Green Lake and its sister Round Lake, are a pair of unique bodies of water located in the aboriginal territory of the Onandoga nation. This writeup will concern itself with Green Lake, but much of this information carries over to its sister.
The final remnants of a plunge pool formed during the last ice age by a glacial waterfall at least twice the size of Niagara Falls; Green Lake is situated in a gorge and fed entirely by rain and groundwater. As a result, it is one of the few meromictic lakes on earth.
So, okay, in general terms, lakes do this:
For the warmer months water organizes into distinct layers, each circulating in their own way. The warmest water, being the least dense, sits at the top. This is where the phytoplankton hang out, producing oxygen and consuming nutrients. The coldest water, being the most dense, sits at the bottom. This is where nutrients tend to accumulate and oxygen gets depleted by animal life. As summer turns to winter the top layers get colder and the water mixes as stratification breaks down, the same happens as winter turns back to summer. This process helps more evenly distribute oxygen and nutrients.
Ok so Green Lake doesn't do this.
The bottom of the lake is totally devoid of oxygen, so no decomposition; whatever falls down there, stays down there. The water is also very high in mineral content, which leaves layers of calcite deposits on anything that isn't moving. Moreover there is a layer of bacterially active water around 18-20 meters down that makes the water purple at that specific depth. Thanks to photosynthetic bacteria that deposit some of the minerals in the water, Green Lake is home to one of the few existing freshwater reefs.
I just think its neat.
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As a reminder, please do not discuss current struggle sessions in the mega. We want this to be a little oasis for all of us and the best way to do that is not to feed into existing conflict on the site.
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question about SA
How am I supposed to react when someone tells me about them getting assaulted/harassed? Like to me that's a really terrible and scary thing, and a big deal, and I try to show as much empathy and care as my autistic ass can. But what really threw me was the last time someone told me, she really acted like it wasn't a big deal and it's happened before. Which I know it's not an uncommon experience for women, idk I'm just not sure how to react if they're downplaying it or how I'm supposed to react as a woman (or how women usually react to other women?)Tap for spoiler
It really depends what you mean by downplaying. If she showed a shocking level of desensitisation, then that can be quite expected. The human mind deals with trauma by adjusting its baseline. In this case, show empathy as you would.
If she is downplaying in the sense that she won't stand up for herself (ex - coworker harassed/assaulted but she won't report), then that becomes a complicated situation. The right thing to do would be to report, but there can be many reasons that she feels unsafe or pressured not to, and the decision can be difficult. If you show a supportive attitude then this can help tilt things if she feels like she has an ally.
Of course you can do that in the first case as well.
(In a concrete sense being an ally can be something like telling her she can ask for help and support in reporting such incidences)
discussion of sexual assault and survivorship
So, first off, if a woman is opening up to you about her experience with SA it might be because she sees you as one of the girls, one of the gays, or both. Regardless, she sees you as someone worthy of some degree of trust. This reflects positively on you.You cant really directly counteract someone downplaying their experience with SA. However, affirming statements about how the survivor didnt deserve it and/or what happened was still horrible can be very powerful in moments like these. If you feel like you can be supportive of them, it would be a good idea to let the survivor know that you can be there for them when they need it. Opening up and coming to terms with surviving a sexual assault can be a long process.
I have some experience with being on both sides of this, and the bottom line is that the best things you can do are to listen, care, and ask them what they need of you.
SA
Depending on what exactly we're talking about, that's sorta how I feel about it too if there wasn't concern about it escalating? At least when its comes to how I'm treated.
SA
You know, I guess you got read as a woman there because yeah its a common thing and a lot of women kind of... hold back talking about it or mentioning it or whatever or sanitize the worse to men. If you got full force real story... welcome to the sisterhood, I guess.Be empathetic for sure and tell her what happened was wrong but you dont have to press it beyond empathy and saying it was an injustice. It is shocking and it is wrong and you are right to say that and feel it. She just might be in a different place than you in her experiences on it.