It's Summer!

photo via Coastal Living May 2010

This weekend is the official start of Summer! Are you ready?

Happy Friday
HAPPY SUMMER!

-Susan

10 year old raises thousands of dollars to help with the oil spill clean up

MEET OLIVIA BOULER
A 10 year old bird lover

Image via Facebook

Olivia's raising money in a unique way to help with the oil spill clean up of birds and wildlife in and around her summer home in Orange Beach.


Image via Facebook

I encourage you to read the full story
and if you'd like to, donate to The Audubon Society, The Sierra Club, The Weeks Bay Foundation, The Mobile Bay Estuary Program or the National Wildlife Fund to help with the Gulf recovery.

Let the Bouler's know by sending an email to nadinebouler@hotmail.com, Olivia's mom, and they'll send you one of Olivia's drawings.

Even if you can't donate, you can send Olivia a message letting her know what a great thing she's doing through her mom's email, nadinebouler@hotmail.com, or her Facebook page,
"Save the Gulf: Olivia's Bird Illustrations"



image via Facebook

I had to share this story with you as it brought tears to my eyes when I read it.

This girl deserves recognition and praise for what she's doing.

She's a great role model for all of us.

Thank you, Olivia, for the inspiration and the hard work.

-Susan

Take Action

Please consider taking action and contacting President Obama to say stop all oil drilling off our coasts.

Click here to follow the TAKE ACTION BUTTON through the Sierra Club link to send a message to President Obama.

OR

get in touch with your Senators and Representatives to say the same thing

Phone

Your Senator and Representative can be called via the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Write

Your Senator at U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510.

Your Representative at U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515.

Look Them Up Online

Look up your Senator or Representative online.

Contact the President

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
Comment line: 202-456-1111
Fax: 202-456-2461
Email instructions: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Thanks, Susan

Perdido Bay History and Ecology Geek Alert

I found all of this great information on Wikipedia about the Perdido Key area.



History, geography, ecology, references and all sorts of links that just get my geeky, information loving, heart pumping.

"In 1693 noted cartographer and scientist Don Carlos Siquenza was sent by the Spanish government to locate the entrance (to Perdido Bay). Even after he located the mouth of the bay, he was still unable to find a waterway deep enough to sail through. According to legend, Siquenza's ship had been blown off course as he was again searching for the pass into the deep inland waters. The ship was spotted by an Indian chief camped with his tribe at Bear Point. As the chief was walking along the water he spotted Don Carlos Siquenza attempting to reef his sails and offered to guide Siquenza and his men to a connecting deep water channel from the Gulf of Mexico into the more tranquil bay. When the search party finally located the elusive bay, they called it "Perdido", which in Spanish means "lost" or "hidden"." - from Wikipedia

Thought I'd share some other good sites for area information too.

Gulf Islands National Seashore
Historic Pensacola Village



Geronimo

Did you know that
Geronimo lived for a time at Fort Pickens as a U.S. prisoner?

Have fun exploring.

-Susan

The Oil Spill

I can't tell you how upset we are about the oil spill that has taken oil workers lives and is threatening the Pensacola and Perdido areas' water and shoreline. Very little information has been available as nobody really seems to know exactly what's going on (except that there's alot of oil spilling uncontrollably into the Gulf Of Mexico). It's very frustrating for everyone.

Pensacola News Journal

Following are some links that provide reliable, up-to-the-minute information about the spill and it's effects in the Perdido/Pensacola area:

The Pensacola News Journal
The Pensacola News Journal Special Oil Spill Coverage
Visit Florida.com
Gulf Islands National Seashore
NOAA
BP Oil Disaster Interactive Map
USA Today




View Larger Map

I am hoping (against hope) that even if the oil reaches our shores, it won't get into Perdido Bay. The bay is affected by the ocean tides but only has 2 connections to it, a very narrow pass into the Gulf just past the Florida/Alabama state line and Ono Island called Perdido Pass, and the Intercoastal Waterway out into Big Lagoon (after all it isn't called Perdido (lost or hidden in Spanish) Bay for nothing).

In the mean time we are praying for the families that lost loved ones in the explosion, for the safety of all of the relief workers and for the wildlife and ecosystems in all of the affected areas.


U. S. National Park Service Photo

Report oiled shorelines to 866-448-5816. Report oiled wildlife to 866-557-1401