finished a draft of my first book!

My kids Sam and Savannah being silly - as usual - in Mount Field National Park in Tasmania, Australia. This was near a stream where Sam spotted a platypus. Copyright (c) 2006 Wendee Holtcamp

I am excited to report that I finished the first full draft of my book on making peace between evolution and Christianity! It's in my editors' hands, and I'm waiting for news, and we'll start editing for publication in - if all goes as planned - Fall 2010. It's been a long journey for this book. I started writing the book proposal in New Mexico which I blogged about toward the beginning days of this very blog in November 2005, and I also published an essay in E/The Environmental Magazine about that great solo adventure in Back to Nature: What is it about simplicity and solitude that inspires writers?. The book goes as far back as 2003 when I testified at the Texas State Board of Education hearings over biology textbooks, but really goes all the way back to my childhood and my own spiritual formation. I'm very excited about the book and though it took way longer to write than I ever imagined, and was more challenging, I am finally over the hump and super excited about refining it and presenting it to the world. A bit scared too! It's my baby!

In other news, my next big adventure: I plan to fly to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving with Doug, and then we'll drive back! We will go to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park - my furst time there - and to Louisiana's Northshore for some R&R. It's going to be a long drive but I'm excited to visit some states I've never visited before. I have been to every state out west, and only a few on the east coast but will get to see Pennsylvania, and West Virginia for the first time, and maybe North Carolina (The national park is in both Tennessee and North Carolina, so if we drive through the whole thing, I'll see both states. I've been to TN before though). I'll get home just in time for my lovely daughter's 15th birthday! She is very excited about getting her driver's permit. Me, not so much...

On a personal level, despite some ups and downs in figuring out communication in relationships, my spirits have improved dramatically from a few months back. There are a couple reasons. I am convinced that a main reason is that I hadn't been on any big trips for the year and a half prior... except for the one to Portland, Oregon during December when I got snowed in! Taking another trip to Oregon and Washington in August so rejuvenated my spirit! I love traveling so much. But also, though I am a person who has long been adamantly opposed to antidepressants, I started taking a very low dose a few months back, but then got off of them a month ago and I feel great! I believe that they helped me through a rough patch, and my body and mind, perhaps has fixed itself, who knows. Though I'm not sure what my future holds on many levels, I am feeling great and excited about the possibilities!

Now that the draft of my book is complete, I have started to ponder the many things I've long put off that I have passion for. Should I produce and star in a documentary on sand mining on the San Jacinto River, raising some funds through the nonprofit organize I run (though it's been on hiatus for a while) - the San Jacinto Conservation Coalition? Should I turn my material from my online writing green class into an e-book? Should I start a local natural foods co-op? That last one is a recent passion of mine, and the biggest and most challenging idea but I'm pondering it. I'm considering starting a book club geared towards socially conscious books and documentaries, and I've run the idea by several of my conscientious friends in the area and we're going to get that started soon. The first book? Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals, which has gotten a lot of attention so far. His article, The Fruits of Family Trees, in New York Times Magazine based on the book wowed me.

a few of my favorites

Sunrise on North Padre Island
Copyright (c) 2006 Wendee Holtcamp

Just a super quick update. I am so close to being done with a full draft of my book. So close that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel but it's still not done which frustrates me because I was only one half-chapter away when I got back from Montana and I have not had time to just do that single half chapter!! I understand why, just basically getting caught up at home, spending time with my beautiful awesome kiddos when I can, some time with Doug, and then writing several Animal Planet blog posts so I can have a week to focus - this week. And here it is, Tuesday!

I wanted to link to some of my favorite Animal Planet Animals in the News blog posts in case you haven't had a chance to read them.

Massive oil spill off Australian coast puts marine life at risk - The news in yesterday's post horrifies me because some 400-2,000 barrels of oil per day are spilling into the Timor Sea off Western Australia and it's been going on since August 21st. Yet it's barely made the news. WWF-Australia made an expedition there to survey the damage to wildlife.

Hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" may kill animals- I like this post because it reports on something that, once again, has only started getting the public attention it deserves. It's a frightening story that we all should be aware of! My friend Sharon Wilson who writes the Blue Daze blog has been a longtime advocate of drilling reform in the Barnett Shale of Texas.

Open Season on Gray Wolves - I like this one because it's based on my recent visit to Yellowstone National Park and seeing the wolves in the wild, then I give an update on the first wolf hunting season in recent history.

Costa Rica’s “Leatherback National Park” threatened - Discovery Channel sent me to Las Baulas National Park in 1999 for a totally amazing expedition Love & Death on Turtle Beach! Now the national park may get downgraded by Costa Rica's own government.

Meatless Mondays - I have enjoyed writing about food/meat issues on the blog, which is something "animal" related that I never originally intended to write about. But as I come across story ideas, more and more I realize that food issues affect us all, and actually a lot more than many other wildlife or animal stories. I am trying to do "meatless monday" which means no meat on Mondays, and it's embraced by the likes of Paul McCartney and many others. The goal is to help curb global warming because meat production is one of the leading contributors to greenhouse gases. This post gives the facts about meat consumption as gathered from various sources, and the low-down on meatless Mondays.

Good year for endangered coho salmon - Again part of this was based on my visit to the Pacific Northwest and I really like writing about the places I visit, and learning more about the salmon hatcheries and the endangered species of salmon that live there. I like to choose sustainably harvested seafood and this blog has helped me learn a lot in that regard. According to most seafood watch reports, Alaska salmon is mostly ok, farmed salmon is bad to eat, and it depends on which precise river drainage in the Pacific NW you get your fish from on whether it's sustainable or not...

That's all for now! :) Visit and leave some comments, if you get a chance!

home again home again jiggity jig

Yellow flowers in Elissa's yard in Montana.
Copyright (c) 2009 Wendee Holtcamp

Just wanted to give a quick update. I'm back home in Houston after a very productive and awesome time in Montana. My goal was to write two full chapters of my book, and I accomplished that goal and even got another half chapter completed. So now I have to complete that last half-chapter, and I'll have a full draft of the baby into my editors. Yea! This book writing thing has been way harder than I ever imagined, on many different levels. I will be so incredibly happy to see my book in real-book-form one of these days! If all goes as planned, it should be on shelves in Fall 2010.

I got back Saturday evening after a crazy day of airport travel. Have been writing up several Animal Planet blog posts so I can again shift my focus back to finishing my book! I have a feature due mid-November so I plan to try to get my book draft done next week then shift my focus again to pikas, the topic of my next article.

