Dazzled by the Light

Before I visited the Puerto Rican island of Vieques I had heard about the phenomenon of bioluminescence, envisioning it as an ethereal and glowing nocturnal surf. But I never dreamed I would swim in it, under the stars, and that it would far surpass anything I could have imagined.

“It’s the most psychedelic experience you’ll ever have without using drugs,” a fellow tourist promised. He might also have said that Puerto Rico’s bioluminescent bay is among the rarest and most fragile of ecological systems in existence, and that, like so many of our planet’s dwindling treasures, it is threatened with extinction by commercial development. This is what it was like to bask in awe under the ticking clock of the stars, humbled by nature’s gift of bioluminescence…

Island Adventures BioBay Tours advertises its services as, “Interpretive Eco-Tours of the World’s Brightest Glowing Bay.” It sounds fancy, but like most things on Vieques the tour is unpretentious. We meet at the Island Adventures waiting room at 7:00 pm on a night when the moon rises late, so it won't diminish our bioluminescent experience. The large room is covered from floor to ceiling with murals of mangroves, exotic aquatic creatures, and the constellations. Black lights cast an eerie glow on the images, hinting at what will come. Benches line the room, and excited tourists take every available seat.

Then our tour guide arrives. Fluent in both English and Spanish, he is funny and a bit of a prankster. As he paces over an enlarged floor mural of the microscopic organism that is the real star of the show, he alternates between both languages to educate and entertain us: The unique bio-bay we are about to visit is home for up to 720,000 single-celled, bioluminescent dinoflagellates per gallon of water. He asks us to guess if the organisms are plant or animal. While we ponder the answer he makes a “ta-da” gesture and says, “They’re both!” They make chlorophyll from the sun but use their tails to move about at will, he tells us. And the flashes of light they emit (the tour group leans forward, fascinated) are in response to motion stimuli.

When our tour introduction ends, we load into a dilapidated, circa 1950s tour bus. “This will be a scary ride,” the guide warns us… and it is. The ancient, battered bus bumps over steep mountain roads so narrow that tree branches intrude through the open windows, forcing passengers to close the ones that still function. But many windows are broken, so we scramble to reseat ourselves and save our tender skins.

When we arrive at the launch site, other guides take our hands and lead us one by one up a narrow plank to board a large, pontoon-like craft that is open to the sky. When everyone is seated it slips noiselessly into the bay, powered by electricity so it won’t emit pollutants into the water. Then we look up at the stars, and the magic officially begins. Our guide produces a laser light and points the green beam at various constellations, creating an illusion that the beam extends all the way through the universe to the stars themselves. His description of the constellations is accurate and informative. “Where’s the North Star?” someone asks. He zaps it with his laser, explaining that, although small, it shines from a fixed position.

As the electric vessel glides noiselessly into the bay, I ask why it is surrounded by running lights, thinking the greenish glow might diminish the natural bioluminescence. “Those aren’t running lights, they’re dinoflagellates responding to the motion of the craft,” the guide explains. It’s difficult to grasp that this light, so bright it illuminates the water to a depth of two feet as we pass, is the creation of organic micro-organisms.

The craft slows to a drift, and the guide uses a standard lantern to illuminates the mangroves lining the bay shoreline. Easily identified by tangled roots, which make them appear to be standing or walking on the surface of the water, mangroves often are referred to as "walking trees.” Our guide describes how the roots provide a protective environment for aquatic organisms, creating the nutrient-rich water in which bioluminescent dinoflagellates can thrive.

“Now,” he announces, “it’s time for a swim.” He switches off the lantern. Once again, we are adrift under a silent ocean of stars. We line up for life jackets, and I hear another guide counting us as we step backwards down a ladder into the bay. The water is silky and warm.

A high point of the 80s film, “The Abyss” was the discovery of scintillating, underwater creatures of light from another planet that seemed to dance as they moved. That's how we look to each other as we swim in the bay, igniting millions of flashing lights in the shapes of our bodies as the dinoflagellates respond to our movements. We glow like opals. We twinkle like fairies. We seem to absorb something magical from the luminescence, becoming as playful as children, even those of us who are grandparents. Splashing and laughing, experimenting with moves to see what kind of sparkles we can create, we lose track of time in the sphere of water, space and light that surrounds us. When the guide calls that it is time to go, nobody wants to get out of the bay. “OK,” he says, speaking to us as the children we have become, “You can have 10 more minutes.” We reluctantly climb up the ladder 20 minutes later, still glittering as we lift ourselves from the water.

