I went to the Hands Across the Sand event a couple of weeks ago and it was truly an awesome experience to be apart of. It was all about people getting together to take a stand against oil drilling. I loved seeing such a diverse group of people who share one common goal. One common hope. I was also able to capture footage of the suggestions people had to kick oil to the curb and I am so thankful for all who contributed. Each person I went to talk to were very kind in letting me take footage of them and I will have that up once I start creating videos again. In the meantime, here are some photos of the great event.

The beach about an hour before the holding of hands:

Myself taking footage and interviewing random people on the beach:

Hand holding time!:








All in a Day’s “Work”:



Did you go to a Hands Across the Sands event? How was your experience? I’m sure if you went you got to see and meet all sorts of interesting people. I’ll definitely be going to the next one if it is needed and I hope you will too

Hello all,

Happy Saturday! I’m hoping to go camping today, so we’ll see how that goes. I haven’t been since I was like in middle school! I’d say it’s a little overdue I came across this video and thought I would share. The voice, words, and images are so beautiful.

Hope you enjoy!

Kristie

Hello fellow Nature Junkies,

I hope you are doing well. I hope you are enjoying your summer and seeking lots of fun experiences. I have been trying to take advantage of this great time of year and in doing so I have also been thinking about taking full advantage of my blog. After doing some thinking, I’ve decided to postpone my mission to visit every local park and natural land and vlogging about it. I’ll still be visiting these places of course (I would not be a happy camper if I didn’t), but I’m going to wait on the video editing and posting. There’s a couple of good reasons for this. First, I don’t have any editing software on my current computer. I thought the free program would work, but it has really become more of a hassle than a blessing. Secondly, I had absolutely no experience with taking video footage when I came into this. I felt like if not now, when? I see now though that I’d like to take a little time to learn more about the process and hopefully that will lead to better and more frequent videos.

I’m going to be saving up for a great editing program, so I will have that to focus on for the next few months. I think I will get more enjoyment out of the learning process and editing in general which will be more beneficial for anyone who takes the time to watch the videos. A win, win for all. In the meantime, I’m going to be writing about whatever may come to mind. I’ll continue to do my Spotlight Plant posts as well. I’m looking forward to the change and the chance to improve my writing. I hope you will like the new changes as well.

Kristie

I really wanted to write a post as soon as I got home from this event yesterday. Instead I got swept up into going to my favorite Chinese restaurant, watching the U.S. play for the World Cup, eating amazing spaghetti dinner, and watching The Count of Monte Christo for the first time (amazing!). I suppose it’s a fair trade off though . I would have liked to get those initial feelings of goodness out into words, but I did take them with me throughout my lovely day.

The “Hands Across the Sand” event was truly a great event to be apart of. Andrew and I woke up early to prepare for our trip to New Smryna Beach and it couldn’t have been more beautiful outside. Hot, but beautiful. We decided to check out a part of the town we had never been to and stumbled upon an awesome city park along the beach. There were pavilions with the most spectacular views of the ocean and people all around enjoying each other’s company. We ate our packed lunch at one of these said pavilions and made our way to a restaurant where the participants were to meet.

As we were walking on the beach I became aware that it felt like it was about hundred and ten degrees out with NO wind and LOTS of humidity. No exaggeration! So we got to where we were suppose to be and it took us about ten minutes or so to find the people we were looking for. I felt like I was walking across the Sahara the entire time! We signed a petition, introduced ourselves, and got to walking around and talking with others who would be participating (after we found a safe haven of shade for a few minutes).

The coordinators began to direct people in position about ten minutes before we were to all be holding hands in a line. Now, you wouldn’t think holding hands in a straight line would be considered a difficult task for a group of adults, but you would be wrong. It took about fifteen minutes to get the line not all bunched up and broken and it seemed as though once we got it down, we looked around to find it was all over. In an instant, everyone went back to where they came from and the beach was scattered with people in the water, playing games, and laying out on their beach towels. You would have never guessed that only a few minutes before there was such a gathering as the Hands Across the Sand. It was pretty incredible.

