Paradise!

Yes.

I'm in Florida.

Again.

This time
a
pathology
meeting...

...in
Sanibel
Island.

I think

I'm
in paradise!

Certainly
it's different
than
Death Valley!

Oh,
don't
worry!

I'll get
back to
Death Valley
soon...

But first
I want
to tell you
about
Sanibel!

Sanibel
is a
place of
shared
vision...

It's
a place
where
people
care....

...about
every
creature...

from

the 

over-sized...

photo by davesbirds.com

...to
the
very
small.

from
the
magnificent
osprey...

and
the
other-worldly
anhinga...

to
the
friendly
woodpecker...

and
the
common
catbird.

Sanibelians
love
their
plants....

2/3
of their island
is
protected
habitat!

Down
to the
tiniest
wildflower!

And this
in
prime
Florida
real estate!

What
a
blessing!

I get
to meet
Amanda.

photo by villsolyluna.com

Here's
a person
who loves
her work!

She works

for

the SCCF -

their 

local

conservancy.

photo by sccf

They have
a staff
of 25


and
hundreds
of volunteers!

I think of
Molly
in
Death Valley.

photo by David Brandt

...battling
her tamarisk
almost
alone.

I think
of
Tom
back home
battling
honeysuckle.

We
all
have...

photo by scifiupdates.com

invasive
aliens...

destroying
our
beloved
landscapes.

photo by swfwm

Amanda's
is the
brazilian
pepper.

And
Amanda
is
winning!

image by legaljuice.com

Because her city
has made it
ILLEGAL
to have
brazilian pepper
on your property!

They
mandate
healthy
native plantings,
not lawns.

(My
subdivision
in Indiana
REQUIRES
I have
50% lawn!)

Fertilizer
hungry....

wildlife
deficient....

BORING...

lawn!

Yuch!

That is
why
Sanibel
is rich
with
wildlife.

And in
Fishers
a bunny
could starve
looking
for a clover.

In Sanibel
bikers
have
as many rights
as drivers.

photo by sanibelcaptivablog.com

In Sanibel
police
will stop
people
from disturbing
turtle nests...

photo by Callie Bowdish

...and
the eggs
of the
snowy
plovers.

Photo by Channels.com

Amanda
is the
turtle
expert.

When
a cold snap
stunned
the Gulf...

She
snapped
into action

and
chased
down every
phone call
of a
cold-stunned turtle.

photo by CROW

She hauled
these
helpless
critters...

photo by SCCF

back to
a
climate-controlled
room....

...till they
could be
released
back to the
warm beaches
of Sanibel.

Amanda's
latest
dream?

The
Bailey
Tract!

Twenty-eight
acres
of
habitat
with
history...













...on the
selling
block.

...and
right next
to the marvelous
J Ding Darling
preserve!

It's an
amazing
world
to me...

here
in
Sanibel...

to see
a
community
that puts...

such
value...




on the
world
in which
we live!