Bob – Page 11 – Notes from Bob and Ellen

Leaving Nairobi

Ellen and I have been in Nairobi long enough and will be headed on up to Eldoret today. We will be going by ‘shuttle’, that is a small bus.
This last week I attended the 2nd World Congress of Agroforestry on behalf of ECHO.

Coffee Break at the UN complex in Nairobi

Main Hall at the UN conference facilities

The main theme of the conference was that Agroforestry would play a significant role in land use as world population increases. Already a large percentage of the world’s agricultural landscape contains trees.
For more info than anyone would ever need see http://www.worldagroforestry.org/WCA2009/

Back in Kenya

I had to part ways with Ellen in London so that she could spend a few days with her supervisor there but otherwise the journey was normal. The theme in my mind was Woodstock; after all last weekend was the 40th anniversary of that event that defined the 60’s for my generation. Well, the moon landing a few months before was significant also! The Woodstock album was in the airline play list along with one of my favorites “Ladies of the Canyon” which includes Joni Mitchell’s song “Woodstock”. By the way, my high school class song was “The Impossible Dream”.
We figured peace, love, music and science would fix our war-torn, famine-stricken world. Forty years of reality and a good dose of human nature have convinced me that “hate is strong and mocks the song of ‘Peace on Earth, goodwill to men’”. As Joni Mitchell puts it “his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true”.
BUT, to continue ‘The Circle Game’,
“There’ll be more dreams, maybe better ones and plenty,
before the last revolving year is through”.
And Longfellow finishes the hymn:
“Yet pealed the bells more loud and sweet,
God is not dead, nor doth he sleep.
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
with Peace on Earth, goodwill to men.”
And so I find myself back in Kenya continuing to follow that dream of a world without hunger, remembering what God told the Israelites “There should be no poor among you”

At the Farm

“The Farm” is my parents house and a few acres north of Gainesville. Sunday just after sunset 2 barred owls flew into the yard. This yard and the one across the road can be pretty good bird spots.

Then last night as we are finishing supper my sister looks out the window and noticed 2 bucks walking by!

This week in Ft. Myers

I took a vacation day on Tuesday and went fishing with a friend from church. Thanks for a great time Bob!

Caloosahatchee Creeks Preserve East

This preserve is within walking distance of where we live. Preserve web page. For almost 2 years now I have been a volunteer there 1 or 2 hours a month doing bird counts.

It is getting hot down here and our winter birds are gone but Saturday in the preserve there was a nice collection of herons, egrets and wildflowers.

IMGP0013 — Saltmarsh Morning Glory (*Ipomea sagittata*)

Birds were too far away for my old point and shoot but some of the flowers were String Lily (Crinum americanum), Saltmarsh Morning Glory (Ipomea sagittata), and Virgina Saltmarsh Mallow (Kosteletzkya pentacarpos).