Enjoy the Outdoors. Love the Planet.
All about Nature, about the outdoors<>I love it, photograph it and protect it.
Beautiful Beach, Good Weather and No Shells
Wrapped up a fine and long-overdue trip to Cocoa Beach recently.
I love the beach, and the City of Cocoa Beach is always a pleasure to visit.
And yes, the weather was near-perfect.
But for whatever reason, it was tough finding shells.
Now, I know most of you are probably thinking that any trip to the beach is very worthwhile whether you come away with a good haul of sea-stuff or not.
I certainly agree!
But still, I was a bit disappointed. The banner photo for today’s post showcases the shells we did come away with.
But I’ll be heading back soon, of course!
Get outdoors, folks.
To the beach, to one of our amazing National Parks. To wherever!
Just get off the couch and do it!
You’ll be so glad you did…
“Beachdog Ben” Basile
© 2019 Ben Lawrence Basile
Photo credit Ben Lawrence Basile
The “true beginning” of Fall
I think you know that the beginning of Autumn falls each year around the third week in September.
It truly does.
But for me, I really feel like it’s Fall when we get a week or so into the month of October.
So many good things happen at this time of year: the temps begin to moderate; that’s a really big deal for those of us here in the Sunshine State.
A few weeks in the season, NFL games begin to matter. Not to mention the start of the Major League Baseball playoffs.
Here’s a big one: we start to feel a sense of anticipation about all the holidays which we know are just around the corner.
There are many more good things I could mention here. The list is pretty long.
The bottom line is that I truly do love and take great delight in this time of year.
And I sincerely hope that Autumn brings a lot of wonderful things to you and yours.
“Bulldog Ben” Basile
© 2019 Ben Lawrence Basile
Photo credit: Ben is not the owner of this fine photo and believes it to be covered under Fair Use.
Greenways and Trails in Florida
There are so many things to like about this time of the year.
For those of us who live in the Sunshine State, one of them is using and celebrating Florida’s Greenways and Trails.
Traditionally, October is the month we publicize our trails and encourage Floridians and visitors alike to use them.
If you’re around here at any time of the year and would like to know more, it sure couldn’t hurt to visit this site put together by the folks whose job it is to spread the word about such things.
This is such a good time of year to get out into the outdoors. I do a lot of that and it’s hard to put into words how much enjoyment–enjoyment and serenity–I get from doing it!
It’s all right there for the taking…
“Bulldog Ben” Basile
© 2019 Ben Lawrence Basile
Photo credit Ben Lawrence Basile
Thought this day would never…
I’ve been going through that awesome, suitably vintage-y Peanuts desk calendar I love so well, counting the days until… until TODAY!
Because it’s the 29th of September, National Coffee Day!
Yeah, it IS a big deal for this juiced-up java head! I loves me some stimulation in the mornin’ and a steamin’ hot cup o’ joe is just what the doctor ordered!
This post was going to be just a bit longer but I’ve got to cut it short.
I’m headed to Jeremiah’s Java Jungle over at 4th and Swizzle; for a mere $12.95, they’ll hook you up to one of those trendy, doctor-approved coffee IV’s!
It’s small-batch, cold-brewed, fair-trade Sumatran! The good stuff!
What are you waiting for?!
“Javadog Ben” Basile
© 2018 Ben Lawrence Basile
Photo credit Ben Lawrence Basile
National Public Lands Day
Today is National Public Lands Day and it provides a good occasion to learn more about our National Park system and public lands in general. And to learn what volunteer opportunities there are to preserve and improve America’s public lands.
If you’d like to do any of that, this link would be a pretty good place to start.
The current administration seems to be pulling in the opposite direction. This is not a good thing. Not at all.
If you’d like to take a look at that issue, just follow this link.
Happy National Public Lands Day to all of you today. May we do all we can to keep our Country’s parks and public lands some of the best on the planet and pass this wonderful legacy on to the generations to come.
“Bulldog Ben” Basile
© 2019 Ben Lawrence Basile
Ben is not the owner of this splendid photo and believes it to be
covered under Fair Use
Canaveral National Seashore in Dorian’s Wake
Made another trip out to the Canaveral National Seashore yesterday and it was a bit different.
It was our first visit since Hurricane Dorian passed by, skirting our coastline.
Although the storm never got closer than about 50 miles offshore, the unmistakable tell that Dorian had come and gone was litter on the beach.