While my experience in the bio-bay is one I will remember forever, I also can’t help but wonder if even the relatively benign tour we have taken isn’t harmful to the dinoflagellates’ ecosystem. As tourism on the island of Vieques expands, biobay tours either will be eliminated or the increasing volume of tours will destroy the bioluminescent environment… and If history is any guide it will be the later. During my trip, in the city of Old San Juan on the main island, our cab driver described the public outcry made over a new hotel that Donald Trump wanted to erect on a protected shoreline. “What happened?” we asked. “There it is,” he said, pointing to Trump's brand-new hotel. “He paid off the government and got his building permit.”

Those who would like to experience the biobay while it still exists can get more information at http://www.biobay.com/

Just Flowing

Star falling
into the dark edge
of the mountain,
so beautiful we
wonder if your
fountain of light
was real
or only imagined.

All moments
of beauty streak
between seeing
and remembering, and
never happen at all
unless we are
not the same, once
we also fall, once we
follow the light
beyond its rim of darkness.

And why should we not
emulate the star's
example, plunging into
the purple, inky deep
of not knowing,
of forgetting to keep
our memories,
instead just flowing?



Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank You for Thinking!

Hello, Everyone!

Have you ever experienced an in-flight emergency that sent flight attendants scurrying and prompted the pilot to make a wacky, unprofessional announcement like, "We smell smoke in the plane and we don't know where it's coming from?"

Well, that's what happened on my return flight from Puerto Rico yesterday. Halfway to LAX we made an "unscheduled" landing in Houston, where we waited seven hours for another American 747 to take us the rest of the way home.

All I can say is... the vacation must have worked, because I didn't feel the slightest bit panicked, or even nervous. All I thought was, "Great... maybe we'll have time to drink one last vacation Pina Colada before I return to my regular, healthy diet in real life! (During the 7-hour layover we actually had time for many, many Pina Coladas... but hey, now that I'm safe and sound in LA I can repair my alcohol-soaked cells with wheat grass juice, right? Riiiiight.....)

Today I will make a valiant attempt to re-boot my mellow brain. Meanwhile, thanks so much to everyone for commenting while I was away... I visited the blog daily to see what you were saying, and even though I lost half of my vocabulary from spending so much time in the sun, I enjoyed your comments tremendously.

I'm thinking of writing a non-political post about my amazing night-time experience in the bio-luminescent bay... anybody interested?

Talk Amongst Yourselves!

Hello, Everybody!

I'm off to Puerto Rico for some post-election stress reduction therapy... wish you ALL could come, because I know we all need it!

While I am away, please fee free to talk amongst yourselves... here are some ideas to get you started:

What do YOU want from the Obama Presidency?

What would you absolutely HATE to see him do?

And... Do you believe in Obama Claus?????????

Love,
Yak

Where in the World Is Matt Lauer's Head?

Matt Lauer, apparently bored with the humdrum duties of hosting the Today Show, appears to be auditioning for a spot on Access Hollywood. Why else would he devote today’s broadcast to a cotton-candy review of recycled Sarah Palin gossip?

Without even a pretense of breaking a newsworthy addition to the denials we all have heard once, twice, ad infinitum on other news programs, Matt devoted the entirety of his interview to tossing softballs at Palin. Old softballs. Softballs she already has caught, spun, and tossed back.

What? No recipe for moose stew?

Governor Palin certainly deserves an opportunity to reply to GOP leaks about her wardrobe budget, basic misunderstanding of foreign policy, and lack of knowledge about the continent of Africa. But this is shopworn material for an in-depth interview. The real story behind the apparent attempt to discredit her is… why? What GOP operative would so vehemently attempt to cement her reputation as unready and unfit to serve, and how does this affect the party’s strategy for its uncertain future?

Katey Couric has come under frequent fire as a journalistic lightweight, but she is a powerhouse compared to Lauer’s coy, old-maidish style. When the Today Show occasionally covers sexually relevant topics, he feigns embarrassment by making “I’m not going there” remarks and assuming an aw-shucks body posture. Grow up, Matt… take a risk… explore those aspects of the Palin saga that are genuinely newsworthy. For example…

When the GOP decided to play Pygmalion by plucking Governor Palin from the Alaskan backwoods and teaching her how to dress and talk, were they stunned and caught offguard when she proved to be a person in her own right, with her own opinions, her own backbone and her own agenda?

Did she emphatically demonstrate to Rove and his acolytes that her beauty, poise and feminine charisma were not qualities they could manipulate as means to an end, but minor aspects of a complete human being who was empowered, fully capable of owning her future, and was, in short, nobody’s political blow-up doll?

In other words, did Governor Palin give the GOP a much-needed crash course in feminism?

Report on THAT, Matt Lauer… if you can retrieve your head from the dark place where you appear to have inserted it.

And by the way… we have a new first lady to be. Where in the world is HER in-depth interview?

Can Sarah Palin Smarten Up?

