Destruction everywhere!

IT seems wherever there are humans, the wildlife or sealife are threatened. I was visiting Bish at Random Thoughts and found out about another atrocious act done in the name of... what? Fun? Sport? Ugh! Enough already. Please check out the link below if you are as disgusted as I am by the senseless killing of this endangered species.

Hawksbill Sea turtle photographed (by me) in St. Augustine, Florida 

Starting on December 1st and going through March 31st, the British Virgin Islands permits a hunting season of Sea Turtles. We aren't talking about deer or rabbits here, people are legally allowed to harvest Hawksbill and Green Sea Turtles, both endangered animals. While there is a size limit (Hawksbill turtles must be 15+inches carapace length and Green turtles 24 +inches carapace length) these sizes mean they are still quite young as Sea Turtles go. And to top it off, Sea Turtles do not reproduce quickly. Only 1 or 2 of 1,000 hatchlings will grow to adulthood because as Crush (Finding Nemo) explains it, "The little dudes are just eggs, we leave 'em on a beach to hatch, and then, coo-coo-cachoo, they find their way back to the big ol' blue." At least some of them do. But it takes 10-20 years before a turtle can even lay eggs.

(There is a moratorium on loggerhead turtles, leatherback turtles, & all sea turtle eggs.)


Anyway, I signed a petition to Ralph T. O'Neal, Premier of the British Virgin Islands, which says:
""Stop the legal harvesting of endangered sea turtles in the British Virgin Islands""
Will you sign this petition? Click here. And you can learn more at On-StJohn.com

A castle of dreams

It stands, a monument of time and days gone by, a deteriorating reminder of love, loss and tragedy. 

Built for his family in 1909 by the West Virginia transplant John Brisben Walker, it was meant to be a haven, a treasury of laughter and vivacity that would call the family back to it's hearth in times of trouble.  

 With stunning vistas of Red Rocks and the high plains on one side

 and the stalwart Rocky mountains on the other, it is no wonder that the entrepreneur chose this spot for his private domain.  

Sadly, the castle walls had not time to settle before Walker's wife and partner was taken from his side, leaving him bereft on his mountain aerie.  

 A couple of years later, the goddess Fortuna visited them once more, dashing what was left of the would-be king's hopes for the future on Mt. Falcon. Lightning struck the home and broke what was left of the man's grief-stricken heart.      

Packing up his four motherless children, he abandoned the charred remains of the hideaway and extinguished his plans to build a summer home for the President on the neighboring high point. Having lost another fortune and with WWI darkening the horizon, he left Colorado for the last time. And though his successful ventures had given him the means to build his dream home on Morrison Mountain, John Walker lost his golden touch and died penniless at age 83.

  The foundation of the house still remains, beckoning hikers of all ilk who wish to behold the stone tribute. Fortunately not all of the businessman's schemes were reduced to ash. It was because of his vision that the Denver Mountain Park system was established and it was his land purchases that founded Jefferson County Open Space which has given pleasure to so many Denver & Jefferson County Residents.

   Canopied by azure skies, you will find a quiet dignity dwells in the broken walls and tumbling chimneys. 

And if you pause to lend ear...  

  the whooping of children playing amidst the trees, the call of a mother to come in for supper and the echo of a father's footsteps descending from his observatory can almost be heard by those willing to listen. 

The dance of the Starlings

The standard collective noun for a group of birds is a "flock" but for many types of birds there is a collective noun particular to their type. 

A peep of chickens

A murder of crows

A flight of doves

A charm of goldfinches

A parliament of Owls 

and...

A murmuration of Starlings

and this is what they look like as they settle in to roost at night:

Another video with the amazing dance of the Starlings.  

You're a hypocretin!

So you may have read here at one time or another that I get seasonal depression (it used to be pretty severe- now it's not as bad). That is part of the reason I don't like winter and one of the reasons Key West is so attractive me. Though Colorado is sunny quite a few days of the year, the short winter days still carry me to the brink of depression and the cold only makes matters worse. It all sounds pretty grim but...

There have been some interesting studies done at UCLA that may be hold some good for people who suffer from Narcolepsy and a sleepiness associated with Parkinson's and it might also mean some good news for anyone who suffers from seasonal depression! Researchers at the university have identified the group of neurons that mediates whether we respond to light by becoming stimulated-- or not. 

So the long and short of the study is that in the hypothalmus (an area at the base of the brain and is responsible for control of the autonomic nervous system, body temperature, hunger thirst, fatigue, sleep) there are cells that release a neurotransmitter called hypocretin. In a study with mice, those with hypocretin showed an intense activation of the cells (but not in the dark!) while those without it were unable to stay awake even in bright light. And it is this loss of hypocretin that causes chronic sleep disorders. So, by introducing hypocretin (or boosting it) they will be able to increase the light-induced arousal response while blocking them will induce sleep. Jerome Siegel, a professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at the university noted, "The administration of hypocretin may also have antidepressant properties, and blocking it may increase tendencies toward depression. So we feel this work has implications for treating sleep disorders as well as depression." Since seasonal depression is connected to light stimulation, it seems likely that these results could have some very positive results for those of us who get the winter blues!*

 Could be blue skies ahead for those who suffer depression!!! 

*See the whole article at Science Daily. Brain Cells Responsible for Keeping us Awake Identified.