Afterwards we spoke with more people who came out to support the message and they couldn’t be more inspiring. I always find great motivation talking to people who truly care and simply want to see our government do the same. It reminds me that the majority of the people in my country don’t agree with how our government is functioning. We don’t support their slow moving tactics to keep us from finding other energy sources. Having that knowledge of unity makes you feel so connected to everyone~ and that is a GREAT feeling. I definitely look forward to participating in the Hands Across the Sand event again and can’t wait to see how much it will grow by the next one.

In the meantime we do what we can to individually make a difference. Then those individual steps turn into a huge movement. Then great change will happen

Thank you for reading and thank you for caring.

~Kristie

Stay tuned for video footage and photos from this awesome event!

Hello all!

Here is this week’s Spotlight Plants, a fighting match between two different types of vines. Both beautiful and able to thrive in the Florida whether. However, one is an invasive and should be looked at through google images only, not in your backyard!

Native Vine: Coral Honeysuckle

source: The Lazy Gardener

source: FAU

This native plant can be used as a ground cover or vine. It flowers most of the year and is a great attractor of hummingbirds and butterflies and songbirds in the summer. It likes full sun, but can take some partial shade. This is great to go along with shrubs, because it will not take them over unlike the invasive counterpart.

Invasive: Japanese Honeysuckle





source: Central Texas Plants

You cannot deny the beauty of this plant, after all it was brought from Japan in the 1800s as an ornamental. Nowadays though, it should only be enjoyed while in Japan This vine means bad news for your shrubs and trees. The vine twists itself around the stems and trunks and can cut off the circulation of water and smother the other plant life from sunlight. It has few natural enemies in Florida (and really around the U.S.) and therefore will grow to uncontrolled proportions. Interesting fact about it though: the nectar from the honeysuckle vine is suppose to be delish! Stick to the native version and keep your surrounding plant life alive and healthy.

source: Native plant society

I’ve been feeling so helpless lately with the oil spill disaster. I see it all day on the news and think about it all the time. Yet I have not a clue what I can personally do about it. I haven’t even really addressed the situation on my website, because, well, I’m at a loss for words. I feel so angry about our current situation in the U.S. that I’m afraid I will scare people off by discussing it. But I cannot ignore it either!

What I’ve decided to do is focus on trying to contact the people I know who may be proactively involved with the current situation. Maybe these people will be able to point me in the right direction to do something, even if it is several small things. I hate sitting back and watching this whole disaster unfold and not being able to physically go out there and fix everything. I want to help the wildlife from having to suffer and I want to make sure that the waters affected DO go back to their original state. If only I had a magic wand that could help me with these types of situations!

I must say I felt a wave of relief when I got an email in my inbox. It was from the Sierra Club and it stated that they would provide me with ways to get involved and help clean up the mess. Hooray, I would finally have some sort of direction! I watched the video from Michael Brune, Sierra Club’s Executive Director, and signed up to receive information and directions for how I can contribute. I hope that you will sign up too and we can all help make a difference together. We can even talk about our different ideas and ways we have been helping here! I would love to hear your thoughts and actions.

Here is the video link to the video from Michael Brune and the website to sign up for getting involved:

Let’s Move Beyond Oil

Like Michael says in the video, these are our favorite places we are talking about. The beautiful oceans and the waters that border our home states. Or the states that we like to visit. Or the states that are a part of our country. I really feel that we need to be in this together to change things so that future generations will be able to enjoy the same things we have been able to enjoy for so many years.

Thanks for listening,

Kristie

This week’s Spotlight Plants are the Native Wild Petunia and the Mexican Petunia. They look similar, but one is drastically better for the environment. Can you guess which one?

