Watercolors
Here at home, nearly every session is cause for celebration. There is a unique beauty in the waiting, dreaming, scheming and hoping.
But at my "other home" in northwest PR, sessions overlap and run together in a delightful combination of hues. Blues and greens, oranges and pinks. The moon sets, the sun rises, the sun sets. The soundtrack is buzzing, chirping, whirring, wings flapping, wind blowing, waves crashing, a dog barking, a horse galloping. Pineapples, avocados + bananas fill my belly. The coqui singing us to sleep.
I hope to return to this magical place again.
Gnot the Gnar I Was Looking For
And I am not talking about the waves here - because, honestly, the surf was fun enough. What I am talking about here is water quality. The water was so gross on every level, that I came very close to not paddling out. Everything in my being was telling me not to. But this is after an hour and a half drive to get there. So of course I paddled out into the brown bubble-covered water and caught a few.
While out there, I saw a couple of balloons on the surface and paddled through a plastic bag. There was also some sort of seaweed/redtide phenomena happening. This goes down as the most gnarly surf I have ever experienced. I do not see myself going back to this particular spot for a while.
While out there, I saw a couple of balloons on the surface and paddled through a plastic bag. There was also some sort of seaweed/redtide phenomena happening. This goes down as the most gnarly surf I have ever experienced. I do not see myself going back to this particular spot for a while.
Eye of the Tiger
As some readers may have heard, the MA Bottle Bill Amendment came close to passing after it was added to the recent Jobs Bill in the Senate. Unfortunately, it was cut on Monday, July 30th in Joint Conference Committee due to strong opposition in the House. This is despite having support of 77% of the public, 208 cities and towns, Governor Patrick, and the majority of legislators.
The expansion to the 31-year-old bill would have added water, juices, iced tea and sports drinks to the list of containers currently included in the 5-cent bottle deposit.
"Sadly it's becoming clearer that big business is dictating how Beacon Hill votes. The bottlers and other big beverage interests trumped the people, the environment and the facts on this one." ~ James McCaffrey of the Sierra Club
"Instead of Massachusetts taking home the gold medal, by disqualifying the public's opinion, the legislature gives us more litter, more waste, and less recycling." ~ Janet Domenitz of MASSPIRGYou can read more about the opposition in a previous entry posted here.
Surfrider MA Chapter has been and continues to be a supporter of the expansion of Massachusetts' most effective recycling program. We won't give up.
Back in 1982, MASSPIRG led the fight to pass the original Bottle Bill. That just happens to be the same year this song hit the radio waves:
