the lonesome tide

It was only last summer that my family and I swam in the warm waters of the Gulf. We peacefully slept on a breezy 4th floor and spent our tranquil mornings eating cinnamon toast with the symphonic sound of the sea playing before us. It was a quiet, special week..one where memories of birthday smiles, dolphins frolicking at a stones throw and regal sandcastles were made.

As I ran my way down the coast most early evenings..the sun sinking behind a soft, pink horizon, little did I know that I would be watching the ghastly images I see today. That black, gushing plume sickens me to the core every time I see it. My heart heavy with the sight of all those weighted wings, my prayer- fervent; that life there whether feathered, scaled or shelled will live again and we can clean up what those greedy bastards have set in motion. Ironically, it will probably be more of my tax dollar that will do it and very little of the 17 billion that line their silk pockets. That seems to be the way these days. As a woman, committed to my faith though, I can not and will not lose hope that we will eventually turn poison into medicine and that this karma, no matter how immutable it seems now will unfold itself to heal, to renew, to begin again. This preventable cause has been made into a disastrous effect and it is by our will and self destiny that we must correct it. But unless we change the way we consume, and own up to what has manifested by our hand then how can anything move forward? I have no concrete solution, no degrees, no political seat...just a blogging mama who prays that her babies will get what they deserve- the world in all its glory..life as sweet and simple as it was for me.

The prioritization of not only we humanoids in the life web but all others as well must be moved into place...lessons learned, mechanisms corrected, a-holes called out- a civic demand that will be heard like a shot fired, a final fix that will plug the pipes a mile deep once and for all and also the suits who've shown themselves to be nothing but an o-ring of blame, denial and neglect. And in my book, I'm talkin' to you, Mr. and Ms. B.P.-a sin so very deep, that as a mother of two young lives perched on an edge of discovery and wonder, I shudder at its magnitude and wonder how your eyes are able to shut in sleep at night. I struggle with the fear of my darkest demon..that one day we will not have any tools left for battle and all the links in the chain will lie broken like a Pic-a-Parts junkyard. There is something so innately tragic at the demise of the ones who can not speak for themselves. We owe an allegiance to both child and creature- a mission so noble that you would think its task alone would be enough to satisfy us. Our future is shining but we are blind to its light, I'm afraid.

The oxygen of the bay's bottom is already 20% below normal. It is home to over 400 species who are now seriously threatened. Those who are able to leave the hypoxic area, will; and those who can not, will not. Heaven forbid, if there is a bad hurricane season and that slop, in its sinister spread, will cover even more of our deep blue. I am reminded of the frantic scramble of the majestic sea turtle. It's odds of survival one in a thousand. After poking its head up through the sugary sand, it dodges the swift talon of the seagull, and then beats its tiny flippers against the current and other fishy threats. Today, its odyssey made even more perilous by the poison that washes in before them. Life on the tiniest, organic microbial level now must fight this deathly underwater cloud for breath and our wetlands will lose. I saw firsthand, at Dauphin Island's amazing estuarium, the profundity of the marsh and its place within this eco-system. The intricate tango between river, ocean, matter and life.

And so it goes. The jubilee falls silent and we continue to drive, consume and glutton ourselves into oblivion. My trek to school is always behind a mass of guzzling gas hogs with support our troops bumper stickers. I should be passing a lot more recycle bins on my way, but sadly only one or two on my block. The technology is out there to make a Prius that the average joe can afford. I just don't get it. All I can do in my humble way is to create a ripple in the proverbial pond as best I can and encourage my kids to do so, too. I haven't shared a rocket-science solution, nothing Huff worthy...not anything that you don't feel in your own tickers. This was simply an entry where I just needed to vent, I guess....and for a love song about a place that I shared with my children.