The blog by my pastor, Wes Bixby.
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Grace Traces: An Easter-ing Faith
Friday, August 10, 2012
Boki the dog does Vegas
August 5-6-7, 2012
Boki drove south from Portland, Oregon, with Rhea and Erik, leaving Saturday, August 5. Boki is a Yellow Labrador male born in November, 2003. He does not travel much but loves to be with his family and so was happy to lay in the back seat of the car. Our first stop was to check out a farm property in southern Oregon, near Cave Junction, on behalf of some friends. Here is the SUV of the realtor (left) and our car (right), in front of the horse barn:
After that, we drove down the famed Redwood Highway past giant trees to the coast at Crescent City, California. We stopped for gas:
eat a nice dinner:
Boki drove south from Portland, Oregon, with Rhea and Erik, leaving Saturday, August 5. Boki is a Yellow Labrador male born in November, 2003. He does not travel much but loves to be with his family and so was happy to lay in the back seat of the car. Our first stop was to check out a farm property in southern Oregon, near Cave Junction, on behalf of some friends. Here is the SUV of the realtor (left) and our car (right), in front of the horse barn:
After that, we drove down the famed Redwood Highway past giant trees to the coast at Crescent City, California. We stopped for gas:
which cost quite a bit more than fuel does in Oklahoma. However, the air temperature of 67 oF made it worth while--that is 40 oF lower than it was in Tulsa just then.
We spent that night at the Motel 6 in San Rafael, California. Not clean; manager did not charge extra for the dog on that account.
Sunday morning, we drove across the famous Golden Gate Bridge:
which Rhea reminded Boki and Erik several times is a small-scale replica of the Mackinaw Bridge in God's own state, Michigan.
We drove through the foggy city, then across the bay bridge to Oakland, then east to the Central Valley. South, then across to the desert and on to Las Vegas. We checked in to the Imperial Palace and got a dog room. Boki was extremely patient while we found the canine lavoratory:
We slept well that night. In the morning (Monday, August 6), we set out to explore the famous Strip. Boki handled the escalators in stride:
and took in the sights and sounds of the Strip:
Erik imagined that Boki shared his interest in palms:
and other interesting plants:
while Rhea, figuring Boki was a bird dog at heart, knew he would like to find flamingos:
However, the air-conditioned comfort of Ceasar's Palace casino was more to his liking:
All this excitement tired the pooch. He took a nap on his own bed in the deluxe dog room:
This doggy nap gave Erik and Rhea time to admire palms by the pool:
eat a nice dinner:
and gamble a bit:
Seeing the cat theme, maybe the dog would have liked this part, after all.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Driving Clinic
On Saturday, July 21, Terdal Farm organized the first driving clinic of the South Bixby Ladies Driving Club. Despite the heat (>100oF!), it was well attended and a great success. We had use of the Hill Farm hug indoor arena with fans. That kept the sun off and a breeze moving!
Kail was the clinician. Here are some cell-phone snapshots and a video by Derrail Roland. Scroll down for details of the next driving clinic. It will be September 15, 2012. Details below the July photos....
Rhea on the phone giving directions to the Hill Farm. Hint for September: put the address (below) in any mapping device or website. It is easy to find!
Everyone is friendly and helped each other out. Several people hauled in solo. No problems!
A big variety of carts and carriages! Our carriage was the oldest, dating to the 1890s.
Video Derrail took that shows how huge the indoor arena is. Plenty of room!
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Kail was the clinician. Here are some cell-phone snapshots and a video by Derrail Roland. Scroll down for details of the next driving clinic. It will be September 15, 2012. Details below the July photos....
Video Derrail took that shows how huge the indoor arena is. Plenty of room!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
September Driving Clinic
sponsored by the
South Bixby Ladies Driving Club
The next driving clinic sponsored by the South Bixby Ladies Driving Club will be held September 15, 2012 at the home of Riley and Tonya Hill. We all enjoyed sponsoring the last clinic and are looking forward to more attendance at this one. Due to the extreme heat we limited driver enrollment to 5 in July, but will take on 8 drivers in September hoping that the temperatures will favor driving later into the day.