Tomorrow I am giving a mini-photography workshop project to my son's middle school. A few weeks back I did a journaling workshop, and I'll be picking those up from students so I can read them. I had assigned them each an "outdoor observation journal" which I also use in the online writing class I teach (the next one starts Oct 31 if you're interested check it out!) But the next project I'm working with students on was inspired by the documentary movie Born Into Brothels where a handful of kids born into poverty (children of sx workers specifically) in Calcutta India's red light district were given cameras and it allowed them to express themselves in ways they weren't able to in words. I was touched by the updates I read of Avijit Halder the one child who made his way to America, first attending school in Utah and then being accepted into the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. He seems wise beyond his years. At any rate the people involved in the production of Born Into Brothels have an awesome nonprofit called Kids with Cameras which inspired my idea to have these middle school students capture a day in their life, through the camera lens.

In other news:

I found out this week that I won 1st place (Gold) in the International Regional Magazine Association (IRMA) Awards for my article Dead Zone in Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine! My editors at the magazine submitted it, not me, and I didn't even know about it until I found out I won! It made my week!

I went to see The Cove documentary at the Bozeman Film Festival (which is really just a movie shown at a theatre...). I really enjoyed it, especially since I'd written about it for Animal Planet, but it was not quite as exciting as I had hoped for, given the hype. What impressed me, though, is how much the film has made a difference in raising awareness of the issues, in helping the Japanese/Taiji locals become aware of the issue of mercury contamination, and in - so far - preventing the mass slaughter of the dolphins this year.

Elissa is an amazing cook and I'm trying out many of the recipes she made on my own. So far so good, though I'm still learning on some of the things, like how long it takes to actually caramelize onions! I am enjoying trying the recipes out on (my boyfriend) Doug and the kids. She follows the Paleo Diet which is high in meat, veggies, and fruits and low in sugar, dairy, and any grains other than whole grains. I'm trying to follow along with it sort of now that I'm back home. The Mark's Daily Apple has some info too.

Yellowstone National Park!

Photos from Wendee & Elissa's Most Excellent Adventure! We went to Chico Hot Springs in Pray, Montana and Yellowstone's north side. Highlights include soaking in the hot springs in 20 degree weather... closing the saloon down at 2am, and in the park seeing two wolf packs and hearing them howl!! Plus we saw bison, elk, bighorn sheep, a fox, and blacktail deer. Not bad! No bears or moose though! The only moose I saw was dead on top of someone's car driving through Bozeman. Oh and we saw some "homeo sapens"! :) (Inside joke! Well not anymore! LOL)

Emigrant Peak near Pray, Montana. This is where Elissa and Ben got married!

Another shot of Emigrant Peak. This is just around the corner from Chico Hot Springs Resort where we stayed last night. We soaked in the hot springs, had dinner, and then went out to the "saloon" and listened to the Clumsy Lovers play, and then we stayed until they closed at 2am!

The caboose we stayed in at Chico Hot Springs - it was so cool!!

Inside the caboose. It was a gorgeous room!

Hanging at the saloon at Chico Hot Springs.

We met some great people after dinner at the Chico Hot Springs dining roon.
Elissa and I on our most excellent adventure!
This arch gateway represents the original entrance to America's very first national park (Yellowstone, obviously)! Now most people use the east and west entrance and fewer visitors come to the northside but the Lamar Valley is a fantastic place to view wildlife. :)

Bighorn sheep alongside the road, just before entering Yellowstone National Park from the North entrance.

Icicles.

This is the walkway at Mammoth Hot Springs. There were several hot springs here which you can see by the rising steam!

A view along the Mammoth Hot Springs trail/walkway

A closeup of the terracing at Minerva terraces - "living sculptures" formed by the hydrothermal activity.

A bighorn sheep on the mountainside. Hard to see in the pic this size, click to see it larger!

Elissa and me with a moose hat on! This was the spot where we saw the Druid Wolf pack (near Slough Creek) but they were too far away to get a photo of. While here we met some folks who follow the wolves around and love to observe them using scopes. They're the ones who knew what wolf pack it was. One had a radio collar on. We even heard and saw them howl!! THAT was sooo amazing!!

A baby bison amidst a herd.

Bison saying hi!

An old timey bus at Mammoth Hot Springs. I think they use these for tours.

The Yellowstone River.

Devil's Slide and the Yellowstone River

Elissa spotted a second wolf pack on the roadside in the Lamar Valley near Blacktail Deer Plateau. There are 3 wolves here, two black ones in the foreground and a third grey one coming down the hill that I didn't even see until I upped the contrast in Photoshop!

There are two wolves here, a black one and one barely visible behind it that it's grey -you can barely see its ears and head just to the right of the other one.

Here's another shot of the three wolves walking across the valley. It's not as zoomed in as the other pic above but if you click on it you can see it larger!

A big daddy-o! We heard him make his bugle call. He was in the town of Mammoth Hot Springs just inside the park entrance.

A baby elk in Mammoth Hot Springs (a little community just inside the park). The elk often go there and hang out and eat grass!

cloistered away in Bozeman

A view of the Montana mountains - shot using my Blackberry.
Copyright (c) 2009 Wendee Holtcamp

Time is flying by, but fortunately I've made some good progress on my book! I've edited the first four chapters, and gotten a substantial amount of the next one written - Land of the Lost - which is about creationism. In it I talk about my visit to the Creation Evidence Museum which I visited in late October 2008 - See my old blog post from then, Land of the Lost.

I have literally been in my yummy black fleece North Face sweatpants and t-shirts, no makeup, for the past week. I write in different corners of the house... downstairs I have a gas fireplace that is toasty warm and a couch, a round table with comfy stools, an office with a desk, and then my bed (where I'm at now). I write upstairs on the couch watching the snow fall as I did today... it was really coming down today! We got like 8 inches of snow!! The other day it snowed, then that all melted and it was sunny but cool. Then it snowed again starting last night through today. It's so pretty! I haven't really been out in it though.

The other day, I walked to the Bozeman Community Food Co-op which is 4 blocks from Elissa's house - we sooo need one of these in my community! I seriously have thought about opening one... then again I have way too many ideas for my own good sometimes! Anyway, I worked a bit upstairs at their coffee shop which has wifi. The view of the mountains is awesome - see the picture below. I took Elissa to the doc, and saw another beautiful view, the pic above is from the doc's office window. All these are just from my Blackberry. I need to upload some of my pics from my better camera but haven't yet. Last night they had some friends over to watch the Steelers-Chargers football game and I helped Elissa make a Thai food feast!

Other than writing, the only plans we have so far are to go see The Cove - a documentary about the dolphin slaughter in Japan - on Thursday at the Bozeman Film Festival - which is really just alternative movies playing at a local theater... and then we're talking about taking a couple days the following week to go to Chico Hot Springs, Yellowstone, and staying in Cooke City near the northeast park entrance. It's apparently a great time of year to see wildlife because the snows will have started bringing them into the valleys, and they're trying to fatten up in prep for the long winter. I will also probably let Elissa take me up in her Cessna and fly me over Yellowstone some other day too. She's been a pilot for a while. Here are a couple more pics. Now I'm back to writing!