Sarah Palin’s IQ is not the subject of this discussion. Ann Coulter has a high IQ. Osama Bin Ladin has a high IQ. Even Hitler had a high IQ. (No, Sarah apologists, I am not equating her with Osama or Hitler. I’m comparing a number, not a history.)

Ms. Palin’s intelligence remains a hotly debated issue among newscasters and talking heads, usually in the context of, “Can she get up to speed in time to run in 2012?” In other words, can she acquire an education? After all, it is the lack of knowledge obtained through an education, not Palin’s IQ, that has led so many to criticize her intelligence.

Republicans are often accused of celebrating ignorance, as when they pander to the feelings of inferiority among uneducated voters by mobilizing them around derisive labels like “elitist” and “eloquent.” This year, a majority of the working class smartened up and elected the eloquent guy. Not even Joe the Plumber, who works without the license required to legitimize his claim to a profession, could persuade blue-collar voters in, say, Pennsylvania, to reject Barack Obama on the basis of his obvious intelligence. Maybe voters are just tired of a President who is so inarticulate he must coin nonwords like “misunderestimated” to express himself. Maybe they are shocked and terrified by the direction in which a lack of insight and a narrow point of view can lead us.

So, what kind of “intelligence” does the new electorate demand of its leaders? Hopefully, one that is supported by education.

An education is not a prerequisite for intelligence. But it is critically important when the intelligent person is a decision maker, or, as President Bush refers to himself, a “decider.” Education expands the range of one’s point of view, tempering unreflective assumptions with alternative ideas. Education provides a broader frame of reference for ones knowledge, revealing the common sources from which divergent beliefs emerge, Education provides expanded opportunities for communication and conflict resolution. Ultimately, education provides a broad and stable base to support the weight of those who become pillars of our communities.

Education is also the basis for happier, more fulfilled lives, making it just as essential as health care and sound economic policies and a clean environment for the realization of our American dream.

So, can Sarah Palin smarten up? Sure. If she wants to. But education also changes us. Those who choose to learn implicitly accept the expansion of self that accompanies the acquisition of knowledge. Many of us even seek it.

The real question is: Does Sarah Palin want to smarten up?

America to Bush: "Yes We Can!"

When I wrote yesterday’s post, “Bush to America: Up Yours!” I fully intended to write a follow-up post entitled, “America to Bush: Back Atcha!”

But today, I am so elated with hope and pride and love for my country that I no longer have a mean or vindictive word still willing to roll off my tongue.

By electing Barack Obama President of the United States, American voters have closed the door on Bush’s dark zeitgeist of fear and mediocrity. We now stand ready, as we did when John F. Kennedy was elected in 1960, to move forward with a positive agenda of inclusion, instead of its narrow-minded opposite, entitlement.

Obama’s genius lies in his ability to unite people of every race, gender, age and economic status around universal human needs: We want unity, not division. We want peace, not war. We want vision, not fear. We want to soar on the wings of our better angels into a future where tolerance is the norm, and achievement is the guidepost.

As I waited with others to vote yesterday I felt the momentum of history moving us forward in the long line. When I finally came within view of the voting booths, I was struck by how many parents had brought their children with them, to include them in casting their history-making votes. This, we all felt, was one of those rare moments that would become a frame of reference for the rest of our lives.

So, to George W. Bush and everyone else in our great country… “Well done, America: Yes We Can!”

CONGRATULATIONS, AMERICA :–)

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Bush to America: "Up Yours!"

A friend of mine who is a wetlands preservationist in Louisville, Kentucky makes a point of visiting contested land (i.e., lawsuit pending to stop commercial development) on Derby Day and Mothers’ Day… because that is when underhanded developers often show up to clear the land illegally, banking on the likelihood that everyone will be too busy to notice, and that once the wetlands have been destroyed, environmentalists will move on to contest other projects.

Sneaky? Yeah. Just like what President Bush is doing to America right now, while our attention is diverted by the election.

The White House is working as you read this to enact an array of federal regulations, many of which would weaken rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment, before President Bush leaves office in January. (As many as 90 new regulations are in the works.) The new rules would be among the most controversial deregulatory steps of the Bush era and could be difficult for his successor to undo.

Bush’s 11th hour deregulation goody-bag includes:

Gutting the Endangered Species Act
Enabling mountaintop removal coal mining
Reducing women’s access to reproductive health care
Increasing limits on GHGs and MTR, while decreasing drinking water quality
Revising rules governing family- and medical-related leaves for employees
Relaxing standards for preventing or containing oil spills
And so on…

Bill Clinton also made a last-minute effort to pass regulations before he left office. Most of these, however, were aimed at protecting the environment. Unfortunately, soon after the inauguration, Bush's team withdrew 254 of Clinton’s regulations that covered matters from drug and airline safety to immigration and indoor air pollutants. Many of the proposals were then modified to reflect Republican policy ideals or were scrapped altogether.

