Where the Sidewalk Ends.: Welcome

21 July 2007

Welcome

Welcome to my weblog. The title of this blog, "Where the Sidewalk Ends", is the title of a particular volume of poems and drawings by Shel Silverstein. It not only was one of my favorite books as a kid, but the title nicely reflects my work, my life, my interests and advocations, and where I generally feel comfortable and at peace. We cannot clear and pave everything, though we seem to be giving a valiant effort to do so, as a species.

"Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell."-- E. Abbey

Sit still. In silence, with me, observe and listen to the world around you. Listen to that hum. Feel that vibration. Hear the song.

The purpose of this site is to update friends and family of my whereabouts. The opportunity to share photographs and journal-type entries that illustrate my travels.

In truth, it is really just an experiment. I've never done anything like this. I'm curious as to how much time one must put in to it, and if I'll end up having that as well as the energy.

Again, thanks for checking in and continue to seek out the places beyond the concrete, those wonderful worlds within our own...that begin, just past where the sidewalk ends.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: I am so glad you have started a blog! I hope you will be able to find time to keep up with it during your next adventure. It could be a great link to you as your are out there with the birds and the water. You are definitely a man full of interesting thoughts and I look forward to reading what you share!; July 24, 2007 at 8:18 PM

Post a Comment

Hawaiian Monk Seals

The most endangered seal in the U.S., with only around 1500 in existance. This animal has always had a fragile phenology due to the precarious transition from nursing pup - to weened pup. This species had its population lowered due to a number of factors including human harrassment, historical hunting among others. There are those in certain groups and agencies that have had the opinion that in order to help this animal, the culling of the Galapagos Shark, one of its main predators, from nearby waters that seals use as the way to bring the population back. An oceanic apex predator had nothing to due with the seals' population decline. Interesting how we humans immediately go to predator persecution in various aspects of wildlife management and conservation. The last shark crew on Tern I., not without effort, took all of zero Galapagos Sharks. Cunning, we as a species are sometimes. Anyhow, the outlook for the HI Monk Seal is not a rosy one, though many biologists are working extremely hard on its behalf. The world has already lost the Caribbean Monk Seal and the Mediterranean Monk Seal. Unfortunately these guys may be next. I felt absolutely honored and fortunate to have been able to see them during their extremely important restings on the shore, as well as the incredible experiences of being with them once in awhile snorkeling.

Tristram's Storm-petrel (Oceanodroma tristrami)

According to The Birds of NA, no.673, 2002; In the US this sp. breeds only on HI Archipelago, where it is the rarest and smallest breeding seabird, exact location for most colonies are still unknown.(we have them on Tern, and monitor the small population).The TRSP is one of the largest Storm-petrels. Breeding only in the remote NW HI Islands and small islands off Japan. It is considered threatened.(Birdlife International,2000) Because of the secretive habits and remoteness and/or inaccessibilty of their breeding sites, estimates of populations are out of date and inaccurate, making their protection difficult.**This guy was bumping our screen door last night. A tubenose, like shearwaters, petrels, even albatross. **For more about TRSP's, refer to the Nov. 4th entry entitled Nocturne.