Cape Karen
Photo: Henry Ford designed his Model A to run on ethanol in the 1930's. (Seems he was way ahead of his time.)
A old movement is afoot; a movement to turn our midwestern corn fields into fuel-producing factories. If you look around states like WI, MN, and IA, you will find that they all have lofty plans in the works for using what President Bush says is "the best resource available" to produce an atmosphere-friendly fuel . . . CORN! (As a Kellogg, with the nickname, "Cornflake," my ears perked right up!)
When the President and his cronies begin to invest millions into Iowa cornfields, then I'll believe it; in reality, they're more likely to be investing in coal than corn, because it's going to take a whole lot of coal to turn those corn stalks into ethanol.
Wet method or dry method? That is the question. And, how to transport the ethanol to the eastern states? Ethanol, unlike MTBE and MTBE-blended gasoline, can't be transported by pipeline. It has to be moved and stored separately from the base gasoline mixture to which it is added just before delivery to retail stations. This is a a huge change for an industry that has long relied on pipelines to supplement local gasoline production and imports. (Can you say, "big price increases?")
Also, in order to produce this 'clean air' fuel, they'll have to burn tons of coal. . . which, of course, will pollute the air. That makes a lotta sense to me! Use dirty fossil fuel to make clean plant fuel. "They'll figure out a way to force that acidic, CO2 and methane-producing coal residue right back into the earth," says he. Well. . . there goes the well!
And, remember last September after Katrina? "Brownie, you're doing one heck of a great job here!" So, when my President tells me that plant-based ethanol is going to solve our dirty air problems, beef-up the economy, and ultimately benefit all mankind. . . of course I believe him. (Don't you?)
According to those who study such matters, it will take a lot more energy to produce the ethanol than the energy ethanol will produce. ( "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?") Same thing.
"David Pimental, a leading Cornell University agricultural expert, has calculated that powering the average U.S. automobile for one year on ethanol (85% blend) derived from corn would require 11 acres of farmland, the same space needed to grow a year's supply of food for seven people. Adding up the energy costs of corn production and its conversion into ethanol, 131,000 BTUs are needed to make one gallon of ethanol. One gallon of ethanol has an energy value of only 77,000 BTUS. Thus, 70 percent more energy is required to produce ethanol than the energy that actually is in it. Every time you make one gallon of ethanol, there is a net energy loss of 54,000 BTUs."
If they do start pumping-up the pumps with 85% ethanol, instead of the puny 10% blend that's now widely available, we'll all want to trade-in our beloved, fossil-fuel-gorging SUV's for these new, pricey FFV's (flexible fuel vehicles...sometimes called AFV's... alternative fuel vehicles) The car manufacturer's are already shivering with excitement as these new, higher-grade, ethanol blended fuels catch on. "Refueling with P-Series is as quick and familiar as with gasoline, but P-Series fuel is not gasoline and cannot be used in a regular gasoline car."
Perhaps you already own one of these vehicles that run on 'organic' fuel? If so, it sounds like you are ahead of the times. . . and probably well-heeled. Our local trolley's, that travel from town-to-town here in the Great Smoggy Mountains, are AFV's now - electric-run vehicles. Too bad 99% of all the other 15 million visitors are still arriving driving those "old-fashioned" gas guzzling, CO2 spewing vehicles. (Cough-cough.. . a-choo!)
To read more about it you can click on these links:
http://www.iags.org/pseries.htm
http://www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/vbg/
It all sounds soooo good ~ clean-air fuel! But. . . I know your daddy told you, like my daddy told me, that if it sounds too good to be true. . . then it probably is ~ so, you'd better keep your "ear" to the ground on this one. The sudden 'rush to produce' came mostly after the State of the Union Address~ and that scares me right down to my toenails. I can just picture all those outstretched palms and 'pats on the back' up there on the Hill after the big speech. (Sorry - but these days, it seems being cynical and/or skeptical, about anything that comes out of Washington, is simply necessary for our mere survival.. . . and that's really sad!) I would love to see us all driving environmentally-friendly vehicles, but when D.C. gets into the game, well, it makes me a little nervous about the future costs of these new alternative fuels.
Those in the Billionaire's Club, Bill Gates included, are investing in corn-based and other plant-based alternative fuel productions~ so, if you're not a billionaire but you want "in" on these futuristic fuels, you might want to find some land and start growing a few acres of corn. Then, if you're so inclined, you can make your own ethanol fuel right at home! Ethanol stills, with all the necessary hoses and other equipment included in the 'kit,' are now being sold on the web. . . (I'm not telling where.)
