It never ends, does it?

...



We had a lovely Thanksgiving day. I spent another day at the International Bird Rescue Research Center, and Robb baked an apple pie. Pie baking is a good cooking activity for Robb. Make the crust, put it in the fridge to cool, go lay down. Put pie in the oven, go lay down. We attended the annual vegan feast at Ashley's house, which was even nicer than last year.

The day at IBRRC was sort of giddy. The bulk of the birds were outside paddling around in pools, and many are ready to release. People were no longer in emergency room mode. Some workers were breaking down parts of the hospital, and doing deep cleaning. I had another stab at organizing medical records. The catered Thanksgiving lunch raised spirits, as did the beautiful weather. There were actually news reporters buzzing around, filming stories on the volunteers who chose to work on Thanksgiving.

I got to meet some of my fellow nature bloggers (Feathers of Hope/Bird by Bird and Toad in the Hole), which was delightful. Hopefully, the next time we bump into each other will be under less dire circumstances.

Working on this spill has been a moving experience for me, in many ways. So many people have come from such great distances and have worked such long hours to try to fix this mess. Last night, I was assigned to help Rebecca, who came out from Delaware as part of a team from TriState Bird Rescue and Research. The work on the spill has been administered by the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, but it is only as I work on this project longer do I begin to understand the magnitude of this network. The Chesapeake Bay is helping the San Francisco Bay, which only seems fitting.

I was slogging through paperwork, when I heard Rebecca calling back to the East Coast. It seems that oil from a "mystery spill" is washing up on Long Island. Poor woman. She's got to be bone-tired from this job, and may be having to deal with another oily disaster.

It would be nice to think that when we free all these birds, that the job will be finished.

In our case, they say that only a percentage of the spilled oil has been collected. The rest is hovering in the San Francisco Bay, and will we present as a source of killer pollution for goodness knows how long. In Russia, 14,700 birds have already died, and another 21,000 are still at risk. And I read that there's another "mystery spill" in a canal south of San Francisco Airport.

The way things are going, people are just going to keep crapping up our world.

Thank goodness, there are a few other people who are committed to undoing the damage done by their fellow-men.

Comments

Ryan said…
Oil is evil. Sell your cars! Walk to work! Oh, wait... already did that. =)
Anonymous said…
Lisa -- I think there's close to an oil spill a day, just in California. Most of them result in very few birds brought in for rehab, but they are there and happening and some of them are monstrous.

We could all sell our cars, Ryan, and I'm glad you have -- but remember this spill was caused by a container ship. We are not just addicted to oil; we're addicted to the luxuries brought by a global economy. This spill more than anything has taught me that I need really to focus on buy thing things that are made and produced very locally...
Kristen said…
Beautiful new photos. Thanks for sharing. The feet are still creepy.

Erm, odd question, but remember the vegan thanksgiving last year? remember the guy who was sitting across from me? Do you think Ashley remembers his name? he was the friend of a guy who had just moved to the Bay, and was heading back to Ohio, i think, but he was from upstate NY. yeah, its a bit convoluted and i do apologise. He just had a great personality and was very nice-looking. anyway.

i've been trying to find local produce around the Charlotte area but have actually found that farmers' markets sell the same non-regional food found at the grocery store. its disheartening. the 5-year drought in this area has really taken its toll. while i'm of the belief that this failure on our region's part to provide food is a clear indicator that South Carolina is not actually suitable for human habitation, i'm nevertheless saddened that the ecological constraints of my region have been a burden in my attempt to go local. proof again that i just need to move to the Keys.
Lisa said…
I'll ask. Maybe Jesse's brother???

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