Shark Threat Off the Coast of Australia

Because of recent fatal shark attacks off the coast of Australia, letters have been sent into the Australian government requesting a lift on a protective environmental law preventing the killing of great white sharks. The Western Australia Fishing Minister, Norman Moore, wrote a letter to the government requesting that where the great whites are causing a problem, the law be lifted and the sharks be killed. If his letter gets through to acceptance, this could mean the death of thousands of innocent sharks who might not be causing harm to anyone. If the law is lifted, a trend of slaughtering sharks might take effect, killing innocent kinds of sharks that might not have any history of hurting humans or even being a burden in any way. This might cause a great decrease in the population of sharks in that part of the world. To maintain their element of surprise strategy, sharks must move. And any sharks that move too close to the Australian coast might meet an unfortunate fate even if they had no intention of harming anyone.
Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/22/opinion/coots-sharks/index.html?iref=storysearch

Tropical Storm/Hurricane(?) Isaac

I'm sure that I am not the only student covering this subject as a news article but weather FASCINATES me because I think I want to be a meteorologist. In the CNN article I read, the storm has already moved through Cuba and Haiti causing 6 deaths in its second destination. In southern Florida, 6 communities have issued evacuation warnings and they are already experiencing heavy rain and tornado warnings until 5 p.m. tonight. Tomorrow evening, the eye Isaac is predicted to hit the southern part of Florida. The storm is expected to brush the Mississippi coast on Wednesday morning (the 7th anniversary of hurricane Katrina) and possibly southern Louisiana. The storm might also become a hurricane after traveling through the warm Gulf of Mexico. It is expected to become a category 2 but any hurricane can cause great damage, especially in the cities located below or at sea level. Scientists are worried that Isaac will re-damage the areas that were hit by tropical storm Debbie earlier in the summer. So far, all we can do is sit by and watch the storm move up and into the Gulf of Mexico.
Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/26/us/tropical-storm-isaac/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

The Torn Cabin

This summer, I returned to Camp Ozark in the Ouachita Mountain Region of Arkansas for my 8th and final year as a camper. I was a part of an activity that only high school juniors and seniors can participate in called breakaway. It provided a more mature set of activities to participate in during the morning hours. One of the days, we walked across camp to sit on the porch of the owner of the camp, Sam Torn. Once there, we had about an hour of quiet time with the Lord where we were able to sit and look out over a river and into a mountain range from the Torn cabin porch. I wish I had been able to take a picture but phones aren't allowed at camp. It's pretty safe to say that I have never felt so peaceful and in touch with all of God's creation. There was just such effortless beauty in such a simple view of mountains. It had rained the night before so the river was abnormally high (nowhere near even becoming close to touching us at the top of a mountain). Everything was silent and it seemed as though there was nobody else in the world except these giant mountains that seemed to go on forever.

Ground Zero Memorial

Also while in NYC, we visited the ground zero memorial. It was breathtaking. There were two giant fountains built down into the ground to represent the North and South towers. These fountains used an unbelievable amount of water and just looked like a waterfall room. All 4 walls sucked up water from the bottom and dropped it down into a giant square shaped pool with a smaller square cut into the middle. It's mind boggling thinking of how the architects and builders made these fountains so unbelievably huge. Also in the memorial was the only tree left standing after the tragedy of 9/11. It had clearly been nursed back to health and it was being supported by many different pots and ropes to keep it standing tall and straight. This tree wasn't large at all, which is what surprised me. That a small little tree could survive an event such as a plane attack and falling buildings. I think they had named the tree but I don't remember exactly what it was. It was definitely a fighter.

Parks "condemned by NYU"

In the picture, it's pretty hard to see, but one day when my mom and I were having lunch in a cafe in the village in NYC, we were right across from a fenced off park that had banners hung that read "CONDEMNED BY NYU. Gardens going... going... gone". I had seen several different parks that were locked up like this, forbidding visitors from entering. We asked our waitress who said that NYU was planning to build buildings in place of these tiny parks on street corners. They did seem a bit out of place in a lot that was meant for a building but that's what made them so charming. All of the different banners and posters show how the community around these parks really wanted to save them. Living in New York, they obviously don't have the luxury of a big back yard to run and play with the kids and pets like people in the suburbs have. I can definitely understand their hard work to keep their beautiful little parks for their kids to run and play in.

Central Park

This June, my parents and I went to New York City for Fathers Day and my birthday. The first day when we arrived, we went to the Gugenheim Museum and then went for a walk in Central Park. I have been there before when I was about 8 but it didn't fascinate me nearly as much as it did this summer. The way the buildings of NYC reflected on the water of the reservoir made such a beautiful contrast between bustling city life and the calm stillness of nature. The path we walked on was completely shaded by trees so it wasn't too hot and I enjoyed seeing all of the plants lining the walkway. Most of the people getting exercise had their dog with them and nobody seemed bothered in the least bit. The park was so welcoming and peaceful to visit, especially after a long day of traveling. The size of the park definitely made me stop and stare. I have always thought that Memorial Park was huge but Central Park is like the mother of all large parks to me. It just seems to go on forever and ever through shady and beautiful walkways surrounded by bushes, flowers and tall trees that seem to bend perfectly to cover the parks visitors with shade.

Watering Plants

I've already posted about this but google can't find my other blog... So early in June, I watered my neighbors plants while they were out of town for a week. They have A LOT of plants, all in separate pots, and all sporadically placed through their back yard. Twice a day, I would spend about 30 minutes watering their garden and trying to avoid the pesky wasps who tried to attack me because I'm deathly afraid of them. I noticed that the bigger the plants were, the quicker the soil would absorb the water and look dry again. I could definitely tell that some of the plants were placed in a half sunny half shady spot because they would peak out of the shade and into the sun in a bent manner. I definitely had to give them a ton of water because of the 100 degree weather and the fact that the plants didn't even have shade from the clouds. I can't remember if that's everything that I talked about in my earlier post but I'll find it eventually.