Sunday at dawn finds me on the beach these days. It is my day to cover a stretch of shoreline looking for sea turtle tracks and nests. I go a little early to play with the light, the wind and water. It sets the intention of the week for me–service, gratitude and beauty.
I awakened at 4am with a dream of turtle tracks. So real was it my senses were activated…touch and smell especially. After checking email I dressed in my green turtle shirt, shorts and flip flops and headed to the beach. But even with such a vivid dream there were only human tracks, no turtle tracks, in any of our team’s assigned area.
Surprised was I that no tracks or nests were found, but so happy to be present to witness the beauty and commune with the sea. And then share breakfast with three other women who share the same love of the ocean and sea turtles as me.
We’re still waiting mama turtles and we’ll be here whenever you bless our sand once more with your babes. Until then, happy turtle dancing with your turtle ‘mans.’
Last summer I spent nights sitting under a blanket of black sky twinkling with white stars. The sound of waves lapping on the sand and humid air hugging my skin brought me into the present where I experienced the wonder of nature. Sitting quietly awaiting the birth of sea turtle hatchlings, I was gently guided to recognize and harmonize with the magnificent natural world.
A few miles east, tourists wandered through souvenir shops looking for trinkets with which to remember their vacation. Perhaps few ever understood the biggest treasures could be found sitting on a quiet beach absorbing the peace and magic of the place. While the Gulf of Mexico and beaches affected them, maybe many left never seeing the beauty….the deep beauty…or feeling their connection to it, as part of it.
laughing gull
I wonder if that’s why humans can so easily ignore the plight of our planet. Collectively we see through eyes blinded with superficiality: Nice ocean, nice beach…oh, look a sea gull…wow there’s another tee shirt shop….let’s buy a $20 tee shirt to remember….nice flower….nice tree…too bad they are clearing them…gotta go to work…can’t save everything….oh that’s sad about the dolphins, let’s get a tee shirt with a dolphin on it….could I have extra plastic bags for shells….just put your cigarette butts in the sand they’ll dissolve….recycling takes too much effort….
There are probably many reasons humans ignore their connection to nature. I think we’ve specialized our roles in society and have forgotten that we are entirely connected and dependent on nature for our life.
Disconnect One: A farm half way across the planet grows food for us. A fisherman catches our dinner. We show up at the grocery store and connect to our food sources by perusing the air conditioned aisles. Most of us have no idea what it takes to grow enough food to sustain our own lives.
Disconnect Two: Collectively we have bought into the mindset that more is better. We consume at alarming rates. We feed the corporate mindset that more profit is vital and so resources dwindle at any cost.
Disconnect Three: We are too busy. Our collective pace is out of sync with the timing of the seasons and movement of the Earth. This is strongly connected to the ‘more is better’ mindset. We sacrifice ourselves to feed the ‘profit at any cost’ motto.
This reminds me of TheMatrix movies where humans are only used for the energy they produce for machines. They are put into a dream-world of their choosing and exist in their minds in this place while their bodies are used only for what they produce. Sound familiar?
At some point individuals break out of their bondage and begin to see life as it really is in TheMatrix. It’s not easy and they struggle but the reward is awareness, consciousness…awakening.
Our fate is determined by our choices…every day choices…by what we choose to notice, to give our attention to as that is what will multiply and blossom in our lives.
The birds are singing. My garden is growing…slowly, ever so slowly. The river is flowing. I breathe in slowly…I exhale slowly. My bare feet feel the warm soil. The leaves of the trees softly rustle in the breeze. Nature embraces me as its own. This, to me, is peace. This is a small beginning in learning to see beyond….
The dark, heavy energy has shifted. I’ve been sitting on my back porch listening to the rain, listening to distant thunder over the Gulf and to wind chimes slowly moving in the slight breeze, their deep tones filling the courtyard with celestial music and serving as background sound to drops splatting and thumping on the metal roof. Frogs sing occasionally, adding their baritone to the soprano whistles and trills of birds darting to and fro.
In the distance, the sounds of children laughing and playing in the rain provide nurturance to the joy taking root within the dark recesses in me that have stored grief over bad new– environmental reports this week that seemed endless. Swinging in my hammock chair with my buddy Stanley Kubrick purring contentedly on my lap, I realized that I have ridden the wave of grief to the other side.
A spark of light ignited this shift. A favorite musician posted yesterday on his FaceBook page, “So happy to be playing music. There is no finer place on earth today than Oklahoma.” Ben Taylor’s post planted a seed of light. I nurtured it by having a session of Thai Yoga yesterday afternoon that helped stretch me out of my funk. Then the morning of rain and gentleness helped me grow the light seed and expand it like a candle igniting a thousand inner lamps.
Being present in the moment and happy to be doing something I love to do is something to celebrate. Finding joy within a storm of bad environmental news gives me a stronger foundation from which to work and helps me gain footing on the Path so I can take the next step in my work. With my inner lamps rekindled I move forward with joy, in celebration of this beautiful water planet.
Stanley Kubrick and I celebrated this delicious, rainy, soft morning by dancing on the back porch while listening to Jolly Holiday. “Ain’t it a glorious day? Right as a mornin’ in May, I feel like I could fly….When the day is gray and ordinary, <Stanley> makes the sun shine bright!”