Our clinic focus will be on Dressage and Cones Course tactics. There will be an area set up to practice difficult moves in dressage as well as a series of difficult cone configurations to work through. Each driver has their choice of how to use their lesson time. For example a beginner driver may choose to work in the indoor arena working on straightness and simple bending, an intermediate driver may choose to work on perfecting their bending for dressage, a more advanced driver may choose to start indoors, move out to the cones course or dressage field. Kail has promised to provide each driver with the instruction in their area of interest during their allotted time.
We will follow the same format and rules as the first clinic. I will list them below for those that haven't participated:
ALL DRIVERS WILL WEAR A HELMET, GLOVES AND CARRY A WHIP WHILE IN THE VEHICLE.
1.) All drivers will get to drive, sign up for times is first come first served. Times are “approximate” due to the nature of our clinic format. Please be ready at the time you choose, but don’t be upset if we start you a little late. Our clinic is designed to provide each driver with a good experience....no one carries a stop watch here! IF you are delayed in arriving and another driver can fill your spot, we will work you in later in the day. CALL Rhea Terdal if a delay occurs.
2.) All horses must present a negative Coggins that is current on arrival.
3.) All participants will be asked to sign a waiver whether driving or auditing.
4.) Payment will be due the day of the clinic. Drivers will pay $50/lesson plus $15 to trailer in. If you are paying by check, please bring two one for Kail, one for the Hills. Lunch will be included in your fees.
5.) Any person that wishes to Audit and attend the lunch is asked to notify Rhea Terdal in advance and the lunch fee is $5. IF you feel you gained good information from auditing either the clinic or lunch, please feel free to show your gratitude to our clinician (cash or checks are accepted)
6.) Only Drivers, a designated assistant, or family member are to handle horses during the clinic. This is being held on a private facility and we want to avoid anyone having an avoidable injury.
7.) Children are welcome if they can behave and not be a distraction. We encourage our younger drivers but are not set up for small children. Any child that attends must be under adult supervision at all times.
8.) Gate will be open at 7am for early arrivals, please park in the front field allowing space for others. If you need to bring your horse the night before contact Rhea Terdal for a stall and fees.
Clinic Location (Note: private property)
1507 E. 181st Street
Mounds, OK 74047
Contact Information:
Rhea Terdal
Ask for a mobile # for text or voice
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Heading West
Oops!
Forget to complete the travelogue. Brief version: got to Playa del Carmen and had a blast. Slept in a nice room near the beach. Took ADO bus to Cancun in morning for flight to Dallas. Cousin met us. Drive home to Tulsa that night. Whirlwind started: work, kids, ex. Got ugly. Life went on.
Erik travelled to Belize again in May. Solo trip so he used a different blog. If you want to catch up, start here and read forward in time to June, 2012:
http://drterdal.blogspot.com/2012/05/catching-up.html
New trip: Erik takes his son and their dog out west. Boring, huh? Well, as a twist, Erik is taking two waggies. As in Trachycarpus fortunei var. Wagnerianus along in pots. They are a "gift" to his mother, who instilled his love of travel.
Quick shift to first person, Erik. Rhea is staying home to water plants and tend to our horses, Biscotti & Chistoso. Et cetera.
We pack up Rhea's Volvo:
with the waggies (on the right here, so they'll be on the north side of the road as we drive).
We drive and drive and drive. First time out of the car is Shamrock, Texas. Erik buys gas and all three boys use the facilities. Waggies endure.
Next stop is our motel, the Big Texan Steak Ranch:
They are very busy! I am glad I made reservations in advance and pre-paid. Our room allows dogs; Boki is grateful.
This is a full service motel. Horses out back:
Our room is in this block:
Well, all this is hard work. We swim in the Texas-shaped pool, then get ready for dinner. Reed is hungry! Will this be enough?:
Remainders go to the refrigerator in the room:
while I enjoy the sunset:
Forget to complete the travelogue. Brief version: got to Playa del Carmen and had a blast. Slept in a nice room near the beach. Took ADO bus to Cancun in morning for flight to Dallas. Cousin met us. Drive home to Tulsa that night. Whirlwind started: work, kids, ex. Got ugly. Life went on.
