Nomad Feet: Brookgreen Gardens

My daughter is currently on spring break and needed to get out of the house. So, we hit Brookgreen Gardens down on the the coast near Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. This sculpture is at the entrance of the gardens on Highway 17 and they do not make it easy to photograph. There is a sign at the front saying no parking and no stopping. Which makes sense because traffic is always heavy in that area. My daughter had to scramble around cars to get this shot.  

This is "Narcissus" by Adolph Alexander Weinman 1870-1952

We picked a near perfect day for our road trip. The temperature was around 70 degrees and the humidity was non-existent. The only slight problem was that Spring had only just begun to pop. Not much was in bloom and the staff was still getting things ready for summer. If you go to Brookgreen Gardens during the summer months drink a lot of water!

One of the biggest scams ever perpetrated by Disney films was to portray Zeus here as a loving family man happily married to his wife Hera. In the Disney animated movie Heracles they do just that and it's a laugh riot for anyone with a vague notion of his extramarital proclivities.  

A nice relaxing pathway.

One of the few flowers I saw in bloom. Sorry I don't know the species

I believe this sculpture is of Artemis.

Wise words.

A beautiful setting.

No trip down to the coast would be complete if I didn't stop and visit Pawleys Island. Got to admit, I was disappointed because there wasn't any breeze on the beach.

 

Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season

 For the obvious selfish and foolish reasons, I had begun to convince myself the South Carolina coast just might avoid any issues this hurricane season. This hurricane season thankfully seemed a bust with few Atlantic storms forming and those that did quickly fizzling out. Well, much to my chagrin, I got up yesterday morning, made a cup of crappy decaf coffee, and turned on the television to learn Hurricane Florence appears to have the South Carolina coast dead in its sights.

For the survivors of Hurricane Maria, my complaints about what may happen in the coming days are most definitely the highest form of whining. But such is human nature when the delicate balance of normal demands and daily concerns of life are threatened by a much worse outside force. What is slightly funny for me on a strictly personal level is whenever I use to voice my trepidation on what may happen, like the possible damage an approaching hurricane might cause, some jackleg douche invariably tries to offer up a “glass half full” scenario. Such people like to offer trite statements at how adversity could pull people together to work for the common good, or some other feel good crap. I would consider such a possibility in more enlightened portions of the country or world, but here in Red State suburbia, I highly doubt it. Personally, I often believe these seemingly civilized suburbanites are just a few missed meals away from eating each other. 

Whatever the case, Dragonwife, my lovely and smart spouse is heading to the local Costco today to pick up a respectable amount of bottled water and canned goods as a precaution. If Florence does decide to smack South Carolina, even indirectly, my work will certainly demand I stay on-site to help maintain continued safe and steady operation. So, I wish everyone within Hurricane Florence's possible path destruction the best of luck. Here's a couple of required Buffett tunes to think about in the coming days. 

Official Vacation Photos-The Last Batch: Disney's Hilton Head Resort

Well, like all great vacations mine ended far sooner than I was comfortable with. As of this posting, we're all back home with my daughter doing her fifteen year-old stuff and my wife returning to her incessant puttering around the house. All I can do is return to my mental special place and take refuge. The picture above was taken Tuesday morning with me sipping coffee and looking out at the marsh. 

Another Tuesday morning picture with me carrying on a conversation with a default Disney employee. Such employment does have its risks. While I was still sitting on the marsh earlier a beautiful hawk was being chased away by an irate bird of unknown species.

The main pool on the primary resort grounds. The other being at the beach house which I didn't take any picture of this trip . It was a hot but beautiful day with the pool water refreshing. 

The other side of Shelter Cove Marina next the restaurants and gift shops. The buildings of the Disney resort can be seen in the background. Not big on motorized yachts, but these babies are all quite lovely. For years many of the yachts and sailboats in Shelter Cove seemed to be permanently moored. But many the yachts and sailboats I came to expect to see there are gone. The recent hurricanes probably had something to do with that situation.   