The view out the back porch today with all the snow that has come down! It will probably melt soon though.

A view of the mountains from the upstairs coffee shop at the Bozeman Community Food Co-op.

First days in Bozeman

A mountain goat on Highline Trail in Glacier National Park, Montana
Copyright (c) 2007 Wendee Holtcamp

It's 1130 at night and I'm going to try to give a quick update without saying too much because I need a good night's sleep, and want to get up relatively early to write write write some more! I'm here in Bozeman, Montana at my dear friend Elissa's for the next 2 and a half weeks, cloistering myself away from the daily responsibilities of life to write a couple chapters of my book - God help me! Just wanted to share a few quick experiences so far, as I love my adventures, and I love sharing them! This is my second trip to Bozeman. The first time Matt and I were on a drive back from Alaska, moving to Texas. That was 1997. We stayed in a hotel and visited Elissa only briefly before stopping by Yellowstone and then to our new home. This time I'm staying in the downstairs of Elissa and her husband Ben's awesome home in the massive college town, population... 30,000. She think it's getting too big....

I have the whole downstairs to myself, with a bedroom, bathroom, office, kitchen and living room. Upstairs is their regular home, and today I got to use the awesome jacuzzi tub in her recently remodeled bathroom! There's wifi here, so I have everything I need to work, write, focus. As I mentioned before, she and Ben run a nursery in town so normally she'd be at work but she has had some shoulder pain and has been staying home. I've spent the last day and a half going over the chapters I've written thus far, outlining and determing what I've alreday said, and what I still need to say. I've just started outlining some of what will go in the new chapters. In the best of all worlds I'd get sooo much writing done I'll be just thrilled. Some moments I think I can do it, and other moments I get frustrated at how long the overview/review is taking me.

Elissa is an amazing cook! She follows something called the Paleo Diet which includes a lot of meat and veggies, some fruit but very little dairy, no grains or potatoes, and no sugar. I decided to try to follow while here. Instead of mass produced meat she eats a lot of game meat (she has a whole bison in her freezer!) or naturally grown organic meats (Speaking of mass produced meats, we watched the documentary Food, Inc tonight which I'll talk more about later...). Elissa has a huge garden so a lot of veggies and herbs are grown right in her backyard and the others she buys at the co-op down the street and elsewhere. And guess what? Yesterday I awoke to SNOW!! We had to rush to cover up her herbs and veggies because she hadn't yet harvested them yet. Today, she was cutting up all the herbs and plans to make various pestos - traditional pesto, tarragon pesto, mint-almond pesto, etc.

Wow! I'm so impressed with everything she does!! And the food - which I will provide photos of soon - is out of this world! So flavorful and delicious!! Yesterday for dinner we had blackened salmon with cucumber-mint sauce - and broccoli and salad. Today for dinner we had chicken breast (organic free-range) with chile sauce in roasted yellow peppers, with a bed of cabbage and sliced nectarines on the side.

Anyway I wanted to share a few pics I took on my blackberry. They're nothing special but just to give an idea... more will come soon!

You know a town is cool when you're greeted by a T.Rex sculpture at the airport!

And then, a sculpture of a bear... which says "Guardian spirit." I like to say the bear's my totem because when I did a guided visualization to determine my guardian spirit, child spirit and something else the bear came to me. And I see a bear in just about every national park I've been to.

Me & Elissa - lifelong friends! We lived next door in 7th grade in Beaverton Oregon.

Elisa's yard is xeriscaping at its best - no grass!

The "menu" from the previous week on the wall. Little did I know I've come to my own private resort I think! It reads: Bison roast with hot pepper sauce and salad. Skinless goyozas (a meatball) with carrots, cukes, lettuce. Tilapia wrapped with herb pesto, and beets.

She makes herb-infused olive oil and infused vodkas.

A snapshot of the snow covering the garden. It melted today but I'm sure to see more while I'm here! It's been pretty chilly.

Camping & tubing the San Marcos River

Sam fishing at Onion Creek in McKinney Falls State Park where we camped this past weekend. We fished a bit on Sunday morning and he caught one largemouth bass and let it go. It was about a foot long. Sam had hoped to do more fishing and to fish in a clear stream like the San Marcos (where we tubed the day before) but I didn't realize Onion Creek wasn't a clear stream like the San Marcos, Comal etc. Next time!

This past weekend I took Sam, his friend Brent, and Doug to the Texas Hill Country to camp and to tube down the San Marcos River. I hadn't gone tubing since I was in high school which was waaaay too many years ago. I had only tubed down the Guadalupe and Comal Rivers, both of which are nearby so this was a nice new adventure. There has been a major drought in the area, so the water level is low, and the flow was slow, but a big surprise awaited us at the end of the 40 minute or so float... a set of 3 created rapids, and drops, which were sooo much fun! You could go as many times as you wanted. When we got to the end, we went down the rapids with and without tubes several times, and then after a while, we took the water taxi back to the beginning where we floated one more time down. It was absolutely perfect tubing weather - nice and hot - which is good because the water is chilly especially at first! It's certainly not near as cold as, say, California's Merced River in Yosemite or any glacial fed lake so I told Sam to buck up and jump in! Once you're in it felt great.

After we floated down twice, we dried off and went to eat at the San Marcos River Grill & Pub, which sits on the river right overlooking the rapids. I'd smelled the burgers while tubing on the rapids and it made me hungry for burgers!! We sat down in the open bar area overlooking the river and the service was sooooo slow, and I had to basically get everything myself (literally the bartender was the only waitstaff for about 25 people)... BUT the food was great! Then we headed back to the park and crashed. Oh Sam made a small campfire and Brent & Sam made S'mores but I wasn't even hungry anymore. In the morn we went fishing a bit and then headed home. The kids had a great time tubing!! It was to celebrate Sam's 13th birthday which was a couple weeks ago.

Tomorrow I leave for Bozeman, Montana - I can't wait! Oh, we used a waterproof camera to take some tubing pics and I'm going to pick it up later from the photo place so hopefully I'll upload a couple of them too. Your good thoughts and prayers are much appreciated for me while I travel and WRITE my book the next weeks!

A view of the falls at the park.
Sam hooked a turtle, and Doug removed the hook and we let it go!

