The reading we had by Henderson entitled Letter from the Dustbowl was very emotional and interesting to read. I have never read something from someone living during that time and had only learned about the Dustbowl from an educational perspective. Reading about her hesitance to leave gave a good insight to the love and need for the land that the farmers possessed. She explained that they were "trying to rescue [their] home." Her writing about the transition from the green, lush land to the desolate dirt was heart breaking. I cannot imagine the experience of seeing this process occur on your own land. She further writes about a neighbor who tried to seal their windows but "no method...is effective to keeping dust out." The impact from the overuse of the land caused the earth to dry out. The cause of this occurrence was due to the people's impact of not rotating crops; they overused the nutrients and essentially killed the dirt. Now we know that each year the crops must be changed, this is why we see corn one year and soybeans the next. The different plants absorb different nutrients from the earth. This got me thinking a lot about our daily use of the land. Today, we are more educated on the correct farm practices and how to utilize the land in a maximum manner. I’m not sure if this is caring for the land, as much as it is for our own personal profits. Henderson states “perhaps if we do our part [trees, birds and flowers] will return someday.” Even in present day we know that we need to do our part to protect the environment. There is a constant craving for profit, and over use of the earth. With the dust bowl, there was a something physical, the dirt, to have a reaction to. It was coming inside the houses and causing devastation throughout the entire region. With our overuse of the land today, there is not something immediate and physical to witness the repercussions of our actions. Human beings need to realize that their actions are going to affect the future, especially with using the earth at our disposal. The reading of this letter made me think about how much the earth needs to be catered to in order for its own survival. The earth must survive first, in order for us to live in harmony with it.