Long Time No Post

My oh My it has been to long since I was able to bring anything new to this blog.  I have been through quite a transition they past few weeks as I packed up my life and moved to a new area.  This has left me with a new appreciation for the trials and the strength of migrating animals. 

Peregrine Falcon
Photo from Wikipedia Commons

How migrants can do it every year of their entire lives is beyond my comprehension. Take the Peregrine Falcon for example (one of my favorite raptors).  This amazing raptor travels around 15,500 miles per year from its breeding grounds in Alaska to it wintering grounds in South America.  That is a bird that gets around :).  Just the thought of making a 7,500 mile trip twice a year makes me a little sick to my stomach and I like to travel.  Maybe its just the thought of having to walk that far.  I say that because it truly appreciate the distance that bird travels on its wing it would only be right that I walked it.

Maybe that is something we should do as a species instead of thinking that we are separated and above the Earth and its inhabitants.  Maybe we need to put ourselves in their hooves, wings fins and stems, just so that we can truly appreciate the Earth and all of its wondrous life.  I think that to many people take advantage of this planet, they do not truly appreciate what it means to be a member of the large family called Earth.

I fear that very soon, probably sooner that any of us think that something is going to happen that will push humans and the Earth past a tipping point.  I believe that the lack of appreciation for the Earth and its other inhabitants could lead to this push and potentially our downfall as a species. 

But where does this lack of appreciation or caring come from?

I believe one of the reasons is that we just don't pay attention anymore to our surroundings.  When was the last time you just sat down and listened to the birds or felt the wind blow across your face.  When we pay attention to something we learn to appreciate it.  So if we don't appreciate the planet and we are unable or unwilling to pay attention to it where does that leave us?  Remember the tipping point I mentioned above, some people believe we are past it, some believe were aren't.  Then there are the people like me who simply do not know.

Whether we are past a tipping point or not is regardless at this point.  We simply must start to pay attention to the world around us.  Listen to what it is telling us so that we may yet be able to pull our butts out of the collective frying pan.  This whole idea reminds me of the old saying about a tree in the woods.

If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around to listen

Did is make a sound?





Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Falco_peregrinus_-Nova_Scotia,_Canada_-eating-8.jpg
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/peregrine_falcon/id