Did a nature walk of the nearby Pickney Island and spotted numerous groups of hermit crabs living their crabby lives in the mud of the marsh. Being me, as the resort naturalist was giving her little lecture on their life cycle I couldn't help but associate the crabs with human existence. My point being that those little guys and gals crawling around in the mud have absolutely no inkling of the wider,and infinitely complex universe. It doesn't taken much for people like me to see how humans are in a quite similar circumstance. Sure, we've discovered much about the nature and workings of the universe but the vast majority of our species never seem content on just waving their arms around while living in the mud.  

One of the regular events at the resort is a campfire sing along where they cook up some smores afterward.  

Literally took this picture as we were driving out Friday afternoon on our way to Savannah. What you see here are "marina cats" that have taken up residence at the now closed Captain Gillan's restaurant. Not sure of the exact store concerning these relaxing felines. For the last several visits to Disney's Hilton Head Resort it was common to see a cat or two strolling around the grounds. I assumed they were pets of people who had their boats moored in the marina. From what I have heard now though, they appear to have made the closed restaurant their home. I guess that would make them strays but no one seems in a hurry to rescue or even evict them from the area. Not worried about Captain Gillan's reopening, that building has a long history of failed businesses and with so many other eateries in walking distance the cats should have a home for a good while.  

Added this picture because I like it so much. The lone kayaker seemed so peaceful and relaxed last Thursday evening.  

Oceanic Close Encounters

For most Americans, things don't get more patrician than standing on the lido deck of the Disney Magic cruise ship as it sails through Caribbean waters. There are far more elite cruise lines, some so expensive that the brochures do not list the prices for their little fifteen to twenty day jaunts around the south Pacific or leisurely Mediterranean voyages. The idea being that if you have to know the prices of such trips before hand, you certainly can't afford them.

Don't get me wrong, while my family and I have been on three Disney cruises, the price for those vacations were nearly beyond our means. Fully knowing my following statement will sound like a blatant advertisement for what largely amounts to a soulless corporation, but Disney cruises are worth every penny.

On each of our three trips, when my family and I finally retired to our cabin for the night it was because of exhaustion from the activities. Yes, there were days devoted to relaxing, and if that is your main purpose, a person can easily find secluded and quiet places on the ship to read a book or listen to music for the entire trip. When my wife and I finally do another Disney cruise, that is exactly my plan. By that time the kids will be mostly on their own, and we have no intention of bringing the crumb snatchers.

Back when the kids were younger they were the main reason for the trips to begin with. But each morning I made a point of getting up before my wife and them and grabbing a cup of coffee to enjoy some alone time. Strolling the decks right before sunrise you almost have the ship to yourself. Sure, there are others up and about like the fitness types and the odd late night strangler but you mostly see folks like myself just wanting a bit of solitude before the energetic hordes emerge.

It was on our last Disney cruise in January of 2011 that I had one of those special moments that I hope never to forget. It was the second or third day of the cruise, and as usual I sneaked out of the cabin leaving my wife and daughter still fast asleep. The sun had just begun to break the horizon as I walked on the lido deck heading towards the gigantic coffee pots situated close to the restaurant where the buffet breakfast would be served a couple of hours later.

After getting my cup of coffee, I found a nearby seat looking out over the ocean to enjoy the beginning of a new day. As the minutes ticked by the rising sun created an orange hue across the water. While the overall weather was calm and clear, the ocean seemed a bit choppy with countless small waves colliding together sending up small splashes of water that twinkled as they caught the sunlight going down. The scene by itself was one of those picturesque moments true photographers would have twisted themselves and their cameras into pretzels to catch ever visible nuance.

I did attempt to reach for my camera, which should have been in the right side cargo pocket of my shorts, only to realize that in my haste to leave the cabin as quickly and quietly as possible, I had left it behind. Going back for it would have been futile, by the time I returned to my spot the conditions would have changed so I just sat back and enjoyed the subtle play of light across the water. Hindsight always being more perceptive than the present, it wasn't ten minutes later that another circumstance appeared that caused me to wish I had gone after my camera.

The buffet-style restaurant and the adjoining beverage station were at the ship's stern. And the spot I was sitting allowed me a decent view of the latter half of the port side of the ship. Right before I was about to get my second cup of coffee, I noticed a section of the ocean that was far more choppy than the rest. It didn't take long for me to realize that it was a pod of dolphins on what amounted to an intercept course for the cruise ship.

