Enjoy the Journey

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Naima

It has been a while since I have posted!  I was sort of waiting for everything to fall into place before I posted again but so is life and never is everything “in place”.   It’s not about the end destination, you have to enjoy the journey.  But dang, the destination in my mind is AMAZING and I can not wait to get there. “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”  (Brian Littrell)

A definite enjoying of the journey was the drive from El Paso to Dallas.  Yes, we sold a lot of our big stuff (bed included!), packed up what we had which still ended up being a lot and moved to Dallas!  Now I am not sure what would have been more environmentally friendly – selling our stuff and buying new stuff (we will probably buy second hand again) or renting a larger truck or trailer and trying to haul all of the stuff across Texas?  We went with the best route for the two of us packing and moving by ourselves.

The drive was long but interesting to drive from desert mountains to green humidity.  Texas proves to be HUGE and it took us about 11 hours!  Definitely checked my tires and got an oil change before the journey.  A must do to get the best gas mileage and save the world a bit.  Here are the stats: You can improve your gas mileage by up to 3.3 percent by keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure. Under-inflated tires can lower gas mileage by 0.3 percent for every 1 psi drop in pressure of all four tires.

Along the journey I took notes – why yes I was driving, but I quickly jotted down a few keywords for me to remember the journey.

Here are my notes from beginning to end:  El Paso city limits, Chihuahuan Desert,  Mexico, mountains, mix of mountains and flat desert, the return of grass, mesquite trees are getting bigger and bigger, taller trees are becoming common, cotton fields, agriculture agriculture agriculture, largest wind farm in North America, new dark grey wind turbines I’ve never seen before (why are they dark grey?), my music no longer seems loud on the highest setting,  Dave Ramsey financial advice on NPR for two hours, end of July is fruit season and it doesn’t matter what store you go to it is just good, green grass, lakes, rivers, streams, big sprawled “city”!

A few pics I managed to take while driving:

My journey continues and boy has it been crazy!  Keep up!  Here is what has been going on and include some fabulous pictures I need to share with all of you:

  • El Paso Zoo – the fabulous experience and my time at the zoo including a fantastic last few days
  • A trip to Connecticut (a beautiful bf’s wedding, family time and seafood!)
  • The Dallas adventure begins!

Enjoy the journey.  But I am keeping that destination in mind.

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Hot and Thirsty!

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Naima

Well tomorrow El Paso enters it’s 16th day in a row of temperatures over 100 degrees F!  I would have to say that is hot hot hot!  It’s not just me that feels it, and I love the heat, the animals are hot too!  They find a way to stay cool and we should really take some tips from them.  Check out my first video blog for some cool tips!  I put together some of my recent random pictures and video so check it out.  A bit cheesy, but just my style!

Here are two quick water saving ideas to help conserve water in this time of drought!

1.  Take a short shower.  The average American takes an 8 minute shower and it uses about 40-60 gallons of water!  Shorten that time to 3-5 minutes!

2.  One flush of the toilet uses 5 gallons of water!  Fill up a water bottle and place it in your toilet tank to save that much water with each flush.  No worries it won’t ruin your flush power.

 

Thirsty!

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Grocery store seafood troubles.

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Naima

The reason I decided to write this blog today is the disappointment I face in the grocery store every time I go and today was the worst of it.

Ok so my frustrations were in the grocery store standing in front of the seafood cooler with my seafood watch guide app open.  Out of all the choices (I would say there were about 20) there were few (if any) green list items.  It has been like this for months and I thought it was seasonal but it has not ended.  I was in Albertsons which in my experience here has been the best option for seafood.  They do have a fantastic seafood guy that works there, but unfortunately he was not there today.

Not only am I looking for something on the green list, but something that has a decent price and actually looks good.  I realize El Paso may not be the best place to purchase seafood but there is a lot of seafood to purchase there (about 20 options!).  That means that everyone is buying this nasty seafood imported from across the world injected with chemicals and packaged here in the US so that the front label has a US flag on it.  It makes you think you are being patriotic and buying local when in fact, read the back and you are not.  Not to mention the information about how the fish was collected is no where to be found making it impossible to know if it is a good choice or not!

Let me give you a little bit of background:

There are some kinds of seafood that is better to purchase than others due to overfishing, bycatch, habitat destruction from fishing methods and farming. The Monterrey Bay Aquarium in California has gathered tons of information on the fishing industries and put together a Seafood Watch Guide.  The guide can be downloaded from the internet or even better you can download the free app on your smartphone!

During programs to grab people’s attention I talk about shrimp.  I have a love for all seafood, especially some shrimps!  Shrimp is one of the most common seafood items sold but the nets used to collect shrimp often have bycatch of sea turtles.  Once you mention sea turtles, people’s hearts start pumping because they are extremely charismatic animals.  Since the 1990s, farmers in the US must attach a TED (Turtle Excluding Device) to their shrimp nets to allow sea turtles to swim away.  One of the problems is foreign use of TEDs are not regulated.  Also some nets used during shrimp collection destroy important ocean habitat.   So I try to get people to start thinking… shrimp = sea turtles.  Or seafood = ocean habitat destruction.

Most of the shrimp (75% of world’s shrimp production) comes from Thailand, China, Vietnam, India and Indonesia… all farmed.   Which you may think is better.  Unfortunately foreign shrimp farming is a low paying job that creates pollution, damages important mangrove habitat and the farm must add chemicals and antibiotics to keep the system healthy.  Where do the chemicals end up?  In the shrimp.  Here is a crazy statistic: “For each pound of farmed shrimp, it takes two pounds of wild-caught fish flesh. These are ground up and turned into pellets.”  Ever think about what the farmed fish are eating? … wild fish! For more info click here, here and my favorite Shrimps Dirty Secrets click here.

It can’t all be bad.  There is seafood on the green list.  It’s just not here.  But I will be sending this blog post to my local grocery stores in hopes of changes being made.  I encourage you to send away too!  It is easy to find an email: google the store and click contact.  Here is the Albertsons email: albertsonscustomercare@albertsons.com

In related ocean news, recently it was World Oceans Day!  We had a fabulous celebration and awareness day at the El Paso Zoo led by Education Specialist Rose Janice.  The two days at the zoo were filled with workshops, activities, games and backyard fishing all to celebrate and bring awareness to what is happening to our oceans.  I hope a few more people start looking into the seafood that they eat.

Do you?

Oh and don’t get me started on TUNA!

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