Erik travelled to Belize again in May. Solo trip so he used a different blog. If you want to catch up, start here and read forward in time to June, 2012:
http://drterdal.blogspot.com/2012/05/catching-up.html
New trip: Erik takes his son and their dog out west. Boring, huh? Well, as a twist, Erik is taking two waggies. As in Trachycarpus fortunei var. Wagnerianus along in pots. They are a "gift" to his mother, who instilled his love of travel.
Quick shift to first person, Erik. Rhea is staying home to water plants and tend to our horses, Biscotti & Chistoso. Et cetera.
We pack up Rhea's Volvo:
with the waggies (on the right here, so they'll be on the north side of the road as we drive).
We drive and drive and drive. First time out of the car is Shamrock, Texas. Erik buys gas and all three boys use the facilities. Waggies endure.
Next stop is our motel, the Big Texan Steak Ranch:
They are very busy! I am glad I made reservations in advance and pre-paid. Our room allows dogs; Boki is grateful.
This is a full service motel. Horses out back:
Our room is in this block:
Well, all this is hard work. We swim in the Texas-shaped pool, then get ready for dinner. Reed is hungry! Will this be enough?:
Remainders go to the refrigerator in the room:
while I enjoy the sunset:
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Heading north
Our last entry, "Sunsets over Mountain Pine Ridge", described an amazing 24 hours capped with spectacular sunsets in the Maya Mountains of Belize. This entry covers 36 hours where sunrises and sunsets blurred together out of bus windows in two nations: Belize and Mexico.
Saturday, January 7, began with us waking up at Blancaneaux Lodge. They had held a party with Belizean cuisine and a Marimba band Friday night--good times, but everyone was moving slow the next morning.
I worked during the morning while Rhea went to visit friends at Moonracer. I waited for her before lunch, and shouldn't have--she had so much fun there she came back too late. We quickly checked out and drove down the Georgeville road. Rhea stopped for snacks at the junction with the San Antonio road:
Once on the Western highway, we went west to Central Farm to visit friends at the Belize Wildlife & Referral Clinic.
Delightful people, and we stayed too long. We left at 4 pm, had to return our Jimny to Budget in Belize City by 5 pm, and buy our bus tickets before they sold out for the 7 pm bus to Mexico.
We made excellent time east on the Western Highway but of course our mission was impossible. We pulled into the driveway at Cheers and used their telephone to call ahead to Budget, saying we were running late. No time for food, but I did buy a 2012 Belikin calendar as gift for a friend.
The manager of Budget in Belize City had patiently waited for us despite having to get to a child's birthday party.
He even drove us to Novelo's in his own car when he could easily have told us to call a taxi. Great service.
At Novelo's bus station, we went inside to find the ADO ticket counter:
The agent, Alice, had sold all her allotment of tickets. She did not have a computer, but she helpfully used her cell phone to call other ADO agents in Orange Walk and Corozal to determine if they had unsold tickets she could sell to us. That was the case so she sold us our two tickets for BZD19 each. I paid with two 20s and asked if I could give the dollar coins to her two daughters who had to spend Saturday night at Novelo's with their mom. Smiles all around.
We had an hour, and had not eaten lunch. I left Rhea with the luggage and went out to see what food I could find in Belize City after dark on a Saturday night. There was a hot dog stand, but it was crowded. The convenience stores were open only through those little cage windows which are off-putting to me. Across the canal I found a Chinese restaurant open. I ordered take-out dishes. Enormous portions, cooked fresh after ordering. Very little money. I carried the sack back to Novelo's were we ate the tasty food and chatted with our fellow passengers. We also used the Novelo's bathroom to change into clean clothes for the overnight bus ride to Mexico.