Sam Brent & Doug fishing Onion Creek
Sam fishing on the bank of Onion Creek Sunday morn, near some large bald cypress trees.
Another view of the falls on Onion Creek.
Sam and his daddy at his 13th birthday party last weekend.
The boys celebrate winning the fort building contest! That's Sam on the far left - you can barely see his face but it's proof he does smile in real life! (he almost never smiles for photos!)

new adventures ahead!

Logan Pass in Glacier National Park, Montana
Copyright (c) 2007 Wendee Holtcamp

A quick update just so everyone knows I haven't fallen off the face of the planet! We had to reschedule the camping and tubing trip from a couple weekends ago to this coming weekend due to rain... the Texas Hill Country desperately needs rains to replenish its aquifers and nourish its wildlife and so forth but we were a bit sad... the weather was so warm back then and now it's started to cool down. Normally you'd think, ok, that is a good thing for camping right? But the thing is... and this is a minor thing, really, but the San Marcos River emerges from a spring and stays right around 72 degrees, which is a bit chilly. It's perfect when it's blazing hot out but when it's 80 or 85 as it will be this coming weekend... well that may be a bit cold on the toesies (and behinds). But we will have fun anyway! Sam is bringing a friend of his and Doug is coming too. We plan to do the same basic thing I mentioned before- camp at McKinney Falls State Park and tube down the San Marcos River. Yea!

Hope I can upload a couple pics afterwards but the reality is I may not be able to for a while, as I leave on TUESDAY for yet another trip! And yes, as you can imagine I am totally inundated, overwhelmed, swamped, and basically going crazy. I have two bags packed for different trips, trying to back up my computer and print things I'll need for the plane trip, taxi the kids here and there (school, soccer practice, cross country practice etc) me to the gym, and write and research as many blog posts as I can SO that I can focus on one thing during the next 3 weeks while I'm away... writing a couple chapters in my book!!! Aye yi yi.

So where am I going you ask? Well, I have researched secluded getaways and friends' cabins for a couple years and after talking about it for oh months, years, I'm doing it! I decided to go stay with my friend Elissa in Bozeman Montana who is graciously opening her home to me to stay there! She has a basement (I think) that is like a self contained apartment so I'll stay there, work work work while she's at work (she and her husband own Sweetpea's Nursery) and we'll get to visit together in the evenings, and take a couple little excursions! Mostly I plan to write day and night! We plan to try to get to either Yellowstone National Park which is only an hour and a half away from her place (in Wyoming) or Glacier National Park which is 5 or 6 hours west, in Montana.

I've been to Yellowstone twice and absolutely love it! I love the geysers and grand prismatic pool and the bison and bears... The last time I went was a decade ago with the kids and Matt on our way back from our insanely long drive to Alaska and back (we got to visit Elissa then too) and the other time when I was 14 years old and moving between Portland, Oregon and Minneapolis, Minnesota. I went to Glacier a couple years ago with my dad, and if you're a faithful Bohemian Adventures reader, you may remember my blog post from then!

I am writing a feature about pikas, and hope to visit with a biologist working on them at Yellowstone but that may not be possible... again you may remember Dad and I went pika-spotting in Glacier a couple years back (pics are at the blog post in previous link) with grad student Lucas Moyer-Horner and I will be writing up that experience in this article. Pikas are so cute! They are also threatened by global warming, and there's a petition into the US Fish & Wildlife Service to list them as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

I'll end this now, and hope to update a wee bit from Montana! Godspeed!

hurricane anniversary, love, and disrespect

Sunrise at Richland Creek Wildlife Management Area, Texas
Copyright (c) 2007 Wendee Holtcamp

Sometimes a majority simply means that all the fools are on the same side.
--Claude McDonald

Not sure what I'm going to talk about but it's been 10 days so I owe you faithful readers something right? This one is for Melanie! :)

One year ago today (ie Sep 13th, though technically being after midnight it's now Sep 14, but we'll pretend it's still the 13th) - Hurricane Ike hit (see my Sep 2008 blogs for pics!)! It wasn't a scary storm where I sat in my nice brick house. But in my neighborhood and all around Houston it wreaked havoc! Particularly where I live there are lots of trees (though they're disappearing daily for subdivisions) and many of the isolated ones fell on people's roofs! I was very lucky that I had no damage other than a single fence thingie (what are they called?!).

We had no electricity for someting like 11 days!! Again I was very lucky and blessed because my friend across the street (a majot street) had it from day 1! I don't know why she was so lucky, but the vast majority of Houstonians did not have any for days and weeks. I think she was on the grid with a hospital. Anyway, so I've lived iwthout electricty in my childhood so it was no big deal! And I had an absolute blast hanging out with friends and having a much more laid back lifestyle for a few days. It was a hurrication!

My son's birthday happened just after the hurricane, so he didn't even get a party... this year something happened again! Well his birthday hasn't happened YET but we had planned to go camping and tubing this past weekend but had to reschedule due to rain. Some may like it but camping in the rain is NO FUN for me, in a tent... yuk. Been there done that, no thanks. Plus tubing is also not so fun in the rain! So let's hope and pray that in a couple weekends from now, it will be sunny and warm!!

I was really irritated at SC Rep Joe Wilson screaming "you lie" at President Obama in the middle of his speech. What complete disrespect! I could go on, but I won't. And I was also very frustrated that people were so up in arms about Obama talking to schoolkids. The hypocrisy with which the very same people oppose the same actions they didn't think twice about with "W" astounds me. It's extremely frustrating that a man who ran without any insults and mud-slinging at McCain or Clinton (he attacked their policies but was not disrespectful or dishonest) - and he often says he wants people to know they can disagree without being disagreeable - gets the exact opposite treatment by certain people! You can disagree with his policies without being disrespectful...

Other than that, I'll share a few bits of wisdom that have come my way the last week or so. I get this daily wisdom email thingie and today's was, in part:

"He believed that the love of his life, if he ever found the Right One, would fill all the gaps of his own personality. She dreamed that her perfect match would always respond gently, never willfully. After the honeymoon phase they naturally began to find imperfections and disappointments. Both wondered if they had chosen the Wrong One. But in a sense, there is no Right One for anyone. In another sense, there may be millions of Right Ones."

Which is interesting because D&I just started this class on communicating in relationship based on Harville Hendrix's amazing book Getting the Love You Want. It's technically for married couples, and I had done a workshop on it with my ex, and honestly it was one of the few things that truly had a big positive impact on our learning to communicate better so since I do not ever ever ever want to get divorced again, so I want to make darn sure that I can resolve deep and painful and complex issues satisfactorily and peacefully... so I am excited about the class!!!

And what we learned tonight (of course it's not new to me) was basically the same thing as I got in the email above. I believe that to truly love someone is not a feeling we have in ourselves, but an action we show to others. And in showing love to another person, we reflect the selfless love that Jesus taught and we became his hands and feet in the world to one another.

thankful!