Just don't drink the damn stuff - it'll kill you dead.
As for me, I'll have to stick with having a delicious corn dog at the Minnesota State Fair, when I can get there. That is. . . if there's any corn left for something as silly as food production.
It's that time of year when the light becomes more intense, the hummingbirds start to return from their winter sojourns and the trees begin to bud and bloom. The robins are everywhere this year, listening with their heads cocked, hoping to find those yummy worms beneath the ground. April school vacation week is coming, Easter is around the corner, and before you know it the kids will be off for the entire summer.
O' gawd - it's time for Spring cleaning, and digging out again!
No, not just the garden beds or the mulch piles - but the closets, the drawers and those other little storage areas, like under the bed and, if you have one ~ the basement or the garage ~ where everything seems to find its way sooner or later. We have become a nation of hoarders and pack-rats. All those 'for sale' items, we just couldn't live without, have taken over our lives. And, a whole new industry has sprung-up and is flourishing ~ thanks to our unending passion for, and inabilty to let go of. . . everything. http://www.napo.net
For me, this year, it's all that wool I bought to cut-up and use in hooked rugs ~ that is, until I got carpal tunnel in my hooking hand from overdoing it. Now, I am looking at the 1,000 pounds of as-is and hand-dyed wool, stacked floor to ceiling everywhere, and saying to myself, "What was I thinking? Ten hookers couldn't possibly use all this wool in one lifetime. . . carpal tunnel or not!" And that's just one item that's cluttering my life. What to do with all those books and magazines I've read and re-read? They're just sitting here filling up my bookshelves, cluttering my tabletops and gathering dust. And paper - lots and lots of paper; and clothing I will never, ever wear again ~ too nice for donation, but not nice enough to consign.
What to do, what to do?
Funny thing is, Frank has more clothing than I do; and the large bedroom walk-in closet is filled to overflowing with HIS stuff. In his mind, to throw a single thing away, or even to give it to Goodwill, is nothing less than a cardinal sin. He bought it - therefore it is HIS - and it STAYS. Do not touch! He's a man who grew up on a farm, way out in the middle of nowhere. He came from humble beginnings, and a life spent stocking up and hunkering down for those long, cold MN winters. . . . "You betcha" - a lifelong pack-rat was born!
Frank is (was?) an outdoorsman; a fisherman, hunter, woodworker and avid golfer. Those "hobbies" come with lots of STUFF. When I met him he came, with many boxes, into my life. Boxes he lugged from MN to IA, from IA to VA, from VA to TN. Now, all those boxes ~ that contain photos of his past, receipts for every item he has ever purchased in the last 30 years, notebooks, notebooks and more notebooks from 40 years of working in sales, 10 big, leather-cased guns, boxes and boxes of bullets, lots of bulky, bright orange hunting gear, fishing poles, tackle boxes, bait cans, three (?) pairs of long, green rubber wading boots (taller than I am,) some really ugly, plaid flannel shirts, padded, multi-pocketed khaki vests, hundreds of hunting and golfing caps, 3 sets of leather-bagged golf clubs, bunches of mesh bags filled with "free found" golf balls, gathered from every golf course in the U.S. And I haven't even mentioned the huge mass of clothing he actually wears! All that stuff is stuffed into our nice, big walk-in closet. . . the one that we can't walk into.
I have my stuff and he has his. Between us, the house is bulging at the seams. And, did I say that we have two outdoor storage sheds? One is now being used as a woodworking shop. Tablesaws, hand saws, drills, wood planks, measuring tools, big clunky metal clamps, wood glues, stains, and paint fill it to the rafters. That means "my" storage shed (built as a craft room - pffffffftttt!) now houses the lawnmower, the weed-whacker, the fertilizer, the grass seed, the bug sprays, the weed killer, the flower pots, broken lamps, crafts started and stopped, lots of unused Christmas decorations, and, of course, all those 'must-keep,' valuable items that fill the 20 cartons of my life.
I can't even step inside to try and dig it out. (I tried last year, and almost killed myself stumbling over the all the multi-bladed machinery.) So, it's that time of year, again; time to hire a professional organizer and a big truck, driven by at least two, large muscle-bound men. . . or, maybe, just having a nice bonfire would do the trick?
This year, I'm going to get organized ~ Frank or no Frank!