Seeking to avoid falling victim to the same partisan tactics, Bush White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten in May imposed a Nov. 1 government-wide deadline to finish major new Bush administration regulations, "except in extraordinary circumstances."

Hello, “extraordinary circumstances:” Officials have just days to meet an effective Nov. 20 deadline for the publication of economically significant rules, which take effect only after a 60-day congressional comment period. Less important rules take effect after a 30-day period, creating a second deadline of Dec. 20.

Not surprisingly, the last-minute activity has made this a busy period for lobbyists, who fear that industry views will hold less sway after the November elections.

As the deadlines near, the administration has begun to issue regulations of great interest to industry, including, in recent days, a rule that allows the nation's natural gas pipelines to operate at higher pressures and new Homeland Security rules that shift passenger security screening responsibilities from airlines to the federal government. The OMB also approved a new limit on airborne emissions of lead this month, acting under a court-imposed deadline.

The only conclusion one can draw from these circumstances is that the Bush administration will do what it wants, when it wants, regardless of what Americans want, up until the last possible moment to serve its own, historically unpopular agenda.

Is anyone surprised that Bush is, effectively, telling Americans, “Up Yours?”

Sources:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=49&entry_id=29393
http://www.ombwatch.org/article/blogs/entry/5479/38

The New Rainbow Coalition: Just Smoking Hopium?

Today (Saturday) I volunteered at the Obama headquarters in Van Nuys, California. It was raining when I arrived, good symbolism for the rainbow of volunteers who filled the big, rambling HQ rooms wall to wall.

I’ve been volunteering since 1992, and have never seen anything like the professional level of organization at this volunteer center. It is worthy of a shuttle launch! I was greeted the second I walked through the door and asked to sign in… on a keyboard which displayed the data I entered on an oversized monitor. Then I was directed to a phone-bank training class, preparing me in less than 15 minutes to begin making my calls with confidence.

There were so many volunteers that space was limited at the many phone-banking tables, so I joined those who sat on the floor to make their calls rather than wait on a table. There were white volunteers. Black volunteers. Hispanic and Asian volunteers. Some were in their early teens, making calls side-by-side with their parents. Some were young Moms, whose children sat beside them on the floor with their coloring books while they called. Others were old and infirm, making calls from their wheelchairs. And in the coffee and cookie room, where I wandered in search of caffeine after calling for two hours, there was a table where all the volunteers were speaking in Spanish.

We were too busy to chit-chat, but I overheard more than one volunteer express the hope that an Obama victory would result in expanded opportunities to give even more time, enabling a broad participation in the restoration of America’s potential.

I am beyond impressed. I am humbled and grateful. This level of inspired volunteer service makes me hope, after eight years of resigned isolation under the shadow of the Bush administration, that fellow citizens care, and that we are part of an increasingly vocal community in which our better selves can triumph against fear and hate.

I confess I felt so much hope (and pride) at Obama Headquarters today that my chest swelled and my eyes filled with tears. Does this mean, as one of my Lefty friends characterizes Obama supporters, that I am just smoking Hopium?

Well…

Americans are good-natured, so we gave Bush the benefit of the doubt as we watched him send our children off to die in a war with ill-defined objectives. We accepted his national security justification for suspending many of our Constitutional rights under the Patriot Act. We watched in horror as Abu Graib unfolded, suspending our disbelief that his administration did not authorize the torture. We said, “surely not,” when allegations were made that his Justice Department issued wholesale pink slips to judges who refused to slant their decisions in support of his political agenda. And while we hoped for the best from Bush, he betrayed us… again and again and again.

The weight of so many cumulative Bush betrayals has had a crushing effect, leading many Americans to despair. Anger is of limited use in extricating ourselves from despair… it can lift us out, but does not offer a new direction forward. That, I think, is the purpose of hope. Curious to know how others define hope, I went online in search of quotes, and found an ocean of them. Here are some of my favorites:

ELIE WIESEL:
Just as despair can come to one another only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings.

ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY:
If you want to build a ship, don't herd people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.

MOHANDAS K. GANDHI:
You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.

PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN:
The future belongs to those who give the next generation reason for hope.

BARACK OBAMA (Yes, he popped up on my Internet search):
We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

So, fellow members of the newer, wider, brighter rainbow coalition: Let’s refuse to be embarrassed by hope. In the past eight years we surrendered to fear… and It diminished us. We indulged in hate… and it dishonored us. Now hope appears on shining new wings and beckons to us.

Don’t bogart that hope. Pass it over to me.