Camping on our trek through eastern Nepal, very close to the site where we spotted endangered red pandas. We stayed here for a couple days because our fearless leader, Brian (Exec Director of Red Panda Network) became sick!
Copyright (c) 2007 Wendee Holtcamp

I wanted to post again since days are passing... lately I've been feeling very grateful, and have felt joyful again as well. It's not any one thing in particular, but just a spirit that seems to have come over me. One one level, I've always felt grateful, and have kept a gratitude journal on and off for years. But this feeling is different. I will see something very simple, like the t-shirts hanging in my closet and think, I am so glad that I have these clothes. I will make dinner for my kids and think, I am so blessed to have this opportunity to feed and nourish these beautiful, wonderful kids! I will wash dishes and think, I love a clean kitchen! Maybe that sounds silly, but it's true. I'm not sure where it came from, but it's yet one more thing to be thankful for - my thankful spirit right now! Here are some of things I'm very grateful for right now, in no particular order.

• Christy Nockels' and TobyMac's new songs, No Not One, and City on a Hill.
  
• KSBJ Christian radio and specifically the way they're apolitical and loving to all
  
• My Animal Planet blog gig - come visit!
  
• I am truly enjoying cooking more again!
  
• I love and have always loved food, and the diversity of flavors!
  
• I am loving this mango sherbert I bought recently...
  
• I am excited that I have started running again!
  
• I love the cooler weather that we're starting to see
  
• Doug and I are getting along beautifully and are stepping gradually back together in love
  
• I am so grateful for my two amazing children
  
• My good health
  
• I love hot water!
  
• I sooo enjoyed my trip to the Pacific NW and the friends & family I reconnected with
  
• I love that I can sleep in (on days I don't take kids to school that is)
  
• I love that I can work whenever I want, day or night... and take breaks whenever, too
  
• I love my life!
  
• I have a truly awesome career and love it!
  
• I am grateful for our free country and the ability to dissent and disagree
  
• I am so grateful for our change in political leadership, and the positive changes that are occuring; slow and steady turns the ship...
  
• I had an awesome Saturday hanging out with my best friend Daline!
  
• I am grateful for all the diversity of wonderful friends that I have!
  
• I love how Facebook allows me to connect briefly here and there with so many more people than I ever could otherwise
  
• I'm so happy for my dad to have found true love!
  
• I am thankful that Jesus was who he was. The way he lived, the things he said and did, and the selfless love embodied in his life blows my mind.
  
• I'm sure there are zillions of other things but these came to mind!
  

In other news... I'm taking Sam and a friend of his camping and tubing the San Marcos River for his 13th birthday! Another bohemian adventure!! The cool thing is that I haven't been tubing since I was in high school, which is longer ago than I care to admit... I used to love it though! The original idea was just to go camping and fishing but it evolved.... We're staying at McKinney Falls State Park, just outside of Austin. It's one that I haven't been to yet but it looks pretty cool. There's a neat video of the park here.

I honestly can't remember if I've ever tubed the San Marcos. I am pretty sure my previous expeditions were on the Guadalupe. Due to a drought here, the water level is better in the spring-fed San Marcos and also the Comal compared to the Guadalupe right now. All three rivers are in close proximity to one another. Sam has been to the San Marcos River with me before when I was researching this story, Lives of a River, for Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine, published in July 2004. He helped me and some biologists seine the river for fish and aquatic invertebrates and remembers it quite clearly. He's mentioned in the article, too! I leave you with a few relatively recent photos...
When I went to Dallas this summer with the kids, I visited a friend of mine who I went to high school with, Nikki. She is 7 months pregnant here with her second child which is due any day! She looks great doesn't she? My daughter is holding Nikki's daughter Abby. Sam never smiles for photos - he really is a happy kid!
A photo Savannah shot of me at Nikki's. I like this shot!
A photo I took outside my house of cool cloud formations.
Another shot of the weird and cool clouds.
Daline and I when she came to visit the other day! Check out her blog, Pixie Dust World Tour, and I especially encourage you to listen to the song "Here and Now" she has linked from the video at the top of the blog, which will blow you away - her voice and the song is truly beautiful. She's an inspiration! You can listen to her songs from the thingie below - click on the "songs" tab and then - my favorite "Here and Now."

Taking Woodstock - meh

Leon Dormido, or Kicker Rock, the Galapagos Islands, with the moon in the sky.
Copyright (c) 2007 Wendee Holtcamp

I'm really trying to blog a bit more, but it's one of those things where I still feel massive guilt due to the overwhelming stressof my massive book project... So I'll try to post, but they'll be shortish (if I can keep it short - ha!)

Today I had a spontaneous date with D, and we went to see Taking Woodstock. I really wanted to see The Ugly Truth, which I've heard is funny, but we went to the cheapie matinee and it was too early for us to make it. I love the 60s and 70s, since of course my dad was a hippie, I'm hippie spawn, and a "bohemian" you know. I didn't know much about it other than it was a true story of how Woodstock came to pass. Verdict - meh. It was mildly entertaining because I am interested in the topic but it was slow, it wasn't funny (I don't think it tried to be funny but it easily could have added some humor), and there was none of the awesome music that was at Woodstock. It left you with tons of unanswered questions, like what became of the main character and their parents, and the supposed possible lawsuits. Anyway, I was disappointed in the movie, but it was a GREAT day!

In writing news, I have a online writing class starting tomorrow, which is full and the deadline for signup passed, BUT... I just opened another session for Oct 17th, and if you're interested in more info, check out the website for the class or email me (email is on the website)! I designed the course to take you through everything from the writing process itself to understanding markets and magazines to writing killer queries - which is the way writers propose a story. It has worked for aspiring writers and established pros alike, as it can be tailored to each person's interests and skill levels. It's really a fantastic value and I get a lot of positive feedback from people who have taken it! Though it's technically designed for people interested in "writing green" - including conservation, science, and travel - the basics work for any topic including spiritual writing, social issues, health, or whatever topic you're keen on.

Since I said I'm keeping things short, adieu! Don't forget to visit my Animal Planet blog duirng the weekdays - Animals in the News, and here's a link to my latest article in Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine's August issue:

Larger than Life: The inimitable Edward ‘Ned’ Fritz changed the face of Texas conservation - and had influence nationwide.