It's a topic no one wants to even think about. We want to pretend is isn't really happening. We want to think that Katrina, Wilma and Rita were just last year's temporary weather 'flukes.' But, judging by the insurer's of property along the coastlines in this country, even they know better. They're now raising their rates by as much as 75%, and some are even refusing to offer any insurance at all to homeowners living in coastal communities. We really do wish that people would stop talking about it, and that it would just go away. But, according to ALL the leading scientists around the world, I'm afraid (literally) that it's here to stay.
Global warming is real. It is happening. But, they also say that it's not too late to reduce it's effects. . .yet.
If we, as part of the global community, don't act quickly . . .then it could be 'too little, too late,' and that's why I've decided to become an active participant, and do whatever I can to keep this topic at the forefront of current conversations in D.C. and elsewhere. After all, let's face it, we have a President who has buried his head in the sand regarding environmental issues ~ and he's dug his head in especially deep on this particular topic. Because of his lack of leadership in the matter of our planet's health, and his refusal to believe what the scientists have discovered about new and alarming climate changes, he still stubbornly insists that this global warming "trend" is just natural. (Of course, to believe otherwise would threaten future oil production, and we all know how important that is.) With this kind of leadership in place, we remain the ONLY polluting country in the free world that is not doing anything at a high government level about this burgeoning threat.
Not only does our fearless leader want to ignore the real threats posed by this topic - he wants others to shut the hell up about it, too:
"The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has tried to stop him from speaking out about global warming ever since he gave a lecture in Iowa in January 2004, calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases. The scientist, James E. Hansen, longtime director of the agency's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said in an interview that officials at NASA headquarters had ordered the public affairs staff to 'review' his coming lectures, papers, postings on the Goddard Web site and any requests for interviews from journalists. "They feel their job is to be the censor of information going out to the public," Dr. Hansen said. (He also said he would ignore the imposed restrictions.)
Although we can't fight global warming with tanks and bombs, it's a far more dangerous threat to our well-being than a terrorist attack ~ because it will affect everything. . . everywhere. . . forever. And, we're on our own, folks! It's up to us as concerned citizens to keep the pressure on. . . to refuse to 'shut the hell up' and ignore it.
From all I've read about it lately, it looks as if we'd better stop a lot of what we're doing to perpetuate the problem immediately. It sounds as if we'd better quickly find permanent new ways to fuel our automobiles and to power our factories across the globe. It sounds like the EPA needs to stop allowing the lobbyist's to pay them off, thereby allowing big businesses to continue spewing carbon dioxide, fossil fuels and other ozone depleting toxins into our atmosphere until 2010. Otherwise, according to the scientists - (not just some 'doomsday' predictions of Nostradamus) - the strange weather we have been witnessing over the last few years is going to become more commonplace ~ and it will get worse. From floods to famines - storms to starvation, that's what's in our children's future (and possibly our own) if nothing is done, promptly, to try and reverse it.
I don't mean to sound like an "alarmist", but how else can I speak of a matter that's already affecting life on this planet in such a dramatic and negative way? The effects of increased, human-enhanced global warming are already impacting the lives of many of our brothers and sisters across the sea, not to mention endangered animal species throughout the world. The ocean has already wiped-out entire communities . . . not viá earthquake-driven tsunami's, or big hurricanes, but by the recent rising ocean levels, worldwide, that have permanently eroded entire coastlines. Forest fires have increased globally, the Greenland ice cap is melting for the first time in 5,000 years, the Arctic is having longer summers, etc. The signs are everywhere, and we need to pay close attention to them.
Nope - I don't want to emulate Mr. Bush and stubbornly pretend it isn't happening, or self-righteously insist that it's just a 'natural' event. I don't want to think that I did nothing to try to urge my government to wake up. I don't want to remain ignorant and unaware. As scary as it is, I want to stay abreast of all that is happening (or not) in regard to this pivotal environmental issue. You see, I believe that the "power of one" is real, and that my voice does matter. Obviously, there is no quick fix for these environmental problems, and that's why we must all demand that our government take some immediate, preventative actions.
First of all, the U.S. needs to re-join the Kyoto Protocol. I'm down-right embarrassed, and even ashamed as an American, that we are the only super-power that copped-out, by withdrawing in 2001 from these important discussions. (And, I'll bet most American's don't even know what the Kyoto Protocol is all about. . . if that includes you ~ please, Google it today and educate yourself.)
