Ride For The Feast is an annual 2 Day, 140 mile bicycle ride from Ocean City to Baltimore, Maryland. "The purpose of the Ride is to raise money for Moveable Feast, a longstanding Baltimore nonprofit organization that provides lifesaving, nutritious foods for low-income Marylanders living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-threatening conditions at no cost."
Today was the 26th Annual Potomac Watershed Cleanup. I have participated for a number of years but this time both of my nephews joined me. We are trying to instill not only the drive and importance of volunteering in the boys, but also a love for the environment.
We decided to concentrate on the wooded park in front of my house. The boys did great and a lot of trash was picked up. Adam even found a booster seat after moving VERY LARGE fallen tree limb in order to get it.
First Swim of the Season
Káva and Michael working together to remove trash from the creek
For the female bikers out there who have nothing to do next weekend ... <G> .... come join the fun at MAWMR — the Mid-Atlantic Women's Motorcycle Rally in Gettysburg. Last year we raised $24,000 for breast cancer .... http://www.mawmr.org/
This is a (long) slideshow of some of the shenanigans that went on last year ...
The Mid-Atlantic Women's Motorcycle Rally is the premiere women’s motorcycling event in the Mid-Atlantic. Held every June, it brings together women motorcyclists and enthusiasts for a three day rally full of friendship, games, educational seminars, rides, contests, and fundraising to support women with the challenges of cancer. The weekend culminates in the Parade of Chrome through the streets of Gettysburg and a banquet to honor women and pledge our fundraising support to those that have been touched by cancer.
I took Káva down to the Forward On Climate Change rally. Why they couldn't have scheduled it for say March or April is beyond me. DC is beautiful in the spring and would just serve to remind everyone what a precious resource we are destroying.
In any case, we drove down to the Washington Monument and found a wonderful handicap parking space right next to it. The rally was taking place on the other side of the monument so the placement was perfect. When we arrived, people of all sorts were beginning to stream in all bundled up and carrying signs There were young, old, kids, teenagers, dogs, and about every race you could imagine.
Unfortunately, I was distracted by a sign as I was parking my Prius and hit a curb (did I mention I had brand new tires?) and popped the right front tire. Great. I left Káva in the car, moved all the .... stuff from the back of my car, and pulled out the donut and jack. I then spent the next 10 minutes trying to get my fingers to work properly because it was so cold outside that they went on strike. A couple of very nice young men and girls stopped by and asked if they could help me. I gratefully accepted their help as I wasn't getting anywhere fast. I especially appreciated it when the young woman with them started jumping up and down on the crowbar trying to loosen the lug nuts. There was no way that I was going to attempt that particular maneuver. They changed the tire and proceeded on to the rally. I secretly very happy that I was driving a Prius rather than an SUV especially down to that particular rally.
I released Káva from the confines of the car (where she had been going nuts as she wanted to help) and we walked over to the rally which was rapidly filling up with people. Káva thought that this was heaven itself. So many people to lick and greet and so many dogs to play with!!! Apparently between 40,000 - 50,000 people showed up. There was just about every political belief there as well .... from Anarchists, to Socialists, to Republicans, to Democrats, to Green Partiers. Speeches and music were plentiful.
Ladies ... if you're not doing anything the weekend of June 21-23 of June, come up and join us in Gettysburg (PA) at the Women's Mid-Atlantic Motorcycle Rally. We are celebrating our 20th anniversary of raising money for Cancer victims. This year the two charities that will be receiving the monies raised are HOPE and Pink Out. It doesn't matter whether or not you ride a motorcycle or not as this is an event both for riders and non-riders (and if you want to ride in the Parade of Chrome, I'm sure a backseat on someone's bike can be found). http://www.mawmr.org/
The following are some of the images I took at last year's MAWMR event. MAWMR is the Mid-Atlantic Women's Motorcycle Rally and it was held in Gettysburg, PA. This is an annual gathering of women motorcycle enthusiasts and riders who get together to raise money for cancer.
Please come join us for the 20th annual gathering of MAWMR this June (2012). It promises to be a blast.
In August, Alexandra Cousteau's Expedition Blue Planet crossed over the Arizona/Mexican border to follow the Colorado's dry riverbed to its historic mouth in the Upper Gulf of California where its nutrient-rich waters no longer reach the sea. This short film tracks the ghost of a mighty river that used to run free over this land half a century ago.
The stately Colorado, that same iconic river of history that carved out the Grand Canyon and made the deserts bloom in the American southwest now ends in hypersaline mudflat rather than a punctuation mark of aquatic biodiversity. The Colorado's once-lush estuary is no longer a nursery for marine life. The people whose lives were intertwined with the river's wealth in its flood plain are now culturally bereft.
Alexandra Cousteau experiences something she always knew in the abstract: rivers must reach the sea or else we are all impoverished.
Check out more videos, photos and blogs at http://www.facebook.com/AlexandraCousteau2