Last memories of the Pacific NW

Today was my daughter's first day of HIGH SCHOOL!! Holy moly mackeroli, how does the time go so fast? Only four more years of my baby girl at home. :( I'm so incredibly proud of that amazing girl, though, she is such a brilliantly smart, kind-hearted, genuine, funny and super-creative talented young woman, and proudly a Christian too! And she had a good day, despite being initially nervous, and for that I'm very grateful. (I took the photo above of my girl at a local place called Old McDonald's Farm back in 1997 or so... she's so adorable! Copyright (c) 1997 Wendee Holtcamp)

Before too much time passes, I want to upload the photos from the last day of my trip to Oregon and Washington. I flew into (and out of) the Seattle airport because I found a ticket using frequent flier miles there rather than Portland so just rented a car and drove down to Oregon and all around. Since my cousin lives in Tacoma (just south of Seattle) I stayed with her on my arrival and departure. She has a beautiful home overlooking Puget Sound and I always enjoy visiting her and her adorable kiddos! I stayed there in December when I visited and it snowed and snowed and snowed, too!

After leaving Portland, I met up for a power unch with my friend Francis Zera, who is an incredibly talented photographer. We collaborated on this story, Candid Camera, for E/The Environmental Magazine and another on paddling Texas rivers for Canoe & Kayak.
We ate outside on a perfectly gorgeous afternoon at The Ram Restaurant & Brewery, which overlooks Puget Sound. We saw some people out there parasailing, which was very cool. One thing that isn't visible in this small version of the image is Mount Rainier just to the left of the tall building in the distance. If you click and get the larger version you can make it out. Or... you can look below.
Aha! Here it is, Mount Rainer, cropped out of the previous image, in a bigger size. Amazing isn't it? Especially amazing how it's so cryptic when the photo above is small but visible when larger.

After lunch with Francis, I went back to Holly's and we talked and hung out with her kids, and in the evening had a lovely dinner of stuffed salmon out on the deck. This is a view of sunset over the Sound, with a cross in the upper left corner and silhouetting our wine glasses. A perfect end to a perfect working vacation! (Just about all vacations are work for a writer, since I get story projects and network! And that's the way I like it!)

lingering memories

Coastal temperate rainforest in Oregon's Ecola State Park near Cannon Beach.
Copyright (c) 2009 Wendee Holtcamp

I can still feel the cool moist air of Mount Hood's temperate rainforest on my face and skin. I can still smell the fresh scent of the forest. Terri told me to capture that feeling in my mind and go back there when I needed a respite from the world. The air is indescribable. It was so, so, fresh. That's the best word I can think of! It reminds me very much of the forest around my dad's cabin as a child though much of his land has changed since the early days there, back in the 1970s. But I have very fond memories of a very lush forest full of ferns, giant trees, rotting logs, mushrooms, streams, Oregon grape, and much more.

At any rate, I'm back home in suburban Houston now, trying frantically to get caught up and balance all the many tasks I have with the kids starting back to school, doc appointments, grocery shopping, email catch-up, and spending time with the kids and the like. I had a truly spectacular trip, and loved every single minute of it!! I can't say enough about the joy I experienced every day, to just be there, whether hanging out with my dad and Bev, going solo to the beach, working on blogs and my book chapter at the Fresh Pot coffee shop, hiking, Thai food and Ben & Jerry's ice cream with Terri, hiking at Wildwood, visiting old friends and making new ones, and the laughter and comaraderie shared by the kindred spirits I spent time with there.

I still have a few more photos of my trip to upload and hope to do that tomorrow. I'm trying to get some blog posts written and then have a feature to write on bats. I love wildlife!

On an unrelated note, here's a link to my latest story in Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine - Larger than Life: The inimitable Edward 'Ned' Fritz changed the face of Texas conservation.

friends new and old

Here I am at my cousin's house in Tacoma, about to hit the sack, because I fly out at 6am tomorrow but have to get up at 345am - ack! Yesterday was a very busy and fun day! I'll leave you with some pics rather than write about it! G'nite and I'll see ya on the flip side!

Self-portrait of me, Terri, & Eliza before our hike in the Wildwood Recreation Area on Mount Hood.
Eliza & Terri on a wooden bench with salmon carved on it. Salmon spawn on the Salmon River which runs through the Wildwood Rec Area. It was such an amazingly stupendously gorgeous place, the AIR was sooo fresh and everything was so green and lush. It was heaven on earth! And the company was awesome! I love these gals!
The Salmon River.
Terri and Eliza chatting by the river with a model of Mount Hood in the background.

Terri & Eliza hugging a huge tree!
The Salmon River.

Me and Annie Rose - a friend I went to visit the day before yesterday. I stayed with Annie Rose back in December when I got snowed into Portland!
After our hike, we met up with several journalists and writers from the Pacific NW at Hopeworks eco brewpub. It's Portland's only microbrewery run on 100% alternative energy. They use organic and locally grown food, and try to make the operations as sustainable as possible. This is a shot of the bar, which is decorated with old bike parts.
We sat upstairs at Hopworks at first and then migrated outside because it was a stunningly gorgeous day! This is, from left clockwise - Annie Rose, Jimmy (my high school boyfriend),
me, Valerie Brown, Dawn Stover, Orna Izakson, Lizzie Grossman (half hidden), Susan Hess, Terri Hansen and Eliza Murphy.
Annie Rose and Eliza chatting outside Hopworks. Telling roadkill stories! A shot of the beer cooler - all of their beers are organic!

Juergen and Susan Hess!

Elisa, Orna, Terri and I toward the end of our Hopworks get together.

But the night didn't end there! Me and Jimmy went back to Eliza's place and had some champagne! We walked around the neighborhood at dusk and chatted up a storm.

Eliza shows us her awesome sculpture and artwork. This is a piece on her wall.

This is a piece made of two roadkilled frogs. I like this photo!

Eliza reads a chapter of her book to us.

A shot of her sculpture, The Mermaid, made from garbage collected at the seashore. Notice also "the bird" in the foreground - another small scuplture that I think is really cool!

Jimmy and Eliza recreating the classic pitchfork farmer scene...she uses the fork to get roadkill! :)

This pic is actually from the other day at lunch at the Laughing Planet (Jimmy & I)- notice the T Rex toy dino in the forefround! I just like the pic and didn't put it up the other day :)

wedding day!

The very happy bride and groom - Bev and my dad - after the ceremony! The maid of honor and best man, long-time friends of both my dad and Bev's Jim & Cathy, behind some flowers in the reception hall.
Jim, Cathy, my dad and Bev walking toward the chapel at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Longview, Washington.
Cutting the amazingly delicious flourless chocolate cake!
Bev, Dad and me.
Another shot of us.

Help! I caught the bride's bouquet! No, really what I did was threw the bouquet in the air and caught it myself. Truly I was the only single person at the wedding I think!
Being a bit wild n crazy with the flowers :)

A day at the beach is the best kind of day

"Sand in the sandwiches, sand in the tea, a day at the beach is the best kind of day!"
- A line from one of my favorite children's books I used to read to my kids. I'd credit the author but I don't know her name off the top of my head!

