Sad, Sick at Heart, Saturday

Sad to hear from cousin Anne last night.  She had received the news that one of our co-workers/volunteers from our years at the Westland Michigan Family History Center had passed.  Fred Haranczak was a sweet kind soul, a member of the Polish Genealogical Society of Connecticut and, of course, a volunteer at the Family History Center for many years.  Rest in Peace.

I cannot watch the telie these days as I am so sick a heart about the Gulf Coast.  I did catch out of the corner of my eye the film of the pelicans coated in that heavy oil.  I won't be glancing out of the corner of my eye again any time soon, it is just too upsetting and concerning.

As many of you know, Man and I spent 5 months last winter RVing/living near Gulf Shores Alabama.  Look at a map, you will see it is between Louisiana and Pensacola Florida.  Review my blog posts, I wrote a lot of posts about the wonderful area and beaches. OK, it was the worst winter weather they had had in 25 to 40 years, our campsite was never dry, and I never got out of my thermies.  BUT, it is a lovely area, I don't think we met one cranky person that lived there full time.  Some were heavy of heart at the economic situation there, Katrina hurt them bad, the downturn of the economy hurt them bad.  To live there takes a special tough person, they were overcoming, and their spirits were strong and kind.  They are NICE NICE people.

Now this oil mess.  Man and I have heavy hearts, we feel so badly for them. The following photos show the area as we found it, beautiful, refreshing, wonderful.  As it was:

Florida State Park between Gulf Shores Alabama and Pensacola Florida.

Wading.

Pelican, just floating along, near Gulf Shores, Alabama.

The gang is all here.

Above:  This is Weeks Bay Preserve.  It is the only full view shot I took.  They had recently done a "controlled burn", which is beneficial in that it gets rid of a lot of plants not necessarily desirable and brings back to life some that are dormant, the heat from the fire releasing them to grow and flourish again.  Weeks Bay is an area of sea water mixing with fresh water, this area is rich in so many ways, plant, and animal.  These areas, if the oil reaches them, may be destroyed for years to come.  I am no scientist, I have no formal education, but, I do understand this is an extremely fragile ecological system.  Mother Nature has a remarkable ability to recover, but, I don't know if she has enough power to recover from this disaster.

I am NOT making any political statement here, I am NOT bashing the oil industry, I am presenting photos of a beautiful place in our United States, now soiled, does not matter who is at fault, I am just remembering it as it was.

Yes, it's a sad and sick at heart Saturday here at Reflections.

*Dauphin Island, which has been in the news recently during this disaster, is where Man and I took the ferry ride back to Fort Morgan after our wonderful day at Bellingrath Gardens with friends John and Donna.   You can read more about the entire area by reviewing the archived posts here at Reflections, many posts, more photos.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

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