Right on time the bus to Merida left and then it was our turn to board the bus to Cancun:
and then take our seats:
The huge bus made its amazing passage out of Belize City in the dark and onto the Northern Highway. The same lame movie, American with Spanish subtitles, that we were shown on the way down was played. This time I knew to press the mute button on the speaker above us. I tried to sleep and was out by the time we got to Ladyville. The bus pulled in at Orangewalk but no one boarded. The bus was less than half full. Back to sleep. The bus also pulled into Corazol and again no one boarded. I stayed awake this time as I knew we were almost to the border.
At the border, we got out but left our luggage on the bus and walked through the Belize immigration office. There was a departure tax of BZD37.50. We expected this despite not having been alerted by Alice at the Novelo's bus station in Belize City. The couple behind us, Germans, were not prepared. They had no Belizean, Mexican or U.S. currency--only Euros and credit cards. This caused some problems. At 10 pm there were obviously no banks open. The Germans were eventually allowed to pay the tax in Euros. Advice: have the Belizean currency set aside for the departure tax.
While we were all in line, the bus went through to meet us on the other side. The crossing took a while for all the passengers. The passengers chatted. The Germans had spent a week on Caye Caulker and loved it. We boarded the big bus again for the very short trip (100 meters) to Mexico. This time we got off with our luggage. Lined up at the same counter where we had entered Mexico late in 2011 (blog entry here). No attempt to get bribes this time. They handed us the FMM form to complete, which we had thoughtfully packed a pen for:
With the new FMM form in hand, we went through Mexican immigration with no problems at all. Dragged luggage across a parking lot to customs. There, we all lined up for the fun "red light/green light" game. The young tourist couple in front of us got the red light. They set their bags on the counter and had to open them for the customs officer. He made a cursory search and waved them on. I pressed the button and we got the green light. Smiles! I playfully told the young couple in front of us, "we won!" and the Mexican customs man smiled at the feeble joke and waved us through.
The bus had again moved ahead to wait for us. It was parked along a road with several open restaurants:
that had delicious-smelling Mexican food. The bus passengers chatted with each other.
After we were all through customs, we boarded the bus yet again and fell asleep.
Note on bus temperatures: there have been many complaints about the ADO bus being too cold. It was not on this trip. The driver must have heard the complaints as he diligently cycled the AC off and on all night to keep the temperature comfortable. Well done, ADO!
We were awoken again in Bacalar. We had to get off the bus and stand on line in the middle of the night to pay the rest of our bus fare. No idea why this was done here, vs. in Belize City, or even at the border. Poorly done, ADO!
Back on, then northward over the excellent highway. Pulled into Tulum but no one got off the bus there.
We got to Playa del Carmen about 3 am. We were tired and wanted to sleep. But where? We had been given suggestions for motels near the ADO Terminal Alterna. I left Rhea with the luggage and set out on foot to find them. No luck. I did see many drunk gringo/gringa tourists staggering out of night clubs. But every hotel was closed to all except guests who had already registered. I spent over an hour walking around Playa.
Eventually I gave up and went back to the Terminal Alterna and did my best to doze on the benches:
which was NOT comfortable given my back surgery in September.
When the sun came up, I walked to a hotel that had had a particularly helpful night watchman. Confirmed room availability and early check-in and found a taxi. We arrived at the Sian Kaan by 7:30 am and were in our room by 8 am. Nice room. Great location--half block from beach! We promptly went to sleep.
Later in the morning, we went down to the beach. It is a broad white-sand beach. Very crowded but we found a spot sheltered from the chilly wind where we could doze some more.
View to the south, showing the ferry arriving from Cozumel:
View to the north, showing a SCUBA dive boat coming back from a morning dive trip:
We spent the rest of Sunday dozing on the beach and walking up and down 5th avenue in Playa. Many shops. Rhea bought me a nice hat but that was the extent of our shopping. Nice city; we may visit again.
Saturday, January 7, began with us waking up at Blancaneaux Lodge. They had held a party with Belizean cuisine and a Marimba band Friday night--good times, but everyone was moving slow the next morning.
