GRAND ISLE - LAFITTE WOODS NATURE PRESERVE

 

Before we left Grand Isle, we visited Lafitte Woods Preserve, which is apparently a fairly well-kept secret, except to birders who gather in large numbers on the second and third weekends in April to see the arrival of many species of birds.

This site encompasses the best remaining tracts of live oak and hackberry forest on the barrier island. Well-known to birders as one of the most important migratory songbird stopover sites in coastal Louisiana, this preserve features several walking trails, including a migratory bird trail with kiosks and a 300-foot-long elevated boardwalk that overlooks 22 acres of salt marsh tidal ponds. The boardwalk was built with help from the Port Commission, Entergy, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. There are also hummingbird and butterfly gardens that are a must-see for visitors.

 

The trail

 

The boardwalk

 

The trees

We heard birds, but we did not see any.

GRAND ISLE - NOT QUITE ON THE BEACH

 

We got past the fencing to prevent the sand from eroding, but we were stopped at the next barricade, which was a good distance from the water.

 

The orange objects are tiger booms, which are filled with a combination of sand and water and are in place to prevent oil from going farther up on the beach.

Apparently, oily sand is shoveled into piles such as the one in the picture and is then picked up and hauled away to who knows where. We talked to a man who works in hazmat for a Texas company under contract to BP to work with those who are cleaning the beach. He told us that if we went past the barricade, where the beach was contaminated with oil and dispersant, police, the Army, and representatives of officialdom would converge on us, so we did not put his cautionary words to the test.

The rock jetty in the distance is man-made and is one of many along the beach at Grand Isle as a protection against erosion.

 

Grandpère walking back to the tent where the hazmat worker had his buggy parked, surrounded by a group of agitated terns, who must have been nesting nearby. The birds let us know in no uncertain terms that they wanted us gone from their territory. If you click on the picture for the large view, you can catch a glimpse of three terns.

Similar tents are placed at intervals along the beach to give respite from the sun to the clean-up workers.

 

The property next to where we parked to walk to the beach had not been mowed in quite some time and the result is a pretty array of wildflowers. Once again, click on the picture for the large view.

And, my readers, that is all I have for you in pictures of the beach at Grand Isle.

We stopped at the Starfish Restaurant and had very tasty lunch. GP had a bowl of gumbo and crawfish étoufée, and I had fried shrimp and French fries.

While we were in the restaurant, we talked to a Coast Guardsman and another man in a uniform of some sort. The story we got from them was pretty much, "It's not that bad". I asked the man from the Coast Guard what sort of work he did, and he said, "I'm in public relations." I asked the other uniformed guy if he had seen any dead birds or animals, and he said, "Oh, a couple of birds." I asked him how long he's been there, and he said two weeks.

Below is a picture of what we couldn't see and where we couldn't walk, presumably before the clean-up was underway and the the beach was blocked off. The red stuff is the dispersant. I suppose the beach needs cleaning every day. I didn't see skimming or any clean-up activity on the water while we were there.

MARSHES ALONG THE WAY TO GRAND ISLE

 

Yesterday, Grandpère and I drove down to Grand Isle, Louisiana. I took pictures of fragile marsh environment along the way. In the picture above is one of many rigs in the marshes. Where there are rigs, there are pipelines, which break up the marsh islands, which are quickly disappearing and, one day, in their place will be open water.

 

In the distance, is a row of dead oak trees. I'm told that at one time, traveling portions of the old road was like passing through a tunnel of oak trees. One still sees the occasional hardy oak tree, which has managed to survive the intrusion of salt water. Click on the picture to get a larger view of the dead trees.

 

Marshland...

 

...and more marshland

 

An oil storage or processing facility on the way to Grand Isle

On our way home, at this time of the year on a Friday evening, we would have seen a stream of vehicles heading in the opposite direction for a weekend or longer on the beach at Grand Isle, but today was different. Why go to the beach, if you can't go near the water? There are people on Grand Isle, but they're the permanent residents and those working on clean-up.

More pictures of our outing will be forthcoming, but don't expect anything spectacular, because the beach near the water is closed off as a contaminated area.

