Tim DeChristopher: American hero

Monkeywrenching with a different twist. Tim DeChristopher just got in the middle and fucked up another land giveaway to the oil and gas folks.

An environmental activist tainted an auction of oil and gas drilling leases Friday by bidding up parcels of land by hundreds of thousands of dollars without any intention of paying for them, a federal official said.

The process was thrown into chaos and the bidding halted for a time before the auction was closed, with 116 parcels totaling 148,598 acres having sold for $7.2 million plus fees.

The the US Bureau of Land Management, more accurately known as the Cattle & Oil Barons' Welfare Agency, is in a pickle. And somewhere, Edward Abbey is smiling.

Makes for a joyful Winter Solstice. Happy day.

an australian hero

I wish I could say I'd have such strength in the face of $5 billion. Saying a prayer for his continued good health.

more manatees

This is one of the photos I took of the manatees at Three Sisters off the Crystal River in northern Florida. Last year was one of the worst for manatee deaths. This gorgeous quiet spring-fed lagoon is a haven ~ at night, anyway ~ for these gentle creatures. That's my 62-year-old (much older) sister paddling away in her kayak. She and her husband patrol the area one day a week in an effort to prevent abuse of the manatees, but they are volunteers with no authority and, alas, no guns.

The manatees come here at night to sleep. Our photos were taken late in the day, with the sleeping giants on the bottom of the springs. Without waking, they'll rise to the surface to breathe, then sink to the bottom again.

Days, this area will be packed with people, shore to shore. It's surely terrifying for the manatees, who only want to get out and get to the ocean.

Protection is a disastrous tangle of federal and state regulations and the manatees suffer for it. Stress makes them more susceptible to red tides (as the result of fertilizer runoff) and illnesses.

The mouth of this peaceful place leads to Crystal River and this is where the charter boats lie in wait every morning. At any given time, there are hundreds of people in the water trying to interact with these wild animals.

To get out of their nighttime sanctuary and make it to the Gulf, they've got to get through this horror:

invasion

Suddenly, they're everywhere. Spring arrives on their tailfeathers. I adore these aggressive little things. They follow me in the garden walking right up close to see what the shovel's going to expose. Fat little red-breasted birds, such cuties.

Hi

Florida was beautiful. It also broke my heart. Development is insane. The beach was stunning but a little chilly. Haven't ever seen such fine, white sand. Next to the emerald (truly) water, it was one of those visions that could convince an atheist there's an artist in charge of world design.

We kayaked to a place called Three Sisters. It's an isolated lagoon fed by three springs. To reach it, we paddled down a narrow waterway thick with overhanging brush and trees. The limestone bottom of this beautiful cove is clearly visible through the spring water.

This amazing place ~ a hidden gem ~ was thick with manatees that evening. They arrived with the incoming tide and, with the exception of a few rowdies, were apparently turning in for the night. It was amazing to float across the top of the water and look at these immense creatures resting on the bottom.

Most of them had scars on their backs and tails from boat motors. It's not usually these huge gashes that kill them, it's the idiots who speed through the waterway and hit them at high speed with their boats. It's also the red tides that flourish as the result of overfertilization of the turf grass which simply must be had to set off the elegant homes which are appearing everywhere.

These are amazing gentle creatures, huge and powerful with only a thin covering of fat over their muscular bodies. They have to have these or similar springs to maintain their body temperature. Environmentalists in Florida and elsewhere are battling corporate interests and development in efforts to protect them. I fear it's a losing battle. The area around Three Sisters just sold to a developer who will be installing a condo complex and some multi-million dollar homes. He doesn't own the water, but he can clearcut the protective trees and build right up to it, around it, over it.

I was dumped out of my kayak when a pair of frisky manatees rose up under me. I reacted like a little girl, especially when I felt them surrounding me as I swam across the lagoon. Manatees against my legs, brushing my feet as I swam, huge creatures all around. It was completely foolish and I wish it had been different, but being in that water with all of those gigantic beings revived a childhood fear of lake and river bottoms and I couldn't wait to get back in my kayak. An idiot.

Happily, I had the joy of watching Mike engage one of these rare creatures. He slipped into the water at the edge of the springs and just waited. A mid-sized manatee found him and began exploring, touching its nose to his shoulder, his furry tummy, nuzzling his toes. It would turn away to take a breath, then return to its gentle inspection of his body. They're apparently used to seeing folks in the water in wet suits and this one may have been especially interested in Mike because he wore only swim trunks.

2006 was a deadly year for manatees, yet Florida has removed them from the endangered list. They're still federally endangered, but the feds have handed over all decisions regarding their protection to the state. That would be the state that just upgraded their status.

I am grateful that I had the opportunity to see them, yet I wish they could simply be left alone. Every morning they're met at the entrances to their various nighttime habitats with hundreds of boats and divers and folks hoping to see them and interact with them. Kayaks are the least troublesome to the manatees as they're silent with minimal draw. But even 100 kayaks would be too much for these reclusive animals.

The Luddite in me comes out in the face of so much natural beauty, so corrupted by overdevelopment and the unending influx of new residents. The best news of the week was heard while eavesdropping on a couple of elderly residents who were discussing the many folks they knew who were leaving Florida for the Carolinas. Hope it becomes a trend.

The other thing about Florida is that everyone is old. Everyone. They're also frisky and active and feisty. That's the other good news. The funny news is that a huge senior center one county over from where we stayed has a shockingly high rate of STD infections. The not funny news is that it's primarily herpes and HPV. Docs blame it on viagra.

Debating about the early April trip. Cruise the Mexican Riviera or a week on the beach outside of Corpus?