Just a bit of meditative thought while awaiting more news....
The following quote is from an old meditation piece on the web (and expresses a thought common in meditation practice):
"Breath is also powerful because we share the air we breathe with every creature that has ever lived. The breath I take in at this moment may contain molecules that Lincoln or Jesus or Susan Anthony or the Buddha or my great, great grandmother or a giant T-rex breathed in and out. Breathing is a powerful expression of the interdependent web of all life."And then today I couldn't help but notice that Laura Erickson, preparing for her own venture to Arkansas Ivory-bill country, ended a post in a similar vein with the following words:
"...I'm both hopeful and joyful. Whether or not I see anything at all worth reporting, I'm going to be spending time in Ivory-bill habitat, breathing air molecules that may have touched an Ivory-bill's feathers or glittering eyes..."Good luck Laura... and breathe deep!
And elsewhere on the web I stumbled upon this quite wonderful sermon from a Unitarian minister on the Ivory-bill, with this same theme of the interconnectedness of all life -- even more amazing, it was inspired solely by Phil Hoose's book and delivered "April 24, 2005," the Sunday BEFORE the announcement out of Arkansas that would shake the ornithological world -- talk about TIMING!... (if you're staying home from church this New Year's Sunday I recommend this piece as your Sunday sermon).
...oh yeah, and HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!
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5 comments:
Happy New Year to you, too, and thanks so much for this wonderful site that we Ivorybill freaks check out on a daily basis.
P.S. Happy New Year also to the skeptics and a thought for them.
You must have the courage to change! :)
Hey gws,
Actually, I already have changed my views on the Ivory-bill. For over two months after Cornell made their announcement, I was a complete believer.
I only became skeptical in July, after I started examining the evidence for myself.
Happy New Year to you as well,
Tom Nelson
Me too. Before the announcement I was hopeful, based on rumors. Then I was a believer, based on the announcement. Now I'm skeptical, based on the evidence.
May the Ivory-bill appear on camera in 2006!
One of my 2006 New Years wishes is that Tom will change his site to, Crow it's whats for dinner.
All Tom wants is more irrefutable evidence, just like me. The quote on his blog is so true
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof"--Carl Sagan
If the IB survived it would be a miracle and extraordinary...no doubt. a definitive photo or video is needed. Some sort of DNA evidence would be ok...but the definitive photo/video is my standard in this case.
Skeptics are not mean-spirited at all. We want the IB to survive just like everyone else. We are birders who want habitat preserved. We just need defintive evidence to believe.
Tell me how a remnant(20-30 birds) population could have survived undetected for all these years...the odds are astoundingly small. face it...the bird is probably gone. based on the lack of definitive evidence so far, I give it a 1 percent chance of being found. That is my opinion.
If they do find it...heck...I will eat crow...it would be my best meal ever!!!!
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