"OFF AND ON"

From the Church Times:

It began when the US Presiding Bishop, Dr Katharine Jefferts Schori, was requested by Lambeth Palace not to wear her mitre during a service at Southwark Cathedral a fortnight ago. Dr Jefferts Schori described the ban as “bizarre — it is beyond bizarre”.

Since then, the “Mitregate” saga has refused to die down. Last week end, another woman bishop from the United States, the Bishop of El Camino Real, the Rt Revd Mary Grey-Reeves, presided at the eucharist in Gloucester Cathedral. She was in Gloucester with the Bishop of West Tanganyika, the Rt Revd Gerard Mpango. Bishop Grey-Reeves was permitted to wear her mitre.

The Bishop of Gloucester, Dr Michael Perham, who invited Bishop Grey-Reeves, said in an ex­planatory note that the law governing visiting bishops from overseas needed urgent revision. He had none the less applied for, and been granted, permission for Bishop Grey-Reeves to officiate, under the provisions of the Overseas and Other Clergy (Ministry and Ordination) Measure of 1967.

Dr Perham writes: “The Measure makes no reference to what the bishop wears. . . On Sunday, when she stood at my side when I presided at the eucharist, and again when she preached at a Partnership Service later in the day, she did . . . wear her mitre.”

Diddle, diddle dumpling, Bishop Kate
Went to church with her mitre off.
One mitre off, and one mitre on,
Diddle, diddle dumpling, Bishop Mary

WHAT'S UP, GUVNA?

From CBS News:

All along the Gulf coast, local officials have been demanding more help from the federal government to fight the spill, yet the Gulf states have deployed just a fraction of the National Guard troops the Pentagon has made available, CBS News Chief Investigative Correspondent Armen Keteyian reports.

That's a particular problem for the state of Louisiana, where the Republican governor has been the most vocal about using all resources.

Gov. Bobby Jindal's message has been loud and clear, using language such as "We will only be winning this war when we're actually deploying every resource," "They (the federal government) can provide more resources" and "It's clear the resources needed to protect our coast are still not here."

But nearly two months after the governor requested - and the Department of Defense approved the use of 6,000 Louisiana National Guard troops - only a fraction - 1,053 - have actually been deployed by Jindal to fight the spill.

So what's up, Guvna?

"Actually we asked the White House to approve the initial 6,000," Jindal said. "What they came back and said is the Coast Guard and BP had to authorize individual tasks."

But Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander in charge of the government's response to the spill, said Jindal is just flat wrong.

"There is nothing standing in the governor's way from utilizing more National Guard troops," Allen said.

In fact, the Coast Guard says every request to use the National Guard has been approved, usually within a day. Now Jindal's office acknowledged to CBS News the governor has not specifically asked for more Guard troops to be deployed.

Miscommunication? Misunderstanding? Guvna, before you start crying for more help again and blaming the Obama administration for not delivering, perhaps you should use the resources that have been authorized - or give us a good reason why you haven't. Now would be about the right time to issue the call.

VITTER AIDE RESIGNS - FINALLY

Sen. David Vitter

From NOLA:

WASHINGTON -- An aide to Sen. David Vitter, R-La., resigned Wednesday amid revelations that he had held a woman against her will in 2008 in his Capitol Hill apartment, stabbing her in the hand and chin, before releasing her on her promise that she wouldn't call police.

And only now resigning? Last time I looked at the calendar, the year was 2010.

There's more:

Brent Furer, 40, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and received a suspended sentence in connection with the incident, described in his arrest warrant, according to a report by ABC News Wednesday, which detailed a long string of Furer's "brushes with the law" dating to the 1990s. They included drunken driving arrests, cocaine possession and a "road rage" incident in Washington in late 2008 in which Furer stuck a motorcyclist, breaking his femur.

But wait! Here's the explanation from Sen. Vitter's office:

"The office hired the employee in question based on very strong recommendations, including those related to his military service in Kuwait," Joel DiGrado, Vitter's spokesman, said in a statement. "After the January 2008 incident, he was told to leave the office pending the court's determination of what happened. In April, after the court issued its penalty (fine and community service, no finding of assault or attack), and in consultation with the congressional employment legal office, further significant disciplinary action was taken and he was allowed to return to the office. Sen. Vitter accepted the employee's resignation today after learning of the other incidents."