I’m happy to report that we saw no large items, but lots of flotsam and jetsam a lot assorted small debris. Bottle caps and plastic items of every kind and description were all over the beach.
I’m pretty sure that the rangers saw to it that the larger, uglier debris was removed but didn’t have the manpower to get the rest of it. I’ve been to the park many times and the beach has always been pristine.
As you might imagine, it was a bit off-putting to see it that way.
Here’s the silver lining in that dark cloud: those of us who like to pick up seashells when we go to the shore had thousands of shells of all kinds right there for the collecting.
I’ve never seen that at the beach, either. And we came back with quite a haul.
I’m planning another trip to the park soon to do what I can to get more of Dorian’s debris off our beloved beach. We couldn’t do much this time as we didn’t anticipate the situation and the park service does not put out trash cans on the beach.
We will be prepared next time.
Get outdoors, people!
Find some oasis of beauty and tranquility in your neck of the woods.
Enjoy it. Enjoy it and leave it a little better than you found it.
“Beachdog Ben” Basile
Photo credit Ben Lawrence Basile
Hungry Bears Are Everywhere!
It’s the time of the year when bears are all over in search of food.
Here in Florida, black bears are quite common and it’s not at all unusual for us to find them foraging for food in areas where they’re not seen much at other times of the year.
This can pose a real problem.
For the bears, mostly.
For this reason, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission released their annual reminder about helping to keep bears safe while they’re out and about, looking for something to eat.
Their primary mission, so to speak, at this time of the year is to fatten up with Fall right around the corner and Winter hibernation not far behind.
To read the release and get some good tips on helping to keep bears safe at this time of the year, just follow this link.
“Bulldog Ben” Basile
© 2019 Ben Lawrence Basile
It’s Labor Day and you should…
It most certainly is Labor Day and you should take life easy today!
I’m off and I hope you’re not having to put in your eight hours today.
If you’d like to know a bit more about the history of this auspicious holiday, just follow this link.
I’m so aware that we have some time today to just chill and maybe fire up the barbie because of the sacrifices of so many workers before us.
I do not–and never will–take that for granted.
Enjoy the day and take a moment to reflect on the importance of remembering that the working people in this country are one of the main reasons that America is great.
Best wishes to all of you who may pass your eyes over this post today.
Especially those of you who work for that paycheck.
“Bulldog Ben” Basile
© 2019 Ben Lawrence Basile
Dorian is coming, we’re getting ready
Hurricane Dorian is a fierce storm. I thought using the camp stove for our morning coffee would be a wise thing to do.
So I set it up on the pool deck and we enjoyed a really tasty and robust cup o’ Joe this morning, compliments of my two-burner camp stove.
Based on the latest forecasts, it sounds less and less likely that my trusty stove will be necessary after Dorian has passed by.
But I love any reason to use that tried-and-true piece of camping gear. And this morning’s reason was as good as any.
I hope you’re enjoying this Saturday morning and that there are no storms bearing down on you today.
“Bulldog Ben” Basile
© 2019 Ben Lawrence Basile
Photo credit Ben Lawrence Basile
Paying Attention and Taking Action
Climate Scientists have been sounding the alarm for years about how the Earth is warming and how big changes are on the way for all of us.
The signs that our planet is changing–and changing very fast–are so numerous that it’s hard to know what to focus on.
But we should not allow that to keep us from getting and staying engaged and advocating for policies and actions to mitigate the damage we are inflicting upon our beleaguered planet.
In an article that appeared in June, writer Jordan Davidson lays out for concerned readers some of the alarming signs that the melting of ice around Greenland is a very big deal and is–most troubling of all–accelerating at a rapid pace.
Davidson followed up with another piece yesterday which focuses on one of the more urgent aspects of this whole matter of melting glaciers and rising sea levels.
Scientists, researchers and policy wonks have been warning all who will listen that we need to be prepared to move away from the coastal regions of our planet as the phenomenon of rising sea levels proceeds.
And to this observer, it appears that not too many people are listening to those warnings.
Mr. Davidson’s article makes a fine entry point for anyone who’d like to take a closer look at these issues. It focuses closely on the melting of ice around Greenland, the Helheim Glacier in particular. The piece is very timely and not overly-wonky and can be read here.
So many are doing this work of watching for the signs, for the evidence, that our planet is struggling, is being seriously degraded.
Keep listening. Stay engaged. Stay engaged and take action!
The plight of the Earth demands nothing less.
“Bulldog Ben” Basile
Enjoy the Outdoors. Love the Planet. 
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