Monday, July 16, 2012

still...



i found these pictures on my computer the other day... taken one rainy day last december. on a quiet, river road in louisiana.

none of the pictures i took happened to be of the lovely preserved plantation and farm houses, but were all of these old, somewhat forgotten (and often abandoned) buildings.  the ones passed unseen by the few cars that drove past.
strange, in that they seemed to scream out with all that remained... the stories and past voices that echo against the bare walls.  i must have passed a few dozen of these places, each with an entirely different, palpable electricity in the air.
some comforting. some dripping with a sadness that made me wonder why it still stood as the evidence of some long ago pain... maybe, as humans, we need physical signs that our hurt was real.
all beautiful in their own way.

and then there were the people,  who sat and watched as i drove by.  sat and watched the cars that came before me. and the cars that inevitably followed. sat and watched for some indeterminable length of time.
like rooted trees that slowly grow and overlap and replace one another. and they silently screamed out with the same unspoken jumble of history.  eyes and mouths just as comforting or sad.  most lifting a hand, as a sort of passing proof that our paths crossed. that our lives touched in some way.
and i wished that i could sit and listen to the endless stories. the foundations of who they are. the ones their families were built upon.  to sit and feel the importance behind those pieces of memory.



























happy monday

Thursday, July 12, 2012

crisis in virunga...




the virunga national park, home to many of the last remaining mountain gorillas on earth, is facing a very serious crisis right now, as rebels and military battle for territory in and around the park.  approximately two hundred of world's remaining 790 mountain gorillas live here.

yes, only 790 mountain gorillas remain in the world.

renewed, intense fighting has forced the evacuation of most of the park's rangers and families to goma... leaving much of the park, and the endangered animals within, unprotected.  about forty rangers have stayed behind to do what they can to protect the park and to care for the orphaned gorillas who live at the senkwekwe orphan mountain gorilla sanctuary.  these men are putting their lives at risk to try and save a species, along with the incredible park they call home... unfortunately, in may, three rangers lost their lives during this latest round of fighting.


please, please take just few moments to watch and share this important video... to help spread the word.

you can also visit virungacrisis.org to learn more and to make a donation.