Tag: environment
-
National Parks: Revisiting “America’s best idea”
Arches National Park (Neal Herbert photo courtesy of National Park Service) Historian and author Wallace Stegner once called the National Park System “America’s best idea.” Nearly a century after the park service was established, most who have had the privilege of visiting a few of our national parks would be sure to agree. Nothing captures…
-
Coasting along the Costalegre: Cuixmala, the Soul’s Resting Place
Part 4 of a series This fairyland of Moorish-style villas scattered about on a 25,000-acre nature preserve was once the private hideaway of British multimillionaire-turned-conservationist Sir James Goldsmith. The late Goldsmith’s family decided to open the estate to guests and the low-profile, exclusive resort has been visited by the likes of Madonna and Tom Cruise.…
-
Coasting along the Costalegre: Manzanilla and Tenacatita
Part 3 of a series We awoke early this morning and went to the wildlife refuge at the backside of Barra de Navidad, a place seldom frequented by tourists but a hotspot for migratory waterfowl. A beautiful place to watch the sunrise and the sometimes extraordinary birds that appear there; once I saw several very…
-
The Butterfly Effect: Julia Butterfly Hill in Magis
By Tracy L. Barnett Magis Magazine October 2011 “Fierce winds ripped huge branches off the thousand-year-old redwood, sending them crashing to the ground two hundred feet below. The upper platform, where I lived, rested in branches about 180 feet in the air … As the tree branches whipped around, they shredded the tarp that served…
-
Giving Thanks, Making Peace
MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Thanksgiving day – I awoke this morning far from home and family but filled with a profound sense of gratitude. Grateful for the sun that was just beginning to brighten the sky outside my window; grateful for the dear friends who have given me a home in this city of cities.…
-
A Mother's Day greeting from the Racoons
Mother’s Day is celebrated here in Guatemala on the 10th of May, regardless of what day of the week it falls on. project management assignment So today was the big day – and I do mean big. It began at 6:30 am with a mobile loudspeaker blasting an upbeat blessing from the streets, mañanitas-style. That…
-
A Mother’s Day thanks to Guatemalan world changers
QUETZALTENANGO, Guatemala – I awoke this sparkling Mother’s Day to the sight of the Santa Maria volcano from my rooftop, rising green and conical over the mountains that surround this charming city in the highlands. Quetzaltenango, known to Guatemalans by its indigenous name, Xela, is quite literally a breath of fresh air. The slap-slap-slap of…