Yesterday I took a solo day and drove to the Oregon coast. It was a fantastic day! I arrived early-ish to Cannon Beach and walked down to the rocks at the end of the beach then back. I didn't actually walk to Haystack Rock which was on the opposite end of the beach. I took lots of photos and just enjoyed being by the OCEAN which I love!!

Next I walked around town a bit. It's a quaint little town - some might say touristy but still cool. I had clam chowder at the Local Grill & Scoop and then hit Bella Espresso to work for a bit (they have wifi). Then I decided to head to Ecola State Park which is supposed to have really cool tidepools. Ecola is just a mile or two from the public Cannon Beach which I hadn't realized or I'd probably spent more time there earlier when the tide was low, but by the time I got there i nthe afternoon the tide was halfway in, and I didn't see any tidepools :( Anyway the coastal temperate rainforest on the drive to the Ecola State Park was mind-blowing. Soooo beautiful and unexpected. Here are some pics from my day! After I left the beach I went to my dad's wedding rehearsal and then dinner. Today was the wedding, but I'll save those pics for later. I'm in Portland now and tomorrow is a get together with a bunch of Pacific Northwest writers and journalists!

Just me and my shoes and my camera at the Oregon coast yesterday! I went to Cannon Beach, which is a couple hours from where my dad lives. I went solo and had an amazing day!

I love love love this photo! I went on a long walk along the beach and took this on the way back in. I saw this feather and shot it with Haystack Rock in the background, and the coloration of the water and sand just made it turn out soooo cool!

Similar shot, different layout.

I walked through a flock of seagulls... isn't that an 80s band?! :)

If you blow up this photo you can see a bike ride and the pic looks pretty cool when it's bigger.

This is a taffy-pulling machine at a candy shop in Cannon Beach which is a cute little town. It was sour apple flavor, and they gave out samples!
After I left Cannon Beach, I stopped by Ecola State Park which is just a few blocks from the public beach, but on the way to the beach access you drive through this amazingly lush, gorgeous temperate coastal rainforest - wow!
Another shot of the gorgeous forest in Ecola St Park.
A view on the hike down to the beach.
The rocky shore at Ecola State park.
There were a lot of surfers and body-boarders. This pic I thought was cool because of the surfer in the waves. It looks good if you blow it up bigger.
A view of the beach at Ecola State park.
I climbed up and on the rocks here, looking for tidepools but the tide was mostly in so unfortunately I didn't get to see any. Major bummer!
After I left the beach I went to my dad's wedding rehearsal. Here's Cathy (left) pointing because she sees me arriving at the door! That's Bev my dad's fiance (then - now wife) to Cathy's right, my dad, and Cathy's husband Jim. Cathy and Jim live on Meissner Mountain near my dad and are long-time friends.
Laughing it up at the rehearsal! Bev has a great laugh!

Cathy and Jim at El Tapatio Mexican restaurant in Rainier, Oregon where we went for the rehearsal dinner.
I caught the two lovebirds whispering. Turns out they were saying a private blessing over their meal :)
Me and my daddy!

Dad heard some music and grabbed Bev for a quick dance. They're all romantic like that!
And just for the curious, this is a photo of the "Soylent Green" dish that I had at The Laughing Planet the other day... with my writer friend Ken in the background :) Soylent Green is Swiss chard, broccoli and tempeh over barley and quinoa with cilantro pesto. YUMMO!

I love the Pacific NW!

The road to my dad's cabin, which I called Rocky Road ice cream as a kid!

Ken, secret agent man. I met my friend Ken for lunch at the awesome restuarant, The Laughing Planet.

Eucharist on Wednesday at the St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Longview, WA. Such nice, intimate gathering compared to the giant worship service at my home church!

A sign at my dad's church.


We had a potluck dinner and most of the meals were made from veggies from people's gardens. Yum!
My high school boyfriend Jimmy and I hanging over the porch edge at his house in Portland.

Jimmy and I - friends always!

I'll put up pics from my day today at Cannon Beach later, have to head back to my dad's rehearsal now!

another bohemian adventure!

Snowshoeing on Mount Rainier in Washington state.
Copyright (c) 2005 Wendee Holtcamp

I had a great day! It doesn't FEEL like it's 2am Houston time, but alas it is. I better get to bed but not before a quick update on my latest "bohemian adventure." I left my home about 245, for a 430pm flight. Had a good productive morning and played Gin rummy with the kids right before leaving. When I was at the airport ticket counter, my cell phone dropped on the floor from the check-in kiosk. I have done this before, and it has never fazed it. But this time... it died. Dead as a doorknob. When I got to the gate, I desperately tried everything to resurrect it. Nothing. Not taking the battery out, not taking the battery out for 10 minutes, not taking the SIM card out, not plugging it in… Not prayer. It just got stuck in this endless “loading” loop. I even kept that loading looop on for 30 minutes to see if it would get out of the loop and load up, but no, it just got overheated. Ack! Panic! How can I go on a trip without my cell phone! How can I survive without instant access to email, facebook, and twitter?! But eventually I surrendered, put it in my bag, and took out the battery and flew to Salt Lake City, en route to Seattle.

When I got to Salt Lake City, I did what any reasonable person would do, and I dropped it two feet onto a hard floor to see if that would jolt it into action – sort of the way a defibrillator works on the heart. OK maybe this is not what a reasonable person would do, but I'm telling you this technique has worked for me on various pieces of electronic equipment in the past, so it was worth a shot. I did this in the bathroom stall so no one would see me and report me to the cell phone police. And guess what – it worked!! No kidding!! I’m a genius!

Besides that little excitement, the 2 flights were a wee bit bumpy but nothing bad, and I had some nice conversations with the guys sitting next to me on the flights, and with a guy at the bar in Salt Lake City, who, oddly enough had just dropped his girlfriend off at Texas A&M though he was from California and in Salt Lake City at the time - small world since that's where I went to school. Not that I hang out at bars typically, but I was waiting for my salad and the bartender was charging my phone, because oddly enough after it finally worked again, the battery had gone from totally charged to about 1/4 strength. Maybe all the endless feedback loop drained it, I don't know. And in other news, while on the plane I actually got a lot done on the book chapter I was working on foreevvvveeer, so I feel soooo great about that!