Not assault. Not an attack. A mere stabbing in the hand and chin of the woman while she was being held against her will - a peccadillo. On well, then.

"HELP PLANT AN ORCHARD IN CENTRAL CITY NEW ORLEANS"

From Jim Naughton at The Lead:

Holly Heine and the folks at Jericho Road, a neighborhood-based nonprofit homebuilder that provides families with healthy and energy-efficient affordable housing opportunities in Central City, New Orleans needs our help. Just by voting in an online initiative sponsored by Edy's Fruit Bars, we can help them win a free fruit orchard for their neighborhood.

Here is what you need to do--every day:

1. Go here: Plant index.

2. Click on the rightmost of the two dots in the state of Louisiana.

3. When the words Jericho Road Episcopal House Initiative appear, click on More.

4. Follow the directions on the new page. Make sure to type in the two security words, and click on Plant my Vote.

You can vote one time each day—and every day—until the voting ends on August 31 at 11:59 PST. Edy's will award 5 winners the first of each month, May 1 through Sept 1. The winners will be announced on our site at the beginning of each month.

Benefits of an orchard:

A project that spans generations
A free food source
A learning experience for youth and adults alike
Provides cleaner air and soil conditions
Improves property values
Brings positive energy and attention to the neighborhood
Healthy staple in residents’ diet that may not have been there otherwise.

Thanks, Jim, for calling this opportunity to my attention.

BP BLOGS OR THERE'S BEAUTY IN THE GUSHER

John McCusker, The Times-Picayune - A shrimp boat drags skimmers through the oil slick in the Gulf Of Mexico on May 6.

From NOLA:

Tired of daily news reports about oiled pelicans, tar-balled beaches and out-of-work fishers? You might check out a BP blog that offers a more upbeat take on the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

The proverbial glass of oily seawater always seems half-full for the company's "reporters" as they file dispatches on a couple who may lose their seafood restaurant but refuse to blame BP; oil-skimming boats that resemble a "spectacular ballet at sea;" and a touching scene of mothers cleaning a beach on Mother's Day, "reminding everyone that this spill response is only a very small part of what's important."

Many of BP's "Blogs from the Gulf" are tributes to "extraordinarily dedicated responders," often BP employees who are lauded for working long hours to clean up the company's mess.
In a May 28 post, "BP reporter" Paula Kolmar said it was "oddly an inspiration" to fly over the spill zone.

Look at the photo. The colors are exquisite - like a beautiful painting.

And at the BP Blog link above, we learn:

I wanted to understand why authorities repeatedly have warned the public not to handle injured birds, but instead instructed people to report the location of injured birds and leave it to specialists to rescue the animals. One look at a distressed, oiled pelican arriving at the center answered part of my question. The birds are dangerous and can be aggressive when under stress.

See? You must not handle the birds not because the oil is toxic or anything. It's the fault of the birds. The oil-soaked pelicans are aggressive!

ON "THE ISSUE OF VESTURE"

John Chilton at The Lead reports on an explanation, of sorts, from Lambeth on "the issue of vesture", also know as "mitregate".

Be sure to read the comments at The Lead to see what naughty Tobias has to say. Poor baby. It's 92° in the Bronx and his AC is out. We can't blame him too much.

EARLIEST KNOWN ICONS DISCOVERED IN CATACOMBS IN ROME

From The Sydney Morning Herald:

SANTA TECLA, Rome: The earliest known icons of four of Christ's apostles have been found in an elaborately decorated chamber in a catacomb beneath the streets of Rome.

Scientists used laser technology to remove a crust of dirt and calcium deposits and bring to light the brightly coloured 4th century paintings of the saints John, Paul, Andrew and Peter.

The images adorn the ceiling of a vault, carved out of volcanic rock, which provided the last resting place for a rich Roman noblewoman who converted to Christianity after it was declared legal by the emperor Constantine.

Oh my! What an exciting discovery. However, because of their fragility, not just anyone will be able to view the icons. Visitors will probably be limited to scholars. Still, for the rest of us, it's lovely to see photos.