Native: Wild Petunia

source: Carrboro Citizen

This perennial is native to the U.S. and stretches from Florida all the way north to the Carolinas and west to Texas. It’s flowers can be purple, pink, or sometimes white and bloom during the spring and summer seasons. The flowers live up to only one day, but bloom everyday during their season. Wild petunia is drought resistant and can be used in full sun or partial sun. The plant also attracts butterflies, in particular the common buckeye butterfly:

source: HistoryCentral

Invasive: Mexican Petunia

source: aggi-horticulture

Don’t let this plant distract you with it’s beauty! It looks very similar to the native version and is quite a beautiful plant, but also happens to be a Category 1 invasive plant in Florida. Unlike hurricanes, a Category 1 here stands for the highest threat level. Mexican Petunia is very resistant to heat and drought, is adaptable to many different environments, and seeds profusely. This combines to create a very harmful invasive species. This plant is sold over the internet and at garden centers by people who may not realize it’s affects to the environment. We can stop the problem ourselves by not purchasing plants that are invasive to our native flora.

Thanks for reading about this week’s spotlight plants and caring about our native flora. Hope you have a great weekend

sources: IFIS, The Ledger

Hello all!

This week starts a new addition to my blog, one that I am very excited about. I’m going to be spotlighting a Florida native plant (tree, shrub, fern, etc.) along with a Florida invasive plant (tree, shrub, fern, etc.) each week. It may seem weird to be excited about this topic, but I am going to learn so much more about Florida horticulture and how to better protect it’s native versions. Most of all though, I am hoping to help teach others (like you!) about why planting and protecting native plants is so important and the right plants you can use to make it happen.

It wasn’t until recently that I became very interested in flora above just looking at it. I didn’t even know what a non native invasive plant was two years ago! It wasn’t until I became active in actually removing invasive plants that I began to become alarmed about their effects in my state. In fact, every state has them, so I know many other people can relate to the frustrations they cause.

Discovering a certain type of invasive plant is kind of like being in a horror movie. You start seeing the plant a little bit here and there and eventually you notice that it is taking over your entire county! It truly is a nightmare (I’m looking at you Mr. Air Potato!). I will try my hardest to fight back against these villains despite their rapid growth.

Back to the message: It is so important for gardeners and home owners in general to choose plants that will work WITH the environment, as opposed to against it. There are several reasons people should be doing so. Some reasons people should be thinking native are:

- Less Maintenance (Although gardening may be a fun hobby, it could easily start feeling like a chore if you choose high maintenance plants)
- Less costly (Less mowing + Less fertilizing + Less weed killers + Less water = Less money wasted!)
- Better for the environment (I’m pretty sure our earth could do without more pesticides)
- Better for wildlife ( who doesn’t want to see butterflies, birds, and other wildlife in their own yard?)

You get my drift.

So without further delay, here are today’s Spotlight Plants~

Native: Firebush

source: Florida Flower Power

This shrub can become quite like a tree. It is great for something that can take up a good amount of space. Firebush requires full sun and has a moderate to high drought tolerance. This shrub is a great attractor of butterflies, hummingbirds, and other birds and can be a great shelter for other wildlife with its big, round shape.

Invasive: African Firebush

source: UF

This type of Firebush is an imposter that may look similar to our native. It is called African Firebush, but is originally from Europe. The problem with these plants is their potential to interbreed with our natives which could disrupt the native population and throw off the areas’ biodiversity. The exotic African Firebush can be differentiated from it’s native counter part mostly by the color of it’s flowers. The native has more reddish orange flowers while the exotic has more yellow flowers. The leaf of the native has hair while the exotic does not.

Sources: UF, Natives for your Neighborhood

Well hello there. My website had been experiencing technical difficulties and was down for the past couple of weeks, but it is good to be back and to see it again In the meantime I started to post some photos on my Facebook if you’d like to check them out. I started an album for my Big Tree park clean ups and one for Seminole County scenic photos. Please feel free to take a look – I will be adding many more!

I hope you all have been doing well. I have so many blogs to catch up on and I have missed reading them so.

Have a great day!