Of course, I was enthralled watching the pod catch up with the ship and then swim alongside. That wasn't all, as the dolphin leaped through the air, I saw them tilting the side of their bodies facing the ship upward. Anthropomorphizing the behavior of animals is bad practice, but it appeared as if the pod as a whole was inspecting the ship.

No big deal, it's well recorded that cetaceans are curious animals who interact with humans on occasion while in the wild. So it was no stretch to think that this pod, being open ocean swimmers in well trafficked waters, had encountered human ships in the past. What I still wonder about though is were there any inter-dolphin communications going on between the members of that pod as they swam alongside the Disney Magic? Were there any dolphin discussions on what they thought the purpose of the Disney Magic, since I imagine people riding around on a big ship for pleasure is a completely alien concept to them.

While the scientific reports I have read strongly suggest dolphins are not sentient, they are still incredibly intelligent animals with sophisticated communications abilities among themselves. I'm the type of person who freaks out at the idea of understanding what other intelligent species, both terrestrial and the hypothetical extraterrestrial type, think of humans and their creations. Truthfully, I realize their opinions of us is probably quite low since humans tend to screw up things and destroy far more than we preserve and build.

For several minutes the dolphins kept pace with the ship, but just as suddenly as they appeared some group decision was made and they veered off almost perpendicular to the direction we were going. That's the thing that still causes me to wonder in amazement, did some pod leader suddenly announce to the group the side trip was over or was there the equivalent of a vote? Because while I have no evidence the pod had an ultimate destination they were trying to reach, the way the group just changed direction makes me think they had a particular place they wanted to be.

It wasn't long before the dolphin pod was gone from sight once again leaving me to my thoughts. While my encounter with them was tenuous at best, I count it as one of the best parts of that trip.

Wandering Toes: The Return to Riverbanks Zoo

In totally simple terms which are easy to understand this weekend sucked. It was a dizzying array of chores, many taking place outside in the soul sucking heat, that had me once again cursing my suburban serfdom. Here are a few pictures of a relatively recent visit to Riverbanks Zoo, one of the few jewels here in the Midlands of South Carolina. For years my family and I were members of the zoo society and came at least two or even three times a month to walk among the animals. We only stopped being members after my daughter got bored and developed her own weekend activities with her friends. This picture is of the new entrance to the zoo. I've never been a big admirer of architectural designs but I actually liked how they opened the space up allowing both those coming in and leaving easy access.

Yes, I know keeping large animals who roam considerable distances in the wild inside small enclosures is problematic. But the new grizzly space is a huge improvement over the previous living enclosure. I'm no bear expert, not by a long shot, but at least this guy seemed happy given how he kept playing in the water. 

I just liked this shot of these two napping.

If there is one exhibit that really bothers me it is the elephant enclosure, I don't feel it's big enough but at least these guys have each other. One of the saddest pictures I ever saw was of a single elephant in a small zoo that was so lonely it made a habit of holding its own tail. 

My affinity for our primate kinfolk only grows as I watch the American political process devolve at warp speed.  

Is it me or does this guy actually seem to be smiling? This is one of the Galápagos tortoises living at the zoo.

Here is a little piece of valuable information for anyone visiting Riverbanks during the summer. As of this posting, if you need to take a break from the heat head straight to the inside portion of the new sea lion exhibit. I was positively cold after being inside for five minutes. I can't say enough kind things about Riverbanks Zoo, yes, there are real issues with keeping animals enclosed. But with our little planet going to see up to nine billions humans living on it in the coming decades, zoos will become less about entertaining us and more about preserving something of creatures that evolved beside us hairless and supremely arrogant primates.  

Nomad Feet: Hilton Head Vacation- June 2016 Part Three

Tuesday night was finished off fireworks shows put on by the Shelter Cove organization consisting of all the businesses in the immediate area, which includes the Disney resort. When this shot was taken to the left of this picture is the marina and on the other side of that was a concert with the band playing Buffett, John Denver, and other old style rock and roll tunes. 

