All posts by naltneu

Life, Nature

New Beginnings

September is often a time of new beginnings and thus, I share some words from Christine Evangelou:

“I hope that the darkest nights of your soul

Give way to the glorious days of your spirit

I hope that through the shadows

Of those heart eclipses born of solitary evenings

A new life is born, and a change is set forth

I hope that you grant yourself the celestial passport

Your spirit has been yearning for

As you sweep into the deepest valleys of your soul

So you can gather the strength to soar to the highest mountain peaks

Breathing in the angelic essence of you

Fully, unashamedly, and unconditionally

I hope that you find the beat of your heart

In every flower, every meadow, every delight that your eyes can truly see

For it is within that beauty that your spirit lives

A conscious connection, a godly reflection

Of all natural, ethereal, fountains and springs

I hope that you can see beyond the clouds

To the sunlight that is waiting to peek its way through

Remember, the blanket of sky that keeps you warm at night

Is one of a silver, shimmering starry view

It is where you are held, always loved and at peace

A lustrous artwork of angels to whisper their magic as your heart speaks.”

Birds, Leadership

We Can Do Better

Seagull

As many of you know, I love the beach.  There is something very restorative about feeling my feet in the sand, hearing the sound of the waves roll back and forth, and swimming in the ocean.  Yet I was sadly confronted with a painful reality.  I saw a beautiful seagull desperately trying to dislodge a fish hook that it had swallowed.  All I could see was a fishing line and what appeared to be blood on the bird’s beak.  While I reported the injured bird to the lifeguard and he said he would call it in, my thought was that the bird would die or starve before too long.  Please, if you fish, have the decency to recycle your fishing lines properly, and don’t throw them back in the water.  Or better yet, don’t fish.  We can do better than this, folks.  Birds don’t deserve to suffer at our hands.

Butterflies, Kindness

Hope for Our World

Monarch Butterfly

I just read an interesting article written by Margaret Renki, an author who recently wrote a book entitled, “Graceland, at Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache from the American South”.   In the article she spoke about Eastern monarch butterflies, those beautiful creatures who manage to fly nearly 3,000 of miles from the United States to Mexico but whose population is down by 88%.  She was trying to save some caterpillars (who would become butterflies) she brought home from a garden center and I admit, part of me was looking for some inspiration in her words.  While I did not find a flowery quote, I found some solace knowing that someone else out there besides me is also trying to help the natural world.  Thank you, Margaret Renki.

Animals, Climate Change, Oceans

Marine Life

According to new research, global warming is causing such a drastic change to the world’s oceans that it risks a mass extinction event of marine species that rivals anything that’s happened in the Earth’s history over tens of millions of years.

“The future of life in the oceans rests strongly on what we decide to do with greenhouse gases today. There are two vastly different oceans we could be seeing, one devoid of a lot of life we see today, depending on what we see with CO2 emissions moving forward,” said Justin Penn, a climate scientist at Princeton University who co-authored new research published in “Science”.

So what can you do?  Reduce your carbon footprint, eat less meat, avoid using or purchasing items that are wrapped in plastic, and plant native trees.  Trees are one of the best ways to take carbon out of the atmosphere.  Thank you!

Carbon Footprint Reduction, Forests, Nature

International Day of Forests

Many people, including me, did not know that Monday, March 21st was the International Day of Forests.  How precious forests are and yet, we don’t often realize their importance.  “When we drink a glass of water, write in a notebook, take medicine for a fever or build a house, we do not always make the connection with forests. And yet, these and many other aspects of our lives are linked to forests in one way or another”.  Sadly, we lose a football field size of forest every second, and yet planting trees and preserving biodiversity are one of the best ways to solve climate change.  Many non-profit organizations and companies such as Terraformation are working to reforest the planet, please join me and them, before time runs out.  Thank you.

Animals, Leadership

Some good news

Active panda climbing tree
  1. China’s giant pandas are no longer endangered.
  2. Renewable energy generation hit an all-time high in 2021.  The world added 290 gigawatts of renewable power production capacity, according to a recent report from the International Energy Agency.
  3. A marine-protected area around the Galapagos will be expanded by 60,000sq km (37,282 sq miles).
  4. A hole in the ozone layer is healing.  The ozone layer protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun.
  5. There is some recovery happening in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef which has been suffering from coral bleaching and storms.  Scientists are using in vitro fertilization (IVF) to regenerate the reefs.