on to future ocean farmes to pay it forward. Thank you Lindsay Olsen, Kendall Barberry, Bren Smith and Sam Gerwin for heading up this program. With admiration,
Ray Altemose.