I worked during the morning while Rhea went to visit friends at Moonracer. I waited for her before lunch, and shouldn't have--she had so much fun there she came back too late. We quickly checked out and drove down the Georgeville road. Rhea stopped for snacks at the junction with the San Antonio road:
 |
| From Rhea Belize 2012 |
Once on the Western highway, we went west to Central Farm to visit friends at the Belize Wildlife & Referral Clinic.
Delightful people, and we stayed too long. We left at 4 pm, had to return our Jimny to Budget in Belize City by 5 pm, and buy our bus tickets before they sold out for the 7 pm bus to Mexico.
We made excellent time east on the Western Highway but of course our mission was impossible. We pulled into the driveway at Cheers and used their telephone to call ahead to Budget, saying we were running late. No time for food, but I did buy a 2012 Belikin calendar as gift for a friend.
The manager of Budget in Belize City had patiently waited for us despite having to get to a child's birthday party.
 |
| From Rhea Belize 2012 |
He even drove us to Novelo's in his own car when he could easily have told us to call a taxi. Great service.
At Novelo's bus station, we went inside to find the ADO ticket counter:
 |
| From Rhea Belize 2012 |
The agent, Alice, had sold all her allotment of tickets. She did not have a computer, but she helpfully used her cell phone to call other ADO agents in Orange Walk and Corozal to determine if they had unsold tickets she could sell to us. That was the case so she sold us our two tickets for BZD19 each. I paid with two 20s and asked if I could give the dollar coins to her two daughters who had to spend Saturday night at Novelo's with their mom. Smiles all around.
We had an hour, and had not eaten lunch. I left Rhea with the luggage and went out to see what food I could find in Belize City after dark on a Saturday night. There was a hot dog stand, but it was crowded. The convenience stores were open only through those little cage windows which are off-putting to me. Across the canal I found a Chinese restaurant open. I ordered take-out dishes. Enormous portions, cooked fresh after ordering. Very little money. I carried the sack back to Novelo's were we ate the tasty food and chatted with our fellow passengers. We also used the Novelo's bathroom to change into clean clothes for the overnight bus ride to Mexico.
Right on time the bus to Merida left and then it was our turn to board the bus to Cancun:
 |
| From Rhea Belize 2012 |
and then take our seats:
 |
| From Rhea Belize 2012 |
The huge bus made its amazing passage out of Belize City in the dark and onto the Northern Highway. The same lame movie, American with Spanish subtitles, that we were shown on the way down was played. This time I knew to press the mute button on the speaker above us. I tried to sleep and was out by the time we got to Ladyville. The bus pulled in at Orangewalk but no one boarded. The bus was less than half full. Back to sleep. The bus also pulled into Corazol and again no one boarded. I stayed awake this time as I knew we were almost to the border.
At the border, we got out but left our luggage on the bus and walked through the Belize immigration office. There was a departure tax of BZD37.50. We expected this despite not having been alerted by Alice at the Novelo's bus station in Belize City. The couple behind us, Germans, were not prepared. They had no Belizean, Mexican or U.S. currency--only Euros and credit cards. This caused some problems. At 10 pm there were obviously no banks open. The Germans were eventually allowed to pay the tax in Euros. Advice: have the Belizean currency set aside for the departure tax.
While we were all in line, the bus went through to meet us on the other side. The crossing took a while for all the passengers. The passengers chatted. The Germans had spent a week on Caye Caulker and loved it. We boarded the big bus again for the very short trip (100 meters) to Mexico. This time we got off with our luggage. Lined up at the same counter where we had entered Mexico late in 2011 (blog entry here). No attempt to get bribes this time. They handed us the FMM form to complete, which we had thoughtfully packed a pen for:
 |
| From Rhea Belize 2012 |
With the new FMM form in hand, we went through Mexican immigration with no problems at all. Dragged luggage across a parking lot to customs. There, we all lined up for the fun "red light/green light" game. The young tourist couple in front of us got the red light. They set their bags on the counter and had to open them for the customs officer. He made a cursory search and waved them on. I pressed the button and we got the green light. Smiles! I playfully told the young couple in front of us, "we won!" and the Mexican customs man smiled at the feeble joke and waved us through.
