Blogger Action Day 2011

Please help fight FAMINE throughout the world. Droughts and natural disasters have destroyed millions of acres of crops. Over 30,000 children in Africa alone have died in one month's time. We can do better as a planet of caring people. Can't we? Please visit www.one.org and lend your support!

New Zealand Oil Spill

Well, it has happened again, and in the sickening wake of our own Gulf Coast disaster. This time, the country of New Zealand and its once pristine Astrolabe Reef and Tauranga Harbour are the victims of a massive oil spill.  The spill was generated by a Liberia-flagged cargo ship (Greece owned) that ran aground on October 5. And this recent event reminds us of just how increasingly endangered our oceans and their inhabitants are when subjected to repeated infractions by oil carrying vessels.

It is heartbreaking to watch videos of rescue efforts and witness traumatized marine animals being fished out of oil slicked waters. It is even more heartbreaking to realize that these tragic images have become more and more frequent over the years.

Oil company executives, transportation moguls and government officials continue to reassure us that these types of environmental accidents will be curtailed. My question is ... WHEN?  The two adorable penguins in the above photograph are obviously unable to ask the same.

Whale Killer

Somewhere on the Atlantic seaboard there resides a whale killer. You know who you are. And if you have even a fraction of the heart that this poor Short-Finned Pilot Whale did … you will turn yourself into the proper authorities and make amends.

It is too late for this particular whale, a member of the Oceanic Dolphin Family. He died from starvation, for at least a month, while swimming aimlessly around the Atlantic Ocean, in agony, from a bullet wound to his body. Imagine you trying to do the same.

Animal cruelty is still pervasive in our society and in many others of the world. Human beings are not exempt from being humane. Our kindness defines our humanity.

Organizations such as the Humane Society do their best to educate, rescue and eliminate further atrocities. But they need donations and I nominate YOU, the unknown whale killer, to step forward and spend your precious time and money towards wiping out senseless acts such as the one you just committed. It’s a start and the right thing to do.

"No Place Like Home"

Sometimes our best travel moments take us no further than our own backyard. In my case ... my backyard is also a FAA licensed airport. Here we entertain small aircraft, helicopters and even the occasional hot air balloon. NOTE: If you crave adventure, the above balloon is actually for sale. Visit the link to our airport website.

Just when I think I will perish if I don't make it to Tuscany for an authentic cooking course in ravioli-making or the jungles of Africa for an adrenaline pumping encounter with a charging rhino, I step outside our small log cabin and view Mother Nature at her finest. Herds of deer, turkey and flocks of waterfowl foraging for food. And the sounds of a newly built airplane soaring off the runway for a test flight. It is a never ending symphony of flora, fauna and the rumble of aircraft engines or hot air balloons preparing for flight.

Dorothy figured out fairly early in the movie, The Wizard of Oz that life away from the farm is not always that much greener. It is something that I have also learned in my many travels. Sometimes, there really is NO place like home and this notion, in itself, is a truly comforting thought.

9/11

 

There are joyful travels that take us to every corner of our Earth and there are sorrowful ones that take us no further than the corridors of our heart. September 11, 2001 was that type of journey.

Ten years later it remains as vivid as the moment we shared its tragic unfolding ... and now, its memories. It is a journey that we must hope we never have to take again.