Leaping Panthers; Feeding Wolves, Copulating Antelope

I have even more respect for our Sun as it will face the Barbault Basket later this month.

Happiest day, beloved Joy Train Rider! I love you. Bless you. I affirm we are doing well.

In all the ways humans don’t control, I am confident the universe is working implacably to maintain harmony. It is through no effort of ours that the Sun does not fall from the sky and incinerate us, or that two of the Senators most responsible for America’s predicament have suddenly been removed from the floor.

It is comforting to think that the Universe has its own timetable, and my only responsibility is to do all I am impelled to do. Whether it’s to say something when it might feel uncomfortable or to take the action I feel will inure to the good though I’d rather avoid it, obedience to my inner voice is the source of happiness in my life.

The richness of the lifestyle I’ve enjoyed as a result of applying these tendencies to our National Park System struck me this weekend. When I went to market a young woman asked to interview me. She was getting perspectives on how people feel about the current hurricane season following Hurricane Melissa. She asked me to roll a dice and she’d ask questions she’d written corresponding to each number, with some being just for fun:

“If you could live the life of any movie star or TV personality, who would that be?”

“My own,” I said. “With a little more money.”

I laughed at myself, but how many movie stars have seen the Milky Way Galaxy over the Grand Canyon and The Badlands National Parks? Or spotted a grizzly bear walking down the road in Denali National Park and Preserve, or heard the trilling song of the Canyon Wren in Boot Canyon, Big Bend as I have?

Experiencing the freedom and diversity of the Great American Outdoors topped by our world class National Parks comes at a far smaller price than an onscreen career, and the best thing is that it’s open to almost everyone. The National Park(s) in your state or your county, and local parks are entrancing playgrounds and simultaneously “the world’s greatest open air university,” as our friend Retired Park Service Director Robert Stanton often says.

Enjoying our natural treasures may not be as easy or affordable as it used to be, with the frequent lawless activities of ICE plus the severe reduction in Park Rangers and managers, and increased entrance fees.

But my heart was never so seared as when I read the story: How Trump and Congress Are Attacking the Endangered Species Act – and What You Can Do from Earthjustice:

“For over 50 years, the Endangered Species Act has prevented thousands of plant and animal species from disappearing, including bald eagles, gray wolves, grizzly bears, and humpback whales. It’s no surprise that 84% of Americans support this monumental conservation law…

“. . .However, the Trump administration just finalized a new rule that changes the regulatory definition of “harm” to exclude habitat. This unprecedented move opens the door to widespread destruction of habitat for endangered wildlife. . .”

Earthjustice includes a way to make our voices heard and help turn this back. I’m doing it as soon as we get back to the station. I leave it up to your conscience and ability to do all you can, because when we remove the few protections they have so we can cut down their habitat and decimate their numbers, it releases the most obvious catastrophe: as the wild goes, so do we.

On today’s tour I want to relive with you some of the most exciting wildlife experiences I’ve had. Before National Parks became part of my vocabulary I didn’t even know that some of these animals are still alive and WILD in our country. If I thought about them at all, I figured we’d have to go to Africa to see them.

Little did I know that huge marque wildlife abound in America’s National Parks and Forests, principally due to the Endangered Species Act that has been law since 1973.

I’m going to start with the animal I most wish to see - the Florida Panther. Living in Florida we had friends who saw them between Everglades National Park and the Big Cypress National Preserve. It gives me the greatest thrill when I’m in that vicinity to think that this could be the day I actually spot one. I think how excited children must be when they learn that it is possible. Immediately their imagination must expand.