Monday, July 21, 2008

The Shift

The Shift is happening are you involved? If things are going to change won't you decide how?

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Terns



A friend asked me if I had done anything special this summer. I had to think... no, no trips, no vacations, no big events. I felt depressed, somehow underprivileged, as if I was missing out on summertime while everyone else tubed down mountain streams, ate melons at family reunions, and traveled abroad. So I asked Robert and Meredith to go with me Wednesday evening to the beach around 5pm. That way we'd only have to pay for an hour on the meter. We went to the last beach access before Shell Island resort and walked to the end of the beach. There are old wooden steps there and a little copper mailbox with a notebook inside for people to leave their musings. Also right now, there is a cordoned off area for nesting birds. We had the most magical evening. I kept noticing the sweetest, wee little webbed bird prints. I've never seen any like them. I asked Robert what they were and he wasn't sure, and then DUH! we realized they were made by wandering baby Least terns! They ran out from under the white ropes and huddled in deep human footprints waiting for their parents who must have been off fishing. Some perched on sand hillocks peeping for food, their fluffy down glowed gold with the sun set behind them. We walked around to the sound side and lazed in the crystal clear shallows like manatees watching the tides rush in. We splashed and rough housed, tossing Meredith and chasing each other. When we settled down and laid in the water on our stomachs with only our noses out, we were still enough that birds all hanging out on the sand, forgot about us and came very close. We had oyster catchers mere feet away from us feeding their young. I had hoped to go tonight and take my own photos but the rain interrupted. The above photograph came from here.
So did I do anything special this summer? well, now that you mention it.....

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Offshore Drilling Nightmare


The following was an email forwarded to me by a friend of Kitty Mitchell of the band Molasses Creek who live on Ocracoke Island part of our NC outer banks. It is a beautiful, quaint island that strives to maintain its sleepy, small fishing village lifestyle:

"My newest painting is a post card to Senators Dole & Burr, and also to Congressman Walter Jones, and to Mr. McCrory. Three cheers to Bev Perdue who is the ONLY candidate so far that has refused to endorse off shore drilling.

This will not be good for our economy. We have a thriving tourist and
fishing industry that does not need to invest our resources in old polluting
technologies when we are so capable of doing better for ourselves, our
children and our planet. We have more wind than oil, it's ours and it can't
be shipped to China.

Feel free to use this image to save our coast, I only ask for artistic
credit."