Yup. . . it's better late, than never. . . to start giving a damn. So, I've joined the march and I've added my little voice to all the big voices here:
http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/marchers/featured.asp
Please, won't you join the virtual "March on Washington" with me. . . your voice, your statement, your blog or website 'banner,' really do matter ~
Thanks!
I can't believe they did it again. Talk about sneaky, under-handed legislation! Senator Ted Stevens, (R-Alaska,) who has fought to pass oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for 25 years, added new "sweeteners" to the defense spending bill this weekend to win over lawmakers from Gulf Coast states affected by the recent hurricanes.
(It did 'win over' Senator Mary Landrieu, (D-LA) who was the only Democrat to vote "Yes" on the bill.) " The levees will be paid for when we drill in ANWR," Stevens said.
And, this is our democratic process at work?!
For those of us who live far-removed from the state of Alaska, and that's most of us, this bill might seem like an insignificant matter. But, make no mistake about it, if this goes to House approval, and it looks like it could, we'll all pay the environmental price. . .for generations to come.
I'm talking about oil-drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge again; and I'll keep talking about it, because it really encapsulates what I think is fundamentally wrong in our country today. We are losing our democratic rights. We are fast beoming mere subjects in a theocracy. The fact that the 'big push' for oil drilling in the Arctic is being continually and secretly attached to other legislation, instead of being put to an open and honest vote, that reflects the true wishes of the majority of Americans, speaks volumes about how far off-track the ideals of democracy have gotten. And, this time, in spite of the vigorous protests of environmental groups, the newly-written, "deal-based" defense spending bill, has passed!
"Republican leaders brokered a deal Sunday promising to send billions of dollars of revenue from oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to states affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. (o' yeah, right ~ promises. . .promises. . .) As part of a last-ditch effort to pass the controversial drilling plan, this new strategy of attaching oil drilling to the defense bill has put many lawmakers who oppose drilling in a bind: If they reject the bill, they could be seen as casting a vote against the troops, or Hurricane Katrina victims. Sen. John McCain, (R-Ariz.,) who has opposed drilling in the past, said he would be forced to ultimately vote for the bill, even if it opens up the Alaskan Refuge."
Of course everyone wants the Gulf states to recover ~ and no one wants to short-change our brave troops; therefore, to vote "No" on the new defense spending bill would 'seem' to be so very, well. . . un-American ~ at least to those who are "buying into" the promise of future financial gain. Those in the Senate who were against Arctic drilling, but have now changed their votes, would like us to see them as being held hostage to this new billion-dollar defense spending bill. In reality, I think they are just weary of fighting Big Oil, and that the "carrot" of promised financial rewards was more than they could resist. Money talks! So, no thanks to the likes of Sen. John McCain and Sen. Mary Landrieu, who changed their votes ~ it passed in the Senate by 2 votes! (51-49)
Senator Stevens from Alaska figured-out just how to go about it didn't he? Touché!
Now, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge could soon become an industrialized oil production complex. The coastal plain of the Refuge contains many unique bird habitats, and is critical to the survival of the porcupine caribou herd. While proponents of opening the Refuge to drilling argue that only 2,000 acres of the Refuge’s “1002 Area” would be affected, the industrial oil complex will require a sprawling matrix of roads, pipelines, drilling pads, processing plants, gravel mines, and airports. . . ad nauseum. . . .
President Bush, and others with their eyes glued to the Almighty green-back, want oil drilling ~ anywhere, anytime, for any reason they can think up ~ so, they bribe our elected leaders who are against it to give in ~ by linking ANWR oil drilling to empty promises of easing human suffering! Have they no shame?
We all know that drilling there will lead to oil spills and other environmental devastation. The pipeline is leaking all the time. Look at what happened just two weeks ago:
"On March 2, 2006 an oil operator discovered signs of an oil spill at a caribou crossing on the snow-covered tundra of Alaska’s North Slope. Clean-up crews have already vacuumed up more than 50,000 gallons of crude oil and melted snow off the delicate tundra, but at least one industry expert has received reports from the site that as much as 290,000 gallons are still unaccounted for, possibly making this the largest crude oil spill in the history of the North Slope, and second in Alaska only to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Alaskan state officials said that the crude oil was found leaking out of a pipeline in an oil field jointly owned by ExxonMobil, BP and ConocoPhillips. (Bush and Cheney are both heavily 'invested' in those companies.) "By the time the oil leak was discovered, it had already blanketed over two acres of tundra near Prudhoe Bay - just a short distance from where President Bush has proposed opening up ANWR to drilling."
