I was hoping to be able to post pictures of our encounters with all three at the same time, for that inevitable reference to Oz, but a friend of ours is heading to Yellowstone this week, and I promised to have our pictures up before she went.
Hope you enjoy our Yellowstone pages.
Yellowstone - June 2007
Yellowstone Gallery
Bears
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
An Evening with Richard Preston
Did you ever meet someone and instantly knew he or she was a kindred soul? I had that experience at an event sponsored by the Save the Redwoods League. They hosted a talk by Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone on the emerging threat of Ebola and other extreme viruses, and The Wild Trees about the few remaining old-growth trees and his “treks” through their canopies. I was lucky to have a chance to talk to him for several uninterrupted minutes, and had to remind myself I needed to share with other attendees.
I owe my interest in virology and infectious diseases to his work. I was very pleased to hear him tie the importance of old-growth canopy dense forests with his prior work. Few have ever thought to make the connection between the world's largest living things and the threat of some of the world's smallest organisms. As deforestation causes a loss of habitat to higher level animals, insects and other lower animals are increasingly becoming vectors for potential pandemic infections, for which we have miniscule knowledge and certainly no cure.
Mr. Preston reminds me a great deal of Indiana Jones, and like Indy, was a university professor. His first chapter of The Hot Zone reminded me a lot of the first scene of the first Indiana Jones movie, leaving you breathless after just a few short moments and keeps you on the edge of your seat.
The Wild Trees, though, touched a place in my heart; and these trees above all others resonate with a power and majesty that I cannot adequately explain. To hear him talk of places unexplored—fractalled redwood canopies-- that exist in something I love so much is like finding a magic kingdom past the back panel of an old wardrobe.
I owe my interest in virology and infectious diseases to his work. I was very pleased to hear him tie the importance of old-growth canopy dense forests with his prior work. Few have ever thought to make the connection between the world's largest living things and the threat of some of the world's smallest organisms. As deforestation causes a loss of habitat to higher level animals, insects and other lower animals are increasingly becoming vectors for potential pandemic infections, for which we have miniscule knowledge and certainly no cure.
Mr. Preston reminds me a great deal of Indiana Jones, and like Indy, was a university professor. His first chapter of The Hot Zone reminded me a lot of the first scene of the first Indiana Jones movie, leaving you breathless after just a few short moments and keeps you on the edge of your seat.
The Wild Trees, though, touched a place in my heart; and these trees above all others resonate with a power and majesty that I cannot adequately explain. To hear him talk of places unexplored—fractalled redwood canopies-- that exist in something I love so much is like finding a magic kingdom past the back panel of an old wardrobe.
Entry by Karla
Long-time Tree Hugger
Long-time Tree Hugger
Saturday, May 24, 2008
A Last Note About Our Beautiful Song
We were wrong. Or maybe we were just seeing things with our heart. Belle Canto had a way of doing that. Opening your heart up with her look of a tiger as she scratched at her post, or her purr, or when she licked your hands and face.
But in the end, she was too sick and weak to do any of those, and we knew it was time to let her go.
The final decline in her health happened all too sudden. For us. To her it must have seemed like an eternity. The vet told us that as far as it was known, the FIP probably wasn't causing her a significant level of pain. But watching her struggle across a room, because her heart had more ambition than the nerves controlling her back legs could fulfill, broke our heart. And she was such a dignified kitten, it must have horrified her.
So on a Friday afternoon before a "holiday" weekend, we said goodbye to the bundle of love that we were lucky enough to have as part of our lives. And unlucky enough to lose much, much too soon.
But in the end, she was too sick and weak to do any of those, and we knew it was time to let her go.
The final decline in her health happened all too sudden. For us. To her it must have seemed like an eternity. The vet told us that as far as it was known, the FIP probably wasn't causing her a significant level of pain. But watching her struggle across a room, because her heart had more ambition than the nerves controlling her back legs could fulfill, broke our heart. And she was such a dignified kitten, it must have horrified her.
So on a Friday afternoon before a "holiday" weekend, we said goodbye to the bundle of love that we were lucky enough to have as part of our lives. And unlucky enough to lose much, much too soon.
Belle Canto Maree - The World's Most Beautiful Kitten
August 7, 2007 to May 23, 2008
(picture taken 12/15/07)
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