Staying present with grief, with joy…with beauty. It’s all part of this turning point in which we find ourselves on our Earthly planet.
It has been a rough 24 hours with really disastrous news for wildlife coming in from near and far. It is difficult to know how to stay informed and stay sane. But turning away and refusing to be informed isn’t an option. If everyone did that we would be in a bigger mess.
Of special concern is the large number of manatee and pelican deaths happening in the south. Over 600 manatees have died in the first four months of this year. The Gulf-side manatee deaths are being blamed on red tide, an algae bloom that is toxic to fish, marine mammals and sometimes humans. The cause is generally fertilizers being washed into the waterways after heavy rains and causing this toxic bloom. It is a neurotoxin and deadly to manatees and other wildlife who ingest it. Humans who eat shellfish or fish contaminated with it can also become seriously ill. Manatee deaths on the east coast of Florida in Indian River Lagoon have reached over 100 and there is no known cause for their deaths.
Brown pelican deaths in the Indian River Lagoon have reached high numbers and now they are reported on the North Carolina Coast as well. Lots of sad news indeed.
I have researched these events today and explored deaths of dolphins and other species during the past year. In Peru last year nearly 900 dolphins washed ashore with apparent sonar injuries. Sonar injuries occur in marine mammals from LFA sonar like the US Navy uses and sonar blasts used by oil companies in off-shore oil exploration.
It felt like a puzzle being pieced together. Everything pointed back to human-created environmental issues. Over-fertilizing lawns and golf courses, using technology that kills, boat strikes. As a member of the human species–sometimes with deep shame for our collective treatment of wildlife and wild places–I decided to take action and made a donation to Save the Manatee. This club helps manatees recover from injuries and is a clearing house for information on manatees. I joined and gave an extra donation for emergency treatment of manatees.
I needed to feel as if I was doing something besides sitting at my desk, researching, reading and sharing about these tragedies. So I took action. And every time I volunteer for Share the Beach, or the Sea Turtle Stranding Network, or the Alabama Marine Mammal Stranding Network I take action to help.
Likewise, I refrain from using chemical fertilizers on my lawn and garden. I don’t use pesticides inside or outside my home and support local and organic farmers. There are many practices that make a direct difference in our world. The effort required isn’t that much and the pay-off is positive change and community-building. TOGETHER we can create a safer, healthier planet.
I just read that nine pelicans at Gulf State Park Pier were found dead this weekend. Park officials suspect someone poisoned them or killed them. There is an ongoing battle between fishermen that like to feed fish scraps to the pelicans and those that are aggressive and act violently toward them.
This past winter I spent two days on the pier and witnessed both behaviors. Sweet, gentle fishermen would feed them scraps and talk to them as though they were friends.
I saw a male teenager take his fishing rod and rake it on pelicans sitting on the rail and deck…laughing as he did it. And the pelicans were sleeping at the time. The next day I witnessed an adult male violently spray them at close range with a water hose and when I asked him to stop because he was spraying me…and I was sitting around the corner….he came around the corner and very aggressively cursed me out.
I reported both incidences of aggression and pier officials knew the teens and reprimanded them. The adult I reported but after he left the pier. He was one of the angriest, aggressive men I’ve ever met. Being on the receiving end of his vile energy was scary and very unpleasant. I could easily imagine him beating his wife or children….I had never witnessed that kind of violence directed at animals or me. And over birds pooping on the pier deck. SERIOUSLY!!
So I have no doubt that some manner of evil was done to these brown pelicans. They live in the Gulf and fish in their home. For humans to enter their home, make pets of them and then kill them is so insane I hardly know what to do with my feelings….anger, grief….disbelief that humans progressively move toward the two extremes of darkness and light.
These birds were friends to many humans who loved them and respected them. I sit at my desk weeping not only for these birds but for all wildlife who die needlessly and violently at the hands of humans steeped in darkness. Times such as this make me wonder if collective, conscious awakening will ever happen….and I tend to be positive and upbeat. But right now….right now my heart is broken.
The photographs are from the two days I spent with the pelicans on Gulf State Park Pier.
If you happened to be on the pier and know anything about this incident please contact the park ranger at Gulf State Park at 251-948-7275
Sunday at dawn finds me on the beach these days. It is my day to cover a stretch of shoreline looking for sea turtle tracks and nests. I go a little early to play with the light, the wind and water. It sets the intention of the week for me–service, gratitude and beauty.
I awakened at 4am with a dream of turtle tracks. So real was it my senses were activated…touch and smell especially. After checking email I dressed in my green turtle shirt, shorts and flip flops and headed to the beach. But even with such a vivid dream there were only human tracks, no turtle tracks, in any of our team’s assigned area.
Surprised was I that no tracks or nests were found, but so happy to be present to witness the beauty and commune with the sea. And then share breakfast with three other women who share the same love of the ocean and sea turtles as me.
We’re still waiting mama turtles and we’ll be here whenever you bless our sand once more with your babes. Until then, happy turtle dancing with your turtle ‘mans.’