The bus had again moved ahead to wait for us. It was parked along a road with several open restaurants:
 |
| From Rhea Belize 2012 |
that had delicious-smelling Mexican food. The bus passengers chatted with each other.
After we were all through customs, we boarded the bus yet again and fell asleep.
Note on bus temperatures: there have been many complaints about the ADO bus being too cold. It was not on this trip. The driver must have heard the complaints as he diligently cycled the AC off and on all night to keep the temperature comfortable. Well done, ADO!
We were awoken again in Bacalar. We had to get off the bus and stand on line in the middle of the night to pay the rest of our bus fare. No idea why this was done here, vs. in Belize City, or even at the border. Poorly done, ADO!
Back on, then northward over the excellent highway. Pulled into Tulum but no one got off the bus there.
We got to Playa del Carmen about 3 am. We were tired and wanted to sleep. But where? We had been given suggestions for motels near the ADO Terminal Alterna. I left Rhea with the luggage and set out on foot to find them. No luck. I did see many drunk gringo/gringa tourists staggering out of night clubs. But every hotel was closed to all except guests who had already registered. I spent over an hour walking around Playa.
Eventually I gave up and went back to the Terminal Alterna and did my best to doze on the benches:
 |
| From Rhea Belize 2012 |
which was NOT comfortable given my back surgery in September.
When the sun came up, I walked to a hotel that had had a particularly helpful night watchman. Confirmed room availability and early check-in and found a taxi. We arrived at the Sian Kaan by 7:30 am and were in our room by 8 am. Nice room. Great location--half block from beach! We promptly went to sleep.
Later in the morning, we went down to the beach. It is a broad white-sand beach. Very crowded but we found a spot sheltered from the chilly wind where we could doze some more.
View to the south, showing the ferry arriving from Cozumel:
 |
| From Rhea Belize 2012 |
View to the north, showing a SCUBA dive boat coming back from a morning dive trip:
 |
| From Rhea Belize 2012 |
We spent the rest of Sunday dozing on the beach and walking up and down 5th avenue in Playa. Many shops. Rhea bought me a nice hat but that was the extent of our shopping. Nice city; we may visit again.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Sunsets over the Mountain Pine Ridge
I love sunsets. I always have. As a boy, my father would take me to the Pacific shore to watch the sun set over the sea and he would use that as a visual metaphor for, well, for whatever he wanted to talk to me about. Getting things done on time. Passage of time. The world. New horizons. Everything under the sun.
This blog entry shows what we accomplished between two sunsets, Thursday, January 5 and Friday, January 6. I have embedded snapshots I took and short, unedited video-clips by Rhea. Just a little text so you can go through as fast or slow as you wish. As always, comments are appreciated, either here, by email or on Facebook.
After our busy day at Hidden Valley Inn, we went home to Blancaneaux. The kind people there love wildlife and have helped me in my attempts to learn more about the mammals that live in the forest around their wonderful lodge. If you have been a guest there, you know what a magical place it is. If not, their website give a sense of the wonder: http://www.coppolaresorts.com/blancaneaux
I use the word "home"' as Blancaneux feels homey. The people who work there greet us like cousins they have not seen since the last reunion. Those reunions come too far apart!
We went up the stairs to our usual room and looked East:
and then West:
Yes, we had used every bit of daylight before we arrived. Fortunately we knew the steps to the huge horseshoe-shaped hot tub down by the stream bank and so could soak away the muscle aches from a long day of hiking.
After breakfast, we set out with the legendary Roni deep into the Mountain Pine Ridge. We paused periodically to admire the view:
Yes, that is the same Cockscomb we watched the sun set near from Maya Beach just last year:
(Oops, Victoria Peak is not visible in this snapshot, but trust me, it was just out of frame to the right.)
We continued down the road, descending
into the broadleaf forest of the upper Macal River valley:
until we were forced to park and walk
to the bank of the river:
Where Rhea took videos:
From the river bank, we ascended back up into the pine forest on the ridges.
