LIVING WATERS
   by Edna Gordon

   APPALACHIAN SEA
   by Susan Courter Higgins

   ENERGY
   by Diane Buccheri

   CO2: CLIMATE CHANGE?
   by Arthur Bird

   IT IS SAID, ABOUT MUSIC
   by Jeff Beyl

   IN THE EYE OF THE STORM
   by James Michael Dorsey

   IN THE PRESENCE OF KINGS AND GIANTS
   by Chuck Graham

   ALKALI
   by Janelle Segarra

   THE OCEAN STAGED A SHOW
   by Melba Milak

   OCEAN Writing Contest Winner
   Janet Perez

   OCEAN Photography Contest Winner
   Jaime Rose Farreh











   A glimpse into this issue . . .






   LIVING WATERS

   written by Edna Gordon

   

   To all my children, and all their children, family, and friends:

   Listen to the living waters murmur a song of life to reach the inner soul,
   for everything that moves was created with life. Let your inner spirit move
   along with the rippling streams for the hopes and dreams to flow with the
   rhythm of life. A drop of dew is a blessing for the spirit of life.

   In the Creator’s realm of Nature’s vast and varied scenic, universal splendor,
   the living waters of life embraced the mountains, valleys, deserts, and the
   forest. They are one with the moon, sun, stars, winds, rain, and all waters of life.

   Our ancestors were bonded by this earth connection which stimulates the
   body, heart, mind, and soul. In their chapel of the woodland, they praised
   the Great Spirit, the source of all life. They blessed the land, the flesh of the
   Earth Mother, for all living emerges from her and returns to her.

   The journey of the majestic rivers pave a trail to merge with the depths of
   the sea. Nature’s directed course became the Ancient Highway. Red Man’s
   footprints faded with the sands of time but through the changeable tides of
   destiny, the currents of the living waters move on with the spiritual currents of life.

   
 
   Read the Full Article






   ENERGY

   by Diane Buccheri


   Earth renews itself continuously, through its cycle of birth, growth, death, and
   rebirth, only possible with water, sun, wind, and the elements. Her ongoing cycle
   of give and take, production and reproduction, adjusts and readjusts to the
   fluctuations and changes within and wrought upon her, changing to meet
   changing needs of nourishment for sustenance of life and well-being, since
   before time began for us. We exist within this cycle and because of it. We are
   an integral part of its system. Our bodies are wholly dependent upon it, as is the
   body of the earth.

   Everything of biological matter is made of atoms, minute particles of matter.
   Inside every atom, at least one electron spins around a proton, magnetically
   drawn to it, creating a field of electromagnetic energy. This rhythmic, constant
   spinning is the simple, basic energy of the universe. It is omnipresent. It makes
   you and I. It’s the basis of biological existence. With spirit, it is the essence of life.

   With every minute particle of matter spinning, every body is pulled to center by
   gravity. Thus, the rounded celestial bodies spin or rotate in space, pulled to the
   center of the universe, the sun. As an electron orbiting in a fixed path around the
   proton in the nucleus, or center, of an atom, the planets orbit around the sun at
   the center of our universe.


   Radially oscillating energy . . . energy powering the rhythmically vibrating
   universe, the energy cycles of the sun, Earth, the ocean, us. Similarly, simply, and
   without complex technology, can this energy of nature power the activities of our
   daily lives?



   Read the Full Article

 




   CO2: CLIMATE CHANGE?
 
   by Arthur Bird


   Carbon dioxide is classified as a greenhouse gas.

   This means that it is thought to act as a blanket in the earth's atmosphere,
   holding in the heat which the atmosphere may receive from the sun's
   radiation, from the hot core of the earth, from the energy produced by
   burning combustible materials, energy from work done by our machines,
   or even from the impact of meteorites and other space debris on earth.
   This continuous heat gain is normally re-radiated into space. It does not
   build up in earth's atmosphere, and the average temperature of the
   earth's atmosphere normally oscillates slightly around an equilibrium value.

    . . . The changes in carbon dioxide and methane concentrations are the
   result, not the cause, of global temperature changes. The cause of these
   temperature changes may be related to the 2010 volcanic eruption in
   Iceland. Increased volcanic activity almost invariably leads to global cooling,
   and the beginning of global cooling may be indicated in the CRU data. If
   we are indeed approaching a period of global cooling, then our current
   efforts to supply our energy needs by building windmills and installing solar
   panels are doomed to failure. Our solar panels will be covered with snow,
   and the bearings of our windmills will be frozen and worn out in the first
   millennium, probably the first century, of a 100,000 year ice age, and we
   will not have the resources to rebuild them.


   Read the Full Article








  IN THE EYE OF THE STORM

   written and photographed by James Michael Dorsey
   www.jamesdorsey.com


   On the flat icy surface of Canada's Inside Passage, sound skims across
   the water like a flat stone, distorting distance and betraying those who
   would move silently through the morning fog.

   The blow of orcas filters through the mist, and I sense they are near.

   It is summer, and transient whales are following schools of salmon heading
   north to spawn. In my kayak, I am just one more errant log floating into
   their domain.

   One year ago while paddling near this very spot, I witnessed these animals
   conducting a funeral. The morning was a dull gray and drizzly, as only
   Alaskan summers can be, and the sky set the mood for what I was to witness.
 
   Fighting my way through thick kelp, I heard the first blow. A large bull led the
   way, cruising through the mist like an apparition, bearing a stillborn calf across
   his rostrum. The calf, still bright pink, slumped across his snout like a limp rag, its
   head and flukes trailing under the surface. The bull moved slowly, not blowing,
   and five smaller whales followed in single order until they reached deep water
   in the center of the channel. The bull stopped, holding his silent charge, while 
   the other whales formed around him. The bull slowly lowered his head, and
   the stillborn whale sank into the depths.

   The pain of their loss hung in the air, thicker than the fog.
 
   An old female, most likely the matriarch, lobtailed the water twice, perhaps in
   silent goodbye, or maybe just a signal that they were finished, but as she did this,
   all six orcas came abreast and sounded in unison. They knew I was there and
   ignored me.

 
   Read the Full Article

   Photograph © James Michael Dorsey, www.jamesdorsey.com






  IN THE PRESENCE OF KINGS AND GIANTS

   by Chuck Graham


   I’m surrounded by little people dressed in black and white tuxedoes, singing
   and dancing on a deserted beach.
  
   This is a story of survival and all those little people are 1,500 comical, squabbling,
   and tender gentoo penguins on the Falkland Islands, 350 miles off the tip of
   South America, in the south Atlantic Ocean.

   Only 2,400 people live on the British colony, mainly in the capital city of Stanley
   on East Falkland. Fishing and the wool industry are the main staples, but its plethora
   of wildlife is a huge draw for tourists either on cruise ships headed for Antarctica, or
   island hoppers like myself wanting to experience as much as possible. Over 700
   islands encompass the archipelago, and the far flung islands to the west and south
   offer some of the best wildlife viewing in the chain.

   Rob McGill has owned and lived on his island, running his farm for 33 years. He has
   650 sheep,100 cows, a vegetable garden, and during the winter lives on the island
   by himself. For the rest of the year from October through March, he caters to distant
   visitors wanting a unique wildlife experience.



  
   Read the Full Excerpt

  

And so much more!