Three things

It's been just shy of 5 months since my "Happy Oceans Day!" post. I believe that's a new record for a gap in posting by the staff at Running On. But I have to say it feels good to see the old Blogger window again, and to have words flowing from my finger tips, through the keyboard, across cyberspace, and into all of your hearts and minds.

What finally precipitated my logging back into the control center of everyone's favorite blog and (once again) trying to build some momentum? Well, there are three things:

Firstly, while walking through Boston's Public Gardens this past Saturday, I had the pleasure of watching two red-tailed hawks perched amidst the autumn foliage, flying from tree to tree, and occasionally eyeing with intent squirrels foraging out on the open lawns. They seemed relatively unconcerned with the human passersby, and would perch and fly fairly low, affording fantastic views of these beautiful birds. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see them catch any of the smaller park residents, but they were a joy to watch nonetheless. Of course, my *&%#$@ camera died earlier this summer after a horribly misnamed "dry bag" allowed it to be inundated with seawater while kayaking in Santa Barbara (the final shot, of my colleague Scott on the tail end of nicely ridden wave, taken by that fine camera is situated above). But it was still a nice treat.

Secondly, later that same day, I picked up a copy of Boston's Weekly Dig and came across a little article therein, the contents of which I had to share. It seems that a company called Holistic Wisdom is producing - how to put this? - adult paraphernalia that is environmentally sustainable. As someone who has made his life's work the pursuit of greater balance between our species and the rest of the natural world (for the benefit of both, as discussed in the first ever RO post), I for one am thrilled to see the greening of the sex toy industry. Moreover, I am pleased to see that the emergence of a company like Holistic Wisdom is due in part to the work and advocacy of a non-profit organization, the Coalition Against Toxic Toys, or CATT. You may recall that in my February 1 post announcing the official Running On endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for President, I cited as an important reason for my support of Senator Obama his call to arms for greater civic engagement by all of us, to not simply rely on the government to change the world but to get out and do it ourselves. I then went on to discuss how non-profit organizations are the ultimate embodiment of civic engagement, making it a full-time endeavor for their staff (regardless of whether an organization's aims are noble or nefarious). To see an organization like CATT bring about the sort of social change seen in a company like Holistic Wisdom is truly inspiring.

Speaking of the RO endorsement, the third thing bringing me back to the blogosphere is a little thing happening tomorrow in which the good people of the U.S. of A. head out to select a new leader. I'll have some thoughts on the winner of the Presidential election to be sure, but I also want to address a backlog of links I've been compiling on the environmental record of George W. Bush, and perhaps more importantly looking ahead at what might await us in his final months in office. Stay tuned...