During the fireworks I learned that the Disney resort has an unauthorized feline living on the premises. I am told due to liability issues and health reasons concerning the cat, the staff has attempted to catch the illegal resident and take it to a shelter but he always slips away. I am also told the unofficial name for the cat is "Felix" and I found him quite friendly.     

Wednesday morning brought a whole new set of activities here at the resort. There seems to be a preconception in some circles that all the activities cost money. In fact a good number of them, including some that take place off the resort are free. The Pinckney Island Tour is one of the free nature tours and, as I mentioned in a previous post, my daughter and I did the free beach nature walk a couple of days ago. We missed the marsh nature walk that had everyone put on knee-high boots and walk through all the glorious mud to examine many of the tiny lifeforms that live at the base of the food chain. 

My daughter's day was made when she caught a very irate blue crab in her crabbing net. We try our hand at crabbing at least once during each of our visits here and usually catch at least one or two. We never keep our catch though because there are size limitations and you can only keep male blue crabs.  

Not sure what gender this one was, but it was so small, a sure sign it was below the limit, he or she soon slipped the net and dropped back into Mother Ocean.

Before we caught the crab somehow we nabbed this poor, tiny fellow with a net that is in no way designed to catch anything but crabs. We quickly returned him to the water and hope he learned a vital lesson.

Wednesday ended with this nice sunset and the promise of yet another day of vacation. Unfortunately, enough time as already slipped by for me to begin hearing the real world starting to call us back.

Nomad Feet: Hiton Head Vacation-June 2016 Part Two

Tuesday morning started with a cup of coffee on the balcony overlooking one of the common areas. I had already made my wife and daughter cranky by trying to get them out of bed. For my own safety I left the room, got a cup of free coffee from the lobby, the only thing the Disney Corporation will ever do without charging an arm and a leg, then walked the resort. When I returned the ladies were back asleep allowing me to sit on the balcony. 

This, of course, is the campfire area where the resort staff leads up guests in songs and games. It's actually a really cool thing just seeing how much the little kids enjoy the festivities. 

My daughter, Darth Wiggles, and I did a beach nature walk late Tuesday morning. The resort has a naturalist on the staff and she walked us through one of the more secluded beaches on Hilton Head. Unfortunately, it was right before high tide and we didn't see a lot of the starfish, sand dollars, and other small creatures usual when the water is lower. We did see this marked Loggerhead turtle's nest, which according to the naturalist, is due to see its baby turtles dig themselves out in about another thirty days. Kind of ticked off a couple of my fellow tourists during the walk. As we walked I made a point of picking up trash as I went, and sadly there was a lot including plastic wrappers that have killed and caused grievous harm to many animals.

Lunch was at Santa Fe Cafe just a few minutes from the resort. My wife loves this place and when we are here on the island it's always a safe bet she will literally grab the steering wheel of the car to force me to stop there. This was her meal, which consisted of the painted desert soup with a small salad and quesadilla. I had the same thing, except I had the boring but tasty black bean soup that doesn't have anywhere near the artistic appeal.  

I absolutely love these ancient oak trees. I take some spiritual solace in the idea such lifeforms exist and that, with a little bit of luck and care, should continue living long after I have again become what a famous Disney movie and play calls "the circle of life."

Got a great deal of hammock time Tuesday and continued with this book about a pig who showed such love of life and basic humanity that he could have taught lessons on the subject to a good number of Homo sapiens. I'll have a review of this wonderful book at a later date.

Doug Tompkins--One of the best who will be sorely missed

 1943-2015

All of us lucky enough to draw a breath makes a mark on this planet and the people we encounter. For better or worse the overall impact of the average person is blunted because individually we simply don't have the vision or the resources to do more. To put it nicely, there is a line from one of my favorite songs that says a person, “fills his page of history, dreams his dreams then is gone.” Don't miss understand me, there is nothing wrong living a honorable and simple life taking care of friends and family. God knows human history is almost overwhelmed with individuals who were somehow able to achieve the deadly combinations of power and money leaving nothing but death and destruction in their wake.

