tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184967416856130613.post1064665187173242358..comments2011-04-02T07:55:35.494-06:00Comments on preparing for illumination: It's my day to work in the store.christ the light-giverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093381911659245102noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184967416856130613.post-8123340674818551832010-09-02T22:10:41.946-05:002010-09-02T22:10:41.946-05:00Entertaining story (your good with those). It neve...Entertaining story (your good with those). It never hurts to ask; the worst that could happen is they'll say 'no', and you'll not be any worse off than before. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I'm still available to 'speak', as I was 10 years ago when I first approached you about 'Cosmic' Orthodoxy. No ladder required. I've gotten the info together over the last decade on my own, though I'd rather have collaborated with you. info@LifeGivingSpring.infoLifeGivingSpringhttp://lifegivingspring.info/LGS/faith/culture/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184967416856130613.post-63234419487933947922009-01-31T23:17:00.000-06:002009-01-31T23:17:00.000-06:00A tale of a long-shot letter to a big-shot:Several...A tale of a long-shot letter to a big-shot:<BR/><BR/>Several years ago my husband, Landon, and I were working to persuade the Nature Conservancy, or any willing conservation organization, to purchase a tract of land in Brazoria County on which stood some rare native palm trees. Landon did most of the head-work, researched and even published an article in a botanical journal (with no formal education in botany). He had the palms analyzed by a noted palm expert from the Smithsonian (who travelled all the way to Texas to study the palms during their seed producing season.) I had repeatedly braved poison ivy, waist-high thorn patches, wriggled through barbed wire, waded through ankle-deep muck while toting several pounds of camera equipment and then perched on a ladder (I hate ladders!) to get the best possible photos of the palms (which were also published).<BR/><BR/>Despite all this work over the span of several years, we were getting nowhere. Everyone said there was no money available for this purchase. The "for sale" sign remained on the land and we feared a developer would buy it and chop out all the trees.<BR/><BR/>So, Landon wrote President Bush. This was Bush Sr who sat in the oval office at the time. We both figured the letter was a long shot and, sure enough, we never got an answer.<BR/><BR/>BUT ... a few months later, out of the blue, a representative of U.S. Fish and Wildlife contacted my husband about the palm trees. We don't know for sure (and were afraid to ask) but we wondered if George B. Sr. had forwarded Landon's letter to them. <BR/><BR/>Bush wasn't noted as a supporter of environmental causes. Who knows why he did this or if he even did it.<BR/><BR/>What we do know is this: U.S. Fish and Wildlife began to work with the Nature Conservancy and today the tract of land is part of U.S. Fish and Wildlife's San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge.Carolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01113976466303866961noreply@blogger.com