President Bush claims that the oil and gas industry can open up ANWR without damaging the environment or displacing any wildlife. But the native Gwich'in Nation, whose 7,000 members have lived in Alaska for more than 20,000 years, say President Bush is wrong: "Existing oil development has already displaced caribou, polluted our air and water and created havoc with the traditional lifestyles of the people," said Jonathan Solomon, chairman of the Gwich'in Steering Committee, in a May 7, 2005, interview. "No one can tell us that opening the Arctic Refuge to development can be done in an environmentally sensitive way, with a small, harmless footprint. It cannot be done."
We already know, from various studies, that oil drilling in Alaska won't create even a small decrease in our foreign oil dependancy ~ nor will it save us more than 5¢ a year in gasoline prices at the pumps; but, good ol' Mr. Bush and pro-drilling Senators, like Ted Stevens, are not past using every slippery-slimey tactic they can think of. . . to get their own way.
I wonder what they'll do when we start using CORN as our fuel/energy source?
(Watch out, Iowa!)
So, in short order, we might have to kiss that beautiful piece of pristine geography, in the sun-baked Alaskan wilderness, goodbye. If global warming doesn't get it. . . our legislature will. And if we don't contact our Senators and Representatives, and let them know that we're watching their votes. . . the next couple of weeks could turn the big boy's dreams into reality. The day the bill passes will be the same day that Bush will order Alaskan oil rigs to be hoisted. You can bet there won't be any waiting around for seven months to see some action take place in the new Alaskan oil fields ~ no sirree!
To quote Wimp-of-the-Year, Senator John McCain: ". . .our system is broken."
And you sure didn't help fix our broken system, Mr. McCain, by changing your vote. Perhaps you've been promised some of those lucrative oil-drilling profits? Or, maybe someone greased your palm for that "Yes" vote?
O' well - it's not over yet ~ there's still a chance for some good news in the next few weeks. Four Republican Senators bucked the party and dared to vote No ~ and they are:
Senator Michael DeWine (OH)
Senator Lincoln Chafee (RI)
Senator Susan Collins (ME)
Senator Norm Coleman (MN)
("Oh, Senator Coleman . . . Senator Stevens is on the phone. . .something about sending his private jet, and taking you and the wife to dinner in Anchorage?")
If you'd like to see how your state Senators voted, and maybe send a letter of protest or gratitude to them ~ just click on this link:
http://www.nrdcactionfund.org
The daffodils are up and smiling, the grass is green and the trees are budding. Seems that spring has arrived early this year in TN. (Heard that balmy MN just had 6"-10" of snow this week, finally. ) It's a little chilly here today, in the 50's again after a couple of weeks in the 70's and 80's. This 'cold snap' today follows some strong thunderstorms that skirted our area last night, spawning deadly tornadoes in the middle of the country, when some cold air met some warm air. Kansas, Missouri and Illinois got hit hard. I'm glad we don't live in "Tornado Alley."
Luckily, we seem to live in an area that 'just misses' most of the worst weather that occurs in the U.S. (cross my fingers ~ zip my lips~) The Smoky Mountains seem to stop a lot of the bad weather from reaching down into this valley, and we've yet to have a tornado come through here. Nashville got hit a few years ago, but, so far, not East TN.
That is one storm I never want to see up close and personal. Even the hardiest brick-built structures are no match for those whirlwinds of destruction, and our double-wide, manufactured home would be a death-trap for sure. With no basement, and no windowless interior rooms to 'hunker-down' into, we'd have to go lie down in a ditch somewhere if a tornado were to reach this valley.
So, we don't get big snowstorms, we don't get hurricanes or floods, and we don't get tornadoes. We do get scary, loud thunderstorms, with big lightening and lots of rain, on occasion; but that's about the worst of it.
I always enjoyed those good 'ol Nor'easters off the Atlantic ocean, and even the few hurricanes that erupted on the Cape, in my lifetime. But, these days ~ nah ~ I'll skip the new, big hurricanes. (They're already forming off the coast of Africa. It seems they're coming earlier each year, and getting stronger and stronger with the increasingly warm ocean waters beneath them.)
