BEAUTY Archives - Page 48 of 56 -

Turning Point

By Simone Lipscomb | May 11, 2013

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.

Feeling Helpless? Here’s an Idea

By Simone Lipscomb | May 7, 2013

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.

Requiem for the Pelicans

By Simone Lipscomb | May 6, 2013

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

Morning Courtyard Dance

By Simone Lipscomb | May 1, 2013

Warm air, heavy with the scent of jasmine, wrapped around me as I entered the courtyard. It had only been four days but during that short time so much had changed.

The wall of jasmine was the most obvious change as its delicious smell mixed with gardenia created a mood-altering experience through scent. And as much as I wanted to explore, communion with the river came first.

Layers of humid air hung heavy over the water as my board sliced through the mirror-slick surface. My body longed for movement after traveling and sitting so much over the long weekend. I amped up the pace and had a great workout, during which I discovered the osprey babies I have been monitoring had hatched. Mama Osprey was feeding them as I paddled under their nest atop the high pole. This morning my river prayers were of thanksgiving for these new lives.

Upon returning home, I walked out to my garden and saw baby jalapeño peppers, baby tomatoes, and baby satsumas hanging green and full of potential. Growth was the theme of return to my beloved home.

After communing with my plant friends I turned on my favorite classical music in the speakers outside and glided around the courtyard greeting the beauty exploding everywhere. Such life!

The grandmother oak tree in the center stood watching and when I finished, she called to me. I laid my hands on her rough bark and felt her strength as I offered up a prayer of gratitude for the opportunity to celebrate the day with a morning courtyard dance.

A Walk on the Beach

By Simone Lipscomb | April 24, 2013

A little over a year has passed since I moved home to the Gulf Coast. There have been no doubts regarding the move. Not one. Within a few minutes drive I can be on the beach, communing with big water….big salt water. My heart expands to meet the horizon. How I love this place!

Join me as I walk along the beach at Gulf State Park. Celebrate the beauty of our planet, the life force that infuses everything. We are observers, witnesses to this grandeur.

Aren’t we lucky? Don’t you feel blessed to commune with nature!

“Where shall you seek beauty, and how shall you find her unless she herself be your way and your guide? And how shall you speak of her except she be the weaver of your speech? Beauty is not a need but an ecstasy. It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth, But rather a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted. Beauty is life when life unveils her holy face. But you are life and you are the veil. Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror. But you are eternity and you are the mirror.” Kahlil Gabran