Two weeks ago I mentioned the plight of the star fish and my concern regarding their seeming demise. I still have concern about the ecosystem without star fish. However, this morning these guys and gals gave me a bit of hope for the future. This school went as far as I could see into the water and just kept coming.
Blessed be,
Joel
We've been watching (and participating) in the ways the boating community not only helps each other but extends care and concern. For instance, down our dock we (and others) have been helping a couple who has been struggling with his diagnosis (and very rapid decline) die to a rare brain illness.
Community comes together for celebratory reasons, too. What better way to share this wonderful way of life than helping a young family. Connie McBride shares such an experience on her Simply Sailing Online site this week: Friend Ship. Enjoy.
Blessed be,
Joel
Change is an inevitable part of life. As we grow our bodies change. As toddlers, we bonk our heads on counters and tables we could pass underneath the day before. As teenagers, we grow fast enough we don't know where our bodies end. Entering mid-ages our hair turns a different color and becomes sparse (if we continue to have any).
But perhaps we don't expect the world around us to change all that much. After all, what is our four score and ten in the geologic timeframe?
When we started this ministry of Winds of Grace, one of my family's favorite activities was looking to see what we'd find at low tide. In particular, we'd marvel at the purple sea stars on the pilings. We'd even shake our heads at an empty crab pot, save for a huge orange sea star that was still eating our bait.
Last year or so I read about the wasting disease affecting the sea stars in the Pacific Ocean. At the time, scientists didn't know what was causing the problem.
This year, since about February, we haven't seen any of our sea star friends. Have you?
With concern, but still sending blessings your way,
Joel
How do you renew your spirit? What do you do that allows the Spirit to move through you and renew you? Where are those times in which you are surprised by this renewal?
This had been an emotionally intense summer: one that has been full of great joys and sadness. When the people of one's ministry also become one's friends, the joy is greater and the sadness deeper.
The above questions are ones I've been asking those who find themselves moving into the roles of caretakers. They are questions I've been asking myself, too.
My suspicion is that for many of us, being on the water renews us. Watery activities are the places we are reminded of our baptism, as it were.
And it was upon the water yesterday afternoon, in a small boat, with the challenges of sailing in almost no wind, and hearing the bow "chuckle" as we moved through the water, that I found myself unexpectedly, gracefully renewed.
May you, too, find these moments of renewal and grace.
Blessed be.
Joel
Breath in the Spirit of God.
Breath out the Spirit of God.
Be still and know that I am God.
~ Psalm 46:10
What can sailboat do?
It can bring people
together and that's when
miracles happen.
~ Pete Seeger
I first noticed vultures flying over water on a trip to the South Carolina coast years ago. Sure, up to that point I'd seen them flying (often circling) over a protagonist in a western film, but this was my first live experience. For some reason, vultures don't tend to live in eastern Washington. Consequently I was surprised to see one flying of the road in front on me a few years ago, and then to see them circling above Deer Harbor, Orcas Island. As I ran across another sailor commenting upon them, I thought I'd share these few facts:
"Turkey vultures in captivity live 25-30 years.
"They cannot smell impending death. They can, however, smell dead stuff up to a mile away. They are one of only two species of birds that can smell. Their “noses” are built in such a way that they can also tell from which direction the smell is coming. When you see them circling in the air, they are simply riding the updrafts, looking for food (things that have already dies, not Marshall Dillon on his last legs). They also can be just playing or gliding around because it’s fun.
"They are nature’s cleaners. They can eat diseased animals and, because of the strength of their stomach acids will discharge non-diseased poop. Their urine has a high strength uric acid component and they urinate on their legs to kill the pathogens that might be present due to standing in dead carcasses. Of course, they probably don’t know they’re doing this. They just know the pee feels nice and cool on their legs and feet.
"They’ve been known to gorge themselves when the opportunity affords. To the point where they’re too heavy to take flight right away. They can, however, puke up what they ate to lighten their loads if necessary. They also puke on themselves if they get too stressed. When you come across some roadkill with a bunch of vultures lunching on it, slow down! These guys are not crows and can’t take off as quickly to avoid getting smacked as crows can. And you don’t want a 6 lb. vulture with a 6′ wingspan coming through your windshield.
"The Cherokee Nation calls the “Peace Eagles” because they are as big as eagles but never kill anything. Given a choice, they prefer fresher rather than older dead meat and prefer dead vegetarians to dead carnivores.
"They’re family-oriented: live together and share a roost tree; monogamous; and will share a carcass with each other.
"Have been recorded flying between 15 and 45 miles per hour.
"A group of vultures is called a “venue”. A large group of flying vultures is called a “kettle”.
"Why does an aquarium have vultures? Because, although technically not shore birds or even sea birds, they do live around the coast and are frequently spotted on the beach dining on dead seagulls so they’re part of the overall aquatic/estuarial environment."
May you, too, enjoy the natural world around us.
Blessed be,
Joel