And, well, well ~ finally, seven months later, they are starting to re-build in the Gulf states. President Bush says the new levees will be. . . "all done by June." (I-don't-think-so. . .) And, even if they are completed by June, I'll bet you they won't hold up. The 'big rush' to get them built is forcing them to be built much too quickly, and without the structural soundness they'll need to withstand category 5 storms. (The engineers are saying they won't even hold up to a category 3 hurricane.) It's kinda like putting a bandaid on a broken leg; and, they're being done so quickly to help boost poll ratings for ~ 'you-know-who.'
I guess we'll just have to hope the hurricanes don't make it into the Gulf this coming season.
As for me, I'll stay right here, for now - it doesn't look like there are many places left in the U.S. that can still escape huge snowstorms, raging wildfires, deadly hurricanes, massive floods or devastating tornados. (Who knew The Weather Channel would ever be up for an Emmy Award? )
And, besides, if the bird flu arrives on U.S. soil ~ and mutates to humans ~ we won't have to worry about storms anymore, anyway. . . .
Now, after all those cheery thoughts, I think I'll go prepare my New England boiled dinner . . .and have some green beer.
Happy St. Patrick's Day ~ Happy Spring!
Okay, so I need to 'get a life' ~ I know that. . . but, since I can't travel too far, being unable to fly because of a previously ruptured eardrum, I'll have to be content living vicariously through the Travel Channel, the Discovery channel, Animal Planet, and the History Channel. It's the only way I can now "visit" far-away places around the world.
This week, I discovered, viá The Animal Planet, a wonderful organization that I had never heard of before ~ the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust; an organization in Africa that rescues baby elephants who have been abandoned and/or injured and left to die. Some babies are the abandoned victims of poachers ~ who kill the adult family elephants for their ivory tusks and teeth and sell them on the black market. Some have been left behind due to an injury; they had to be abandoned by their family herd, who sadly had to move on in order to survive the always lurking poachers, or to seek necessary food and water.
To see all the baby elephants being cared for and loved back to health was awe-inspiring. Their "Keepers" become their surrogate parents; first by giving them necessary injections to rehydrate them and protect them from viruses, then they tend to them by feeding them their much-needed milk in huge baby bottles, and they will even sleep beside them until they are well-past the trauma of being abandoned and/or injured.
The new arrivals are always greeted with great love and concern by the other rescued elephants in residence, who will approach them and wrap their trunks all around them, as if to say: "We are here for you, too." Elephants have emotions much like humans, and when these other elephants surround the newcomers it's often the happy turning-point of a difficult recovery.
They say that elephants never forget, and from what these folks have observed - that's really true! Even after they have been re-released into the wild, to continue living as elephants should and must live, they often return to the park compound to visit. Sometimes they return with ther own babies in tow ~ to show them off. Sometimes they return when they are newly pregnant; it seems they to want their former keepers to know they are "expecting." It's just remarkable. 
So, anyway, I'm now a smitten-kitten and I have "adopted" a baby elephant at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. It only requires a minimal donation of $50.00 a year to sponsor one of them, and the trust makes sure that the funds go to the care of the abandoned baby elephants, and to nothing else. I have looked over the list of available babies who need sponsors, I have read the story of how each one came to be rescued, and I have chosen to foster baby elephant, "Lualeni."
Here's part of her story:
"She was seen sleeping under the shade of a tree, all alone, in Hilton Hotels
Taita Hills Sanctuary, with no other elephants nearby. Since she was
only about 4 months old, she was obviously an orphan doomed to die, with no
chance of survival without her mother’s milk, in a wild situation.
Our Elephant Keepers and Mobile Veterinary Unit were mobilized, and little
Lualeni was rescued in the evening of Saturday 27th November, without a
struggle, simply happy to be offered rehydration and a bottle of milk. She
was loaded into the back of the Trust’s pickup and was taken to the Voi
Stockades for the night, since it was too late to fly her to the Nursery.
At the Stockades, she was immediately welcomed by the older
orphans, Icholta and Natumi, who became her 'little mothers' for the night.
And so, little Lualeni spent the night cosseted by the older group, and was
flown to the Nairobi Nursery the following day, arriving at lunch time. She
seemed to show no resistence from the onset, and was happy to take milk from
a bottle, following the Keepers as she would her mother. However, she
was very tired, and slept a lot that first day and night. The next morning,
the eight Nursery elephants came in a group to meet her, and immediately
Sunyei decided that this was going to be her special baby.
However, despite the best efforts from all the other orphans, it took Lualeni
many months to begin to play and become a happy elephant again. In fact,
she was dull for so long we worried that she was slightly brain-damaged.