Humanity's one saving grace are those few individuals that for whatever reason use their money and power to try and preserve or enhance the existence of people and environments not directly connected to them. Unfortunately, many of these people slip by unnoticed to the general public leaving the impression that someone representing the better angels of our nature never existence at all.

I recently learned about the passing of one of those individuals who really didn't have to use his own fortune to work to preserve an area of the planet which he was not directly connected. His name was Doug Tompkins and I first learned of him watching the 2010 documentary, 180 Degrees South: Conquerors of the Useless.

Born in Ohio in 1943, Doug Tompkins moved west in the early 60's taking part in numerous rock climbing and ski racing event before he and his his wife at the time, Susie, in 1964 founded the outdoor company,The North Face. Later they founded, under the humblest of terms, another company by the name of Esprit. By 1978 sales from Esprit were topping over 100 million a year but concerns over the environmental impact of the fashion industry caused him to sell his share to his now ex-wife, Susie, and take up conservation projects in southern South America after moving to Chile.

Tompkins' first conservation project was Pumalin Park in the Palena Province of Chile consisting of an 800,000 acre region of the Valdivian temperate rain forest. From there he and others went on to purchase more land immediately turning these new parcels in national parks. Here's the rub, after becoming the largest private landowner on earth all these lands were first rehabilitated then turned over to the countries they were located. Tompkins other projects include developing sustainable agriculture techniques and promoting biodiversity.

He passed away on December 8 in southern Chile when heavy waves caused his kayak to capsize. After rescue he was flown to a hospital but eventually died of acute hypothermia.

What I find fascinating about the late Mr. Tompkins is that he kept his public presence extremely low key, even though had he actively sought the spotlight it might have drawn more attention to his environmental causes. When you take into the consideration all the medium-level rich publicity leeches and outright megalomaniacal millionaires and billionaires out to reshape the world in their narcissistic image, Mr. Tompkins' understated and unselfish efforts provides a welcome but brief renewal of hope for our species.

Jump over to the websites below to learn about his environmental efforts.

Tompkins Conservation

Conservacion Patagonia

 Check out 180 Degrees South on Netflix. It's a fantastic documentary.

 

The Race Against Extinction

 “It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist; the threat is rather to life itself.” 

Rachel Carson

While some people around this poor misbegotten planet, mostly stupid Americans, still want to debate the facts about human-induced climate change, there are a few groups trying to limit the overall damage our species is causing. One group at the Australian Institute of Marine Science are using the National Sea Simulator to manually breed enhanced corals that can survive in an ocean damaged by the effects of climate change.

Their chief worry is the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef located just off the northeast coast of Queensland, for the geographically impaired that is one of the states of making up the Commonwealth of Australia. The Great Barrier Reef is quite frankly the largest living thing on Earth. It stretches 2300 kilometers long and is made up of thousands of reefs and hundreds of islands made up of over 600 types of hard and soft coral. The number of species that are connected to that ecosystem is probably incalculable ranging from various jellyfish and other mollusks to cephalopods, along with all manner of sharks, and marine mammals.

Despite it obvious importance to the health of the planet over the last twenty-seven years half of the coral cover has died from various reasons with climate change being one of the chief factors in its destruction. However over the next five years the scientists working at the National Sea Simulator are going breed corals that can withstand the stress caused by warmer temperatures and increased oceanic acidity.

Using several of the thirty-three tanks at the facility they will alter the salinity, temperature, and pH in the water to see which of the coral test subjects can adapt to the changing environment. A few of the tanks will even be setup to simulate the oceanic conditions we will almost certainly face at the end of the twenty-first century. The specimens most tolerate the worsening conditions will then be crossbreed with others down the years to further strength them, a process called “Assisted Evolution.”

It goes without saying that some are troubled with the idea of breeding “supercorals” that just might overrun the unaltered native species. Yeah, there are plenty of examples of humans, with the best intentions, totally screwing things up beyond all recognition. But the fact remains that climate change will more than likely wipe out the vast majority of the world's coral reefs, even if our species magically woke up tomorrow morning and ended all use of fossil fuels. Not only has the proverbial bus left the freaking station but the bridges of commonsense have been long burned.