Then I arrived at the Seattle airport, rented a car and drove to my cousin Holly's home where I am now showered and tucked into bed, after a nice conversation with her this evening. Tomorrow morn I am driving to Portland to work on my book and blogs at The Fresh Pot which has wireless, then going to a Wednesday potluck with my dad and Bev at his church in Longview for dinner! So au revoir my friends, catch ya again soon!

agghhhhhh

My dad's log cabin in Oregon where I spent part of my younger years...
Copyright (c) 2008 Wendee Holtcamp

Wow this sumer has absolutely flown by. I think I am in the middle of a whirlwind. I want to update my blog more, but only feel like I am being responsible in doing so when I'm on top of my work, which feels dreadfully behind. So, here I am just to give a quick update. This is Shark Week so all my Animal Planet blog posts were on sharks (between 8/7 and 8/3), which was fun! I love sharks! Check them out if you can! As always I love comments, so post some comments - let me know if anything resonates!

Next Tuesday I fly to the Pacific Northwest and am more than a little excited! My dad is getting married to his soul mate, Bev, and I'm delighted for them! And I'm more than excited to be back in the Oregon air, and go hiking, and hopefully see the seashore. I'll try to update from there, but my basic plan is to fly into Seattle, Washington where I'll stay with my cousin in Tacoma and her two cute kiddos (her husband Ross in in Iraq for his second tour of duty, so prayers for him are much appreciated!). Then I'll spend the next few days alternating between working in Portland at a wifi coffee shop hotspot, visiting some friends, and spending evenings with my dad and Bev. I am hoping to get to the beach!!! Oregon's coast is incredibly beautiful, and it's been a long while since I've feasted my eyes on its shores so even if I have to go alone I probably will go. My dad gets married Saturday. As you may recall my last trip there in December I got snowed in!!

While there, I have helped organize a get together for writers in the Pacific NW, some of whom are driving in from out of town! This should be a blast. We're going to Wildwood Recreation Site on Mount Hood which looks amazingly beautiful. Here's a brochure that may take abit to download. Then after a half day hike, heading to Hopworks Urban Brewery, Portland's first eco-brewpub with organic hand crafted beer, and a sustainable building powered by 100% renewable energy. Coolio!

Then it's back to Tacoma to visit my cousin again before flying home. It should be a much needed respite from the drab suburban scenery of Houston... I would say the heat but it had been a scalding 108 in Portland! I heard it had cooled down to a high of 80 so let's hope and pray it stays that way! I hope to get a bit of work done in between my visits and explorations, too.

I took a bunch of pics from my birthday party in July and my trip to Dallas to visit my mom, stepdad and niece. I'll upload as soon as I get some time. I have to do "personal" things like this in micro-steps because I have soooo much work to do!! I'm sure I'm not the only one to have felt that way before. :)

i'm a blogging fool!

My eyes/Copyright (c) 2009 Wendee Holtcamp

I have decided to start trying to blog here more, but every time I open up the browser window to write something I get a mental block and I end up not blogging. So here I go, I'm a blogging foo! As I've mentioned in my previous scattered posts, things have been bleak over here. I've been struggling. But finally, a major change in my life happened recently, the end of a relationship that has been a bit of a struggle for some time. There's love, and wonderful things, but also challenges that we need to set aside the "us" and each move in life on separate paths now. I am trying to get my footing again, and actually it's been a sort of slow process because I have spent the last two months on and off trying to get back to the gym more, trying to get together with friends more. My creativity feels like it's suffered. and the overwhelm feeling is often there because of sooooo much to do, deadlines, projects, house stuff, life...

One positive thing, I have absolutely enjoyed doing the Animal Planet Animals in the News blog - it's such a joy to write! I think I love it because it's so concise, short, and with a quick turnaround between writing and publication. The story ideas are easy to come by because they're based on stories already out there 'in the news' so I just research, talk to scientists or others, write it up, fact check, put it online, add links, add photo, and before long, wha-la there's my article, published!

I am really enjoying keeping up with all the animal news around the world on a more regular basis too. I love being able to pick what I write about. I love science-based stories. I love positive stories in which conservationists are recovering a species, or there's some good news but boy there's a lot of bad news out there too. I try to write about invertebrates at least once a week because they don't get enough media play compared to the cute cuddlies or the big scaries. And speaking of big scaries, next week is Shark Week!! (Not that I think sharks are scary!) I have all shark stories in the hopper. It reminds me of when I dove with the sharkies in the Coral Sea last April... man that was a truly mind-blowing profound experience!! I have been talking with Sean a bit about maybe doing that documentary in the Solomon Islands, or seeing whether we can get some funding! That would be sooo cool. Oh and hey, the 2-hour documentary Mysteries of the Shark Coast - in which I appear with a yellow bathing suit and braids walking through the background a few time, and acting as the "shark nurse" handing Richard Fitzpatrick tools for the shark surgery - may air again next week so check it out! Here;s a cool descrip of the show, but it's on the Discovery UK site. And just for fun, here's a link to a game I helped write shark questions for: Sharkrunners!

So there you have it. Slow but steady wins the race. I went to my Thursday morning coffee this morn with my girlfriends, a group that has sort of withered away over the past months and I really, really miss it! A woman from the group who had moved across the pond was back in town and I'd never met her but truly enjoyed sharing a wonderful conversation with her about New Zealand, Australia, whale watching, dolphins, sharks and the like!

I'm heading to Dallas tomorrow morning with my kiddos to visit my mom and stepdad and my adorable niece Kira who is in town from Cali (she flew into Houston, actually, so I got to take her to the museum and hang out with her for a while here too - hadn't seen her in 2 years before then!). I haven't been to see my mom/stepdad in quite a while though they've come down here recently. And we didn't kill one another! We actually got along quite lovely this time. So life progresses and unfolds in always weird and wonderful and mysterious ways, doesn't it?

Here are a couple of my latest publications:

Lone Parents: Virgin Birth in Sharks. BioScience Magazine (Am Inst of Biological Sciences) July/Aug 2009.

The discovery that sharks can reproduce asexually means that mammals are the only jawed vertebrate lineage incapable of parthenogenesis. But can this surprising capacity make any difference to shark survival as their populations decline?

Blue-Green Mystery - Texas Parks & Wildlife mag July 2009.

"It may be one of science’s most impressive pieces of detective work. Biologists at the Institute for Ethnomedicine, led by Director Paul Alan Cox, believe they’ve found the culprit for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and other “tangle diseases” including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease and supranuclear palsy. The tiny neurotoxic molecule BMAA (β-N-methylamino-L-alanine) is produced by blue-green algae (also called cyanobacteria) found worldwide. The good news? The discovery could lead to a cure. The bad news? BMAA in drinking water could be a health risk even at low levels, but no one’s testing for it in water supplies yet."

My beautiful niece Kira! The photo as taken by and edited by my daughter Savi! This was at the Museum of Natural Sciences. Kira doesn't like her picture taken! She's incredibly smart, and fun and sweet!
Me, in pigtails... I took this one, a self-portrait
My gorgeous son Sam at the beach. Taken by Savi!