The transformation came overnight about four months after her rescue.
She suddenly began to have a bounce in her step and began to play and mix
normally with the others. Finally, she seemed able to move past the horrendous
circumstances and trauma of becoming an orphan."
(Her parents were killed right in front of her, by poachers who shot them.)
Somehow, I could relate to little Lualeni ~ the part where ". . .she was dull for so long," and so I decided this would be 'my' foster baby elephant. (and, such a pretty name, too!)
If you would like to read more about the wonderful work being done at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, or if you'd like to foster a baby elephant, please go to:
http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org
Now that I have entered my 60th decade of life, I have been thinking about all the things I could have done ~ had I known then, what I know now. I've been realizing all the things I would have done and, given 20-20 hindsight, what I should have done differently. But, alas, one can't turn back the clock and change what was.
However, one can blog about it!
First, I have to go back to the 1950's and 1960's and remind you that in those "olden days" women had few good role models for aspiring to exciting career choices. The media gave us television housewives and mothers, like June Cleaver and Lucille Ball; and women past the age of twenty-five, who were not married, were considered to be in danger of becoming "old maids." Yes, they actually used that phrase back then and many people would look askew at a 25 year-old unmarried woman, as if she had some hidden personality flaws, or bad breath. "She's not married yet . . ." they would whisper.
Typical female careers back then were: becoming a nurse, a teacher, a secretary, and, most importantly, a housewife and mother. A married woman who worked outside the home, while raising a family, was considered radical and rebellious. "She leaves her kids with a babysitter ~ all day long!" they would remark with great chagrin. Even college-educated women, those who didn't go to nursing or secretarial schools, usually went into teaching. Un-college-educated women went to work for a bank, a clothing store, a restaurant, or a business like the electric or telephone company. Going to beautician school and becoming a hairdresser was always an option, but that was at the bottom of employment food chain, and was looked 'down' upon back then. ("Bad girls" became hairdressers, and a male hairdresser, well. . . that hasn't changed much, thweetheart.)
What a strange world it was back then - lots of unspoken rules, and a whole lot of "what will the neighbors think?" It made for very limited female aspirations. The most sucessful woman in my day would have been a school principal. Imagine that, a woman in a position of power in 1960! (Your father's Aunt Edna was a school principal, one of the best in New England I might add, but at that time, she was thought of as 'strange' and even considered 'masculine' ~ uh-oh, she never married! )
If I could go back and change my past there would be many, many changes I would make. I didn't know then that I was smart. I didn't know then that I had inherited some pretty wonderful talents, and that my artistic skills could have been a great career-enhancer. I didn't know then that anything was possible! "What a waste of a life," you might think? Well, no, because I did bring three intelligent children into this world, and I do have three, very bright grandchildren; so, perhaps, in this more enlightened world of possibilities, some of you will do the things I wish I had done.
If I could go back and change my life choices, there are also things I wouldn't undo - many things - but, I might have gone to college earlier than age 37. I might have studied marine biology and become a whale researcher, instead of studying human behavior and doing absolutely nothing with my two hard-earned degrees. I might have taken business courses, and opened my own business. I might have written some poetry, some novels and even some non-fiction. And, I would love to have been an archeologist and gone on world-wide travels ~ searching for dinosaur bones and wooly mammoth remains. Or, I might have become a National Park Ranger and traveled all over the world that way.
If I could turn back the clock, knowing what I know today, I wouldn't have wasted one more minute of my life bemoaning my dysfunctional childhood. Instead, I would have pushed myself forward earlier, in spite of it, and used more wisely the inherent talents that were given me.
I spent some necessary time in counseling and healing, and I fortunately learned, during that time, how important it was to keep on moving forward, and how not to get too bogged-down in bad memories. As my wise counselor pointed out, with this ugly analogy, "The continual remembering and rehashing of unhappy events is like picking the scab off of a healing sore, over and over again ~ it will never be able to heal properly. Sometimes, he claimed, it's better to recognize it, cleanse it, and then just leave it alone to heal naturally." (So true!) It's called, "moving on."
As scary as it was for me, I moved on. Daring to go to college, as an adult, was the first major accomplishment for me, with my budding self-confidence. Getting my first of two college diplomas, at age 39, was truly a red-letter day for me, (shared by you) and it boosted my self-confidence even further. Divorcing your father was not a good day, but it was a vitally necessary move for me in order for me to continue growing as a person. I've never regretted that decision, because I can see even more now, with my 20-20 hindsight, how life-giving and necessary it truly was.