Not to sound alarmist, but realizing that is how this will come off, those fighting to mitigated climate change are now just trying to prevent a global holocaust with the human species a possible victim of its own shortsightedness. So I have no trouble with a few decent people trying to save one of the living wonders of the planet. This is now not just a race against reef extinction but of Homo sapiens as well. 

Scientific American:  Scientists Fast-Track the Evolution of the Great Barrier Reef's Corals. 

At 135,000 square miles, the Great Barrier Reef reigns as the world's largest living structure. Located off the northeastern coast of Australia, it houses more than 600 species of coral and thousands of other types of marine animals, too. Yet the reef's future looks bleak. In the 27 years from 1985 to 2012, half of its coral cover vanished. A significant proportion of the loss is attributable to climate change, which has strengthened destructive tropical cyclones and made surrounding waters warmer and more acidic. Conservation efforts alone, including protected zones and water-quality improvements, will not do the job. To further combat coral loss, marine biologists at a new research facility in Australia, called the National Sea Simulator (above), have devised a more radical approach: they are manually breeding supercorals capable of living in the increasingly inhospitable sea.

The Dog and Butterfly

 A picture of Sparky the Dog

For reasons that are both quite complicated and paradoxically simple I don't get to make my mental health trips down to the coast like I did a few years back. These trips were never longer than a weekend but the ability to spend a few hours walking on a quiet beach did a lot to make the always pleasantly hellish suburban existence I am forced to endure tolerable. I started making these trips when my kids were too young to be involved in school or social activities so whenever my lovely spouse started showing signs of demonic possession I would load them up and drive to Charleston to see the sights, or further down the road, to the beaches of Pawleys Island.

Once my son, Darth Spoilboy, and later my daughter, Darth Wiggles, got older and became involved in the usual activities associated with children of their age that was when my duties as a dad started to exert a pull on me like gravity making me forego my trips. Another force that has only grown stronger over time tying down to home is the maintenance required on both the yard and house. Nothing says suburbanites are just a new type of serfs forever bound to their small plots of land more than seeing some fool spend an entire Saturday trying make his yard look like a miniature English estate. Taking care of the exterior and interior repairs of the average American McMansion is a never ending job where once you think you have reached the end of the “Honey-do list” the clueless homeowner returns to square one just to restart the cycle yet again.

Because of these obstacles and a few others like a job schedule that throw a monkey wrench into my weekend making drives down to the coast more exhausting that relaxing I was forced to find a different way to decompress. It was the establishment of my tiny vegetable garden and the purchase of a plastic lawn chair that allowed me to create a place in my backyard to find solitude and restful contemplation.

My little spot is nothing to brag about, but due to its particular position in my backyard, I have close to absolute privacy from my neighbors. Combine that with a tree that provides shade I can comfortably read or listen to music even on the hottest of days. More importantly, on the days no one is running some damn piece of lawn equipment I can sit back and listen to birds, enjoy the breeze, and watch the insects flutter about while thinking profound thoughts about space, time, and the nature of existence.

Since I work third-shift, my usual afternoon habit once I get out of bed is to take both the dogs outside to allow them to do their business in the backyard. As the dogs wander around, I spend about twenty to thirty minutes watering the garden and then reading. All things being equal, it's not a trip to the beach but that short period of time does allow me to decompress slightly, at least enough not to want to strangle many of the people I have to deal with at work.

A couple of days ago it was a particularly nice afternoon with a steady breeze to cool things down and enough clouds overhead to take the edge off the horrendously bright sunshine. Adding to the pleasantness, at that moment none of the neighborhood serfs had any lawn equipment going allowing the sounds of nature to have free reign of the environment. The one final element that almost had me as close to a restful bliss as possible was a yellow and black butterfly that kept fluttering around my small garden.

