Looking toward the future...

I took this pic last night, sitting at the channel. My husband and I watched dozens and dozens of dolphins jumping and swimming near shrimp boats that came in and anchored for the night in the channel. If you look closely you can see one mother dolphin with a young one surfacing.
I watched Avatar two evenings ago, after we received it from Netflix. Great film obviously for the special effects, but also for the story. Humans have done so much to ruin this beautiful world of ours, through ignorance and greed, but I like to believe that we can salvage it.
I've been thinking about the recent high school graduates, since my son has a number of friends who graduated this year. As a teacher and parent, my wish for young people is that they connect in a very real way with the natural world and people around them. That which you have heard, seen and experienced first hand becomes important to you, and worth fighting for.
When I heard the comment made by the BP CEO about "wanting his life back," I understood that for him, the Gulf of Mexico and the people who live there don't really matter; probably, like many people, the natural world doesn't really matter to him in any concrete way. If you have stood at the ocean's edge, watching dolphins leap and pelicans dive, or wandered mossy, verdant paths through mountain forests, watching deer graze and chipmunks scamper, then those living things really, truly matter. I'm treasuring these days at home near the ocean, looking foward to a summer trip to the mountains, and hoping for a better future for our natural world.

Summer beach fun...hope it lasts

I am "out" of school, in a sense. I finished one long term sub teacher job a week ago, and though the public schools have this week left, I am not shopping around for last minute, last week jobs! I'll stay poor but sane. I'd be a "dead sub walking," for sure! Waiting to get any nibbles on job applications, and I did have one interview last week, but didn't get it. My husband finally got his old teaching job back, but it will be funded by federal money. Hmm....hope the money is still there come August!

Instead of doing dozens of jobs around the outside and inside of the house, I took myself to the beach this morning to walk, swim and read a trashy paperback. I left close to middle of the day, as temps heated up. I did restore some order in the universe by getting some groceries and dropping off a bunch of books at Goodwill. My son wanted to make a "teenager" living room out of the other small bedroom next to his, so we spent the weekend cleaning it out and finding a new place for the things in that room. He is excited to be doing dual enrollment for his senior year of high school. We still have a few details to work out over the summer.

This morning was a low tide, and I love being in the ocean water when it is calm. As I paddled around, I couldn't help wondering how long it will be before the great oil spill makes it to the Atlantic coast. I've lived here most of my life, and yes, I have taken it for granted at times. To have that possibly taken away...not to mention the tremendous loss to people and wildlife....here's hoping and praying that our summer fun can last!