Yes, too much time was spent with my head stuck in my own navel, trying to figure-out how to undo what was done to me, or how to overcome what was not done for me; years of invaluable time that could have been better spent doing something more productive. I wish I hadn't been so self-absorbed, and paralyzed by my past for so long; it slowed me way down, took my attention away from you, and limited a life that could have been lived more purposefully ~ or, at least more interestingly!
But, yesterday's history, tomorrow's a mystery, and all we have is today . . . so, I would urge you to make the most of each moment you are given, however you can. Do something, anything, that will use your innate talents and skills. Continually pursue your heart's interests and desires. Life is precious, and there's only one you!
There are so many things that you can do with the rest of your lifetime. But, most of all, I hope you will realize that you have to 'animate' yourself ~ that no one else can, or will, do it for you. The bottom line is: no prince-charming, no friend, no guru, no counselor, and no parent can do for you what only you can do for yourself; we can lead, encourage, motivate, urge, plead and compell; but, any moving-forward, 'growing-up' actions are ultimately up to you.
Life moves fast - and it seems to speed-up as one ages. There are so many wonderful things to learn, to see and to explore on this magnificent planet. We only get one go-around, as far as I can tell ~ so, if there is a lesson to be learned from all my coulda's, woulda's and shoulda's, it would be that you would try to live fully in each moment. Don't miss anything along the way by having your eyes glued to the rear-view mirror. (You're apt to crash headlong into something dangerous ahead of you, if you're always looking back ~ so, try to keep your mind's eye focused on the 'now,' and on the road ahead.)
You have opportunities women of my generation could only dream of - so, please, use them to the fullest, and make your own unique contribution to this world.
Now, you'll have to excuse me ~ I have to go pack for my extended trip to the Amazon Rainforest.
(In my dreams!)
I recalled hearing something about a lake disappearing in Russia a few months back, and so, out of curiosity, I went looking for articles about it to find out more. "Officials in Nizhegorodskaya region, on the Volga river east of Moscow, said water in the lake might have been sucked down into an underground water-course or cave system, but some villagers had more sinister explanations."
Unlike Lake Nejapa in Managua, Nigeria that disappeared in the African desert in 1993 due to a severe drought, this lake didn't gradually dry-up and disappear. It went down in a big WHOOSH, like a giant bathtub emptying; in hours ~ not days, weeks, months or years. Theories run the gamut ~ from alien crafts sucking it dry, to the strange thought that we evil Americans piped it away, (we have enough of our own lakes- but thanks anyway) to underwater caves causing it to drain; but no one has yet determined the actual cause of the rapid disappearance of the lake.
I know that lakes do come and go, some even seasonally, and here we have our own Douglas Lake that is drained dry each winter and then re-filled each spring, but this wasn't a man-made or weather-related event. This was just plain WEIRD.
Surprisingly, while perusing this topic, I discovered that this is not an isolated incident. Many lakes have been disappearing all over the world during the last couple of decades. Lake Chesterfield, a twenty-three acre lake in Wildwood, MO disappeared in June of 2004. Goldsboro Lake in Pennslyvania emptied in 2003, Lake Chad in Nigeria is drying-up as we speak, and many lakes in the Arctic are disappearing faster than an ice cream cone on a hot summer's day, as stated below.
"In all, 125 lakes have vanished completely and are covered with vegetation, the researchers found in a study funded by the National Science Foundation. Subsequent monitoring has found that none of the lakes have refilled, the researchers report in their article, "Disappearing Arctic Lakes." What's interesting isn't just that we're seeing individual lakes disappear, Smith said. What's strange is that the process appears to be abrupt and irregular. From what we can tell from space, a lake is either fine or it's suddenly gone."
I'm hoping they will find the cause of the vanishing lakes and announce it to the world soon, before those UFO folks publish anymore of their exotic stories about aliens starting to take over our planet.
Besides, I have a son who lives in Minnesota ~ the land of 10,000 lakes ~ and if this keeps up they'll have to change their license plates every few years.
2008 "Minnesota: Land of 9,000 lakes."
2015 "Minnesota: Land of 7,000 lakes"
2023 "Minnesota: Land of 5,000 lakes"
And, Garrison Keeler would have to write a new book called: "The Disappearance of Lake Wobegon."