While I feel secure enough in my manhood to openly write that I admire butterflies for their natural beauty and gentle grace it is a safe bet no other male in the area where I live would do the same. That being said, I sat there in my cheap plastic chair watching that marvel of evolution fly from one plant to the next. It wasn't just that small creature's beauty, I was also amazed at the physics that allowed such an awkward looking lifeform to take to the air. While I am agnostic, as I watched that butterfly I was almost overwhelmed by a spiritual feeling. Now this was not a coming to Jesus moment, it was more along the lines of a spiritual encounter Neil deGrasse Tyson or the late Carl Sagan might have involving a deep admiration for the complexities of life on our planet.

As I was pursuing this natural bliss, both my dogs are also still outside generally doing what canines like to do, that is sniffing everything their noses find interesting and then peeing on that item. So as I was watching the butterfly I really didn't pay attention as Sparky the Dog ambled closer to my garden. The butterfly, not really aware of his surroundings or the larger lifeforms nearby, continued to flutter from one plant to the next probably quite happy to find so many flowers on my tomato and pepper plants. That turned out to be a fatal mistake.

Sparky never gave any indication that he noticed the butterfly, but as the winged insect innocently jumped from one plant to the next my dog did a small leap and caught the creature in his mouth.

“Sparky!” I yelled upset that he had total destroyed my moment of spiritual Zen.

Sparky in turn just looked up at me like I was crazy and swallowed the butterfly. With the moment now ruined, I got up and went back inside the house.

“It would serve you right if that butterfly was poisonous.” I told Sparky as we walked up the steps of the backyard deck. I swear, the dog seemed to look up at me again and smile. It was then I decided I've got to figure out a way to start taking my trips to the coast again.

Nomad Feet 4: Doing Disney's Animal Kingdom

Wednesday my motley crew took a break from the parks and rested at the resort. Since it was relatively early when I struck out I found a perfect piece of real estate directly underneath a tree that would have provided cooling shade all day. Top it all off there was a music speaker nearby that had relaxing African music coming from it. Adding to my sheer pleasure was a margarita I drank after the poolside waitress brought it to me. Frankly, I didn't want to leave but my wife made lunch reservations at one of the resort restaurants and made it clear there would be issues if I didn't get up and come with her and the girls. Don't ask me who that woman is to the left of the picture, she grabbed my recliner not two seconds after I had to get up.   

Darth Wiggles and Darth Gadget. Had to force both of them into the water to get this picture. Both brought various computer tablets and laptops and would have much rather stayed in the room playing.

We hit Animal Kingdom on Thursday. The huge "Tree of Life" is, of course, fake, it's mostly the top half of an undersea oil rig covered over with cement. If you enlarge this picture you might be able to see the animal figures molded into the sides. There is a theater at the bottom.

One of the first attractions we hit was Kali River Rapids. It's a pretty typical "river ride" were the object is both to get wet and somehow stay dry as the circular raft bounces around the waterway. I've gone six straight times and not gotten wet. Truthfully that is kind of weird considering the designers clearly meant for all the riders to get soaked and a bit of a disappointment. 

Another huge ride is Expedition Everest, a roller coaster ride that has the honor of also being the highest physical point in the state of Florida. As roller coaster go, it's fairly tame with the exception being short part where it goes backward through a tunnel in total darkness. I found that slightly unnerving and little kids might panic.

The Kilimanjaro Safaris is the biggest attraction at Animal Kingdom. Now Disney likes to make out that they are actually acting in a manner benefiting the conservation of many of the animals in this section and while I believe that is partly true I am skeptical enough to think this ride is just a more elaborate fantasy than say the Pirates of the Caribbean. All things considered with education so bad in the United States I can't fault them for a honest effort in trying to inform a public that a majority of times doesn't have the attention span of a gnat. 

An endangered White Rhino.

A small segment of the open savanna area

A male lion resting while all the women are at work.

A baby elephant nursing. I'll be honest and say that while Disney is just another corporation, with all the associated faults, most of their efforts are benign with some actually being helpful to the greater good. The Disney parks are one of the few places left in America where rich and poor literally rub elbows and get to interact on a human level. Along with basic education on such things as environmental concerns they do a good job, compared to the average American nightly news cast which can't due to time concerns and the fact the Suits running the show don't want the populace upset. I'll have one more of these travel posts before I return to my usual rants and crappy fiction, now I'm off to the pool.