FIRST THOUGHTS

My friend Thom just created this blog for me, he's excited and I'm terrified! I can't imagine what I am going to say that will intrigue people. But I tell him stories about my life on an island and things I discover about the world, and he keeps saying "you need a blog, you need a blog, you need a blog!" So today he created this and now I have no excuses about how I am still so computer illiterate...soooooooooo welcome to my thoughts! Thank you, Thom!!! (I think...)

The picture at the top is the beach where I swim every day. Gorgeous! Larsens, on the N.E. side of Kauai. If you go I recommend NOT swimming! There is a sign at the top of the trail you hike down that shows how many people have drowned there. Another drowning occurred a month ago that hasn't yet been added to the list. So why do I swim there you ask? Am I insane? Death wish? Someone dared me? I am there because of the reef. The reef that is still partially alive. More so than many other reefs around the island, because the area above the beach is still mostly wilderness and has not been developed. Coral that is purple and blue and yellow, octopus that change colours and shape and texture as they touch different things, eels in spectacular, patterned skins, and more endemics than I have seen in other places. Endemics? Something that exists only in that place. Even though the oceans are all connected, many species have developed that don't occur anywhere else. I LOVE that! In the ENTIRE world, you can see that species ONLY in that one place. Wow. So every day when I see the endemics, I clap for them. Bravo for being so unique! I know, quaint. It's something my little sister does that makes me squirm with delight: she claps for any spectacle of Nature and says "GOOD JOB"! How cute is that????!!!!!! So I stole it. Now "my" endemics that I see every day get clapped for.

Even on Kauai a pristine reef is rare. It breaks my heart to write this, but in the 10 years I have lived in Hawaii, I have watched reefs die WITH MY OWN EYES! People who don't get into the water every day probably come on vacation and think "pretty". It is shocking to actually SEE the progression month after month of things dying and feel like I can do NOTHING about it. Except make choices that will not harm the reef, and talk to people and hope they are willing to hear. Here is the thing: every single thing that goes down the drain on an island, any drain, goes to the ocean. So every chemical in every product lands on the reef, and all run-off from development. And this is not unique to the islands. On the mainland ALL water is connected to the ocean eventually either through rivers or ground water. We have created so many chemicals that go into products that do not exist in Nature and are toxic to her. She has not yet learned a way to cope with the things we have conjured. Try reading the ingredients on your shampoo bottle. How many of those things do you actually know what they are and what they do once they go down the drain? I'm sure some rocket scientist will know every single one. Not me! I have only learned since I moved to Hawaii what they do. I still have no idea what they all are or why they are in there. Doesn't matter. What does matter is that people realize they are making a difference every single day. We have to decide what KIND of difference we want to make. Perhaps most people think their contribution is so small it is insignificant. But since we all have a choice, why not choose one that helps rather than harms, no matter how small that may be? One step toward restoring rather than one step toward degrading, even though it is still just one step. And then the next day you take another step one way or the other. Hopefully choosing again and again to help rather than harm. So here is one: choose things that go down the drain that are biodegradable. You may be sick of hearing that word, but it means you have chosen something that Nature can recognize and cope with. The reef will have that much more of a chance of living in all it's spectacular wonder. Imagine if ALL people suddenly realized that. It would no longer be one small step. Each drop adds or takes away. You already know what I hope you choose! And if you ever get to swim on a pristine reef in the ocean, or even a lake or river, you will know you did your part to help it live.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! My first blog!!!! Thanks for listening! (thanks Thom...) d.