Kristie

How much time do you spend on doing what you love each day? Do you consciously schedule time for your favorite things? Take a second to think about this. You may be surprised to find that a WHOLE day can go by without any *insert your name* play time. Now that is NOT a recipe for success!

I started thinking about this a couple of weeks ago after realizing that I’d been spending more time on my Facebook than on my bike. I had to ask myself if this time spent on Facebook (or some other time suck) was what I REALLY wanted to be doing. Let me tell you, it is not! I can think of a thousand things that will benefit me more than hours spent aimlessly perusing the internet or watching television. I felt I was wasting my time and if there’s one thing in this world I can’t stand, it’s time wasted; Time that could have been spent doing something valuable, meaningful, or at least really enjoyable!

So I started making some changes. John with HiLife2B inspired me to come up with some actual “habits”. Though I’m not huge on having a scheduled day, I’ve noticed that creating habits allows me to control what I do with my time instead of the reversal. I now make more time for exercise, meditation, reading, biking, walking, research, cooking, and board games. All the things I love to do. Substituting things you do for things you really ENJOY doing is the perfect kind of simplicity!

As far as my “habits” here is what I’ve come up with so far. Some of these habits I have already begun to implement, some are what I hope to start implementing. I’ll probably add some more as well, tweaking them as I go.

Habit 1: Ride my bike to places close by instead of driving
I’ve been riding my bike to places like Target, Publix, and the bank instead of driving my car and I love it. It feels like so much more of an adventure as I get to see new, smiling faces and friendly animal creatures along the way. There are hawks, rabbits, raccoons (possibly rabid), horses, and great blue herons out and about. I like to think it’s only a matter of time before I come across a bear or Florida panther or some other magnificent creature. That could also be just my imagination running. Regardless, it’s a lot more exciting than driving my car two miles down the road and back. Plus, it just feels good!

Habit 2: No internet until the sun goes down (unless it’s for a blogging purpose)
Yes, so about this one. It hasn’t been easy, that’s for sure, but I feel it is necessary to get more out of the daylight hours that I love so much. I have discovered that I am truly an email addict. It’s embarrassing to admit, because I know how silly it is to feel like you have to check your email all the time. I don’t actually believe something THAT important is going to pop up from the time I’ve left work, but I’m still compelled to check it. Then I start reading blogs, checking Facebook, google-ing random terms, looking people up on IMDB…..you get the picture. It steals my time and I shall not let it anymore!

Habit 3: Substitute Literature for Television
I am a reading fool. I’m always reading something and usually have both a non fiction and fiction book going on so that I’ll always have something I’m in the mood for. I’ve recently started reading even more;averaging about 2 hours a day I’d estimate. Now instead of that second episode of 30 Rock, I flip open a book and read. I feel like I gain so much more out of reading than watching t.v. and so I make a conscious effort to do less of one and more of another. Don’t get me wrong, comedies have their place of keeping up the laughter quotient, but small portions is key for me. I look forward to sharing some of my favorite books that others may be interested in picking up as well.

Habit 4: Sit down to a meal with Nature
I have a great backyard, filled with trees and birds and playful squirrels. I think it would be a shame to not take advantage of it and be tucked inside the house all the time. Therefore, I try to go out into Nature, by enjoying my meal on the back patio or if weather does not permit, allowing some of the outside to come inside by opening up the sliding door and sitting at the kitchen table. I look forward to many picnics in these warmer months as well!

Habit 5: Blog more!
I originally started this blog with the intention of vlog-ing (taking video footage), more than writing. That was until I realized my patience for people does not extend out to technology. I’ve decided that while I learn more about video editing, I’d like to keep sharing my thoughts and connecting with others. Therefore, I’ll be writing more in between posting videos. I’m looking forward to improving my writing skills, connecting with others, and learning more about many topics.

I hope that you will fill your days with what you truly love to do, whatever it may be. I also hope that one of your habits includes connecting with nature and sharing that connection with those you love.

If you have any tips for making time for what you love and spending less time on what you don’t, feel free to share!

Love,
Kristie