Much of the tropical pine forest in the Mountain Pine Ridge area of the Maya Mountains was damaged by an outbreak of pine bark beetles in 2000-2001 (Report by U.S. National Public Radio, with 5' audio option, from August 3, 2001, is archived here: http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2001/aug/beetles/beetles.html ; regional overview here: http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/y5507e/y5507e05.htm ).
This video clip by Rhea gives a sense of the roads through the pine forest:
With the deforestation caused by the beetles, much of the canopy was lost, letting sunlight to the forest floor and allowing a proliferation of herbaceous vegetation. This sometimes had to be cleared to allow passage:
and sometimes we used the powerful vehicle to push through:
We were of course navigating by GPS to wildlife camera trap locations on a grid. Since I described that in the previous blog entry, I won't bore you with that again.
I do want to talk about logging. Harvest of timber from tropical forests gets a bit of bad press from some parts of the conservation community. I'd like to share my perspective. I grew up in Oregon, where the wood products industry dominated the economy in the 20th century. The logging methods commonly used up there back then, clear cutting, devastated forests and the watersheds in them. The Northern Spotted Owl received the most international press coverage, but I was personally more impacted by the damage to salmon spawning beds. My father was a commercial salmon troller (sales pitch for his book on the subject: http://www.amazon.com/Fishing-Beyond-Buoys-Salmon-Trolling/dp/1878175041). The fishing industry was destroyed by the logging industry. So, I saw the environmental damage from poor forestry practices along with the economic benefits of the wood products industry to rural communities. Can forestry ever be practiced responsibly and sustainably?
I would like to share a few snapshots of what I believe is an example of responsible forest harvest in Belize. I know the name of the company, but am not sharing it here as I neglected to ask explicit permission to blog. If you are the owner, feel free to comment or to ask me to remove these photos.
Pine tree cut down in a selective logging operation:
Log loading point:
Note the small "footprint" relative to the scale of the operation!
Logger's forest camp:
Again, this operation directly damaged very little land area relative to the amount of wood harvested. From an ecological standpoint, it reminded me of a large wind storm. This selective harvesting had no resemblance to the clear-cut logging on steep slopes I saw routinely practiced in Oregon in the 1970s and 1980s.
From this place, we headed up higher and higher through beautiful terrain:
to the highest places in the Mountain Pine Ridge:
where only a few small trees grew:
but many other interesting plants did:
Hypercium:
and even Lycopodium, an ancient plant that in the tropics is found only at high elevations:
Rhea of course took videos.
Here are a few:
Looking down from the pine forest we drove up from--
Looking out over the bald hills of Belize--
Watching the evening fog roll in over the Bald Hills of Belize--
Walking through the grasses on top of a bald hill--
I am saving the best for last. In this video clip, Rhea covers the landscape ecology of the area in just one minute. Amazing! If you watch only one of her videos, let it be this one:
We get up to Baldy Beacon itself
as the sun is going down:
It was a truly amazing day.
This blog entry shows what we accomplished between two sunsets, Thursday, January 5 and Friday, January 6. I have embedded snapshots I took and short, unedited video-clips by Rhea. Just a little text so you can go through as fast or slow as you wish. As always, comments are appreciated, either here, by email or on Facebook.
After our busy day at Hidden Valley Inn, we went home to Blancaneaux. The kind people there love wildlife and have helped me in my attempts to learn more about the mammals that live in the forest around their wonderful lodge. If you have been a guest there, you know what a magical place it is. If not, their website give a sense of the wonder: http://www.coppolaresorts.com/blancaneaux
I use the word "home"' as Blancaneux feels homey. The people who work there greet us like cousins they have not seen since the last reunion. Those reunions come too far apart!
We went up the stairs to our usual room and looked East:
 |
| From 2012-01-06 |
and then West:
 |
| From 2012-01-06 |
Yes, we had used every bit of daylight before we arrived. Fortunately we knew the steps to the huge horseshoe-shaped hot tub down by the stream bank and so could soak away the muscle aches from a long day of hiking.
After breakfast, we set out with the legendary Roni deep into the Mountain Pine Ridge. We paused periodically to admire the view:
 |
| From 2012-01-06 |
 |
| From 2012-01-06 |
Yes, that is the same Cockscomb we watched the sun set near from Maya Beach just last year:
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| From 2012-01-02 |
(Oops, Victoria Peak is not visible in this snapshot, but trust me, it was just out of frame to the right.)
We continued down the road, descending
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| From 2012-01-06 |
into the broadleaf forest of the upper Macal River valley:
| From 2012-01-06 |
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| From 2012-01-06 |
until we were forced to park and walk
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| From 2012-01-06 |
to the bank of the river:
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| From 2012-01-06 |
Where Rhea took videos:
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| From 2012-01-06 |
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| From 2012-01-06 |
From the river bank, we ascended back up into the pine forest on the ridges.
Much of the tropical pine forest in the Mountain Pine Ridge area of the Maya Mountains was damaged by an outbreak of pine bark beetles in 2000-2001 (Report by U.S. National Public Radio, with 5' audio option, from August 3, 2001, is archived here: http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2001/aug/beetles/beetles.html ; regional overview here: http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/y5507e/y5507e05.htm ).
This video clip by Rhea gives a sense of the roads through the pine forest:
With the deforestation caused by the beetles, much of the canopy was lost, letting sunlight to the forest floor and allowing a proliferation of herbaceous vegetation. This sometimes had to be cleared to allow passage:
and sometimes we used the powerful vehicle to push through:
We were of course navigating by GPS to wildlife camera trap locations on a grid. Since I described that in the previous blog entry, I won't bore you with that again.
I do want to talk about logging. Harvest of timber from tropical forests gets a bit of bad press from some parts of the conservation community. I'd like to share my perspective. I grew up in Oregon, where the wood products industry dominated the economy in the 20th century. The logging methods commonly used up there back then, clear cutting, devastated forests and the watersheds in them. The Northern Spotted Owl received the most international press coverage, but I was personally more impacted by the damage to salmon spawning beds. My father was a commercial salmon troller (sales pitch for his book on the subject: http://www.amazon.com/Fishing-Beyond-Buoys-Salmon-Trolling/dp/1878175041). The fishing industry was destroyed by the logging industry. So, I saw the environmental damage from poor forestry practices along with the economic benefits of the wood products industry to rural communities. Can forestry ever be practiced responsibly and sustainably?
I would like to share a few snapshots of what I believe is an example of responsible forest harvest in Belize. I know the name of the company, but am not sharing it here as I neglected to ask explicit permission to blog. If you are the owner, feel free to comment or to ask me to remove these photos.
Pine tree cut down in a selective logging operation:
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| From 2012-01-06 |
Log loading point:
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| From 2012-01-06 |
Note the small "footprint" relative to the scale of the operation!
Logger's forest camp:
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| From 2012-01-06 |
Again, this operation directly damaged very little land area relative to the amount of wood harvested. From an ecological standpoint, it reminded me of a large wind storm. This selective harvesting had no resemblance to the clear-cut logging on steep slopes I saw routinely practiced in Oregon in the 1970s and 1980s.
From this place, we headed up higher and higher through beautiful terrain:
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| From 2012-01-06 |
to the highest places in the Mountain Pine Ridge:
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| From 2012-01-06 |
where only a few small trees grew:
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| From 2012-01-06 |
but many other interesting plants did:
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| From 2012-01-06 |
Hypercium:
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| From 2012-01-06 |
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| From 2012-01-06 |
and even Lycopodium, an ancient plant that in the tropics is found only at high elevations:
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| From 2012-01-06 |
Rhea of course took videos.
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| From 2012-01-06 |
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| From 2012-01-06 |
Here are a few:
Looking down from the pine forest we drove up from--
Looking out over the bald hills of Belize--
Watching the evening fog roll in over the Bald Hills of Belize--
Walking through the grasses on top of a bald hill--
I am saving the best for last. In this video clip, Rhea covers the landscape ecology of the area in just one minute. Amazing! If you watch only one of her videos, let it be this one:
We get up to Baldy Beacon itself
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| From 2012-01-06 |
as the sun is going down:
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| From 2012-01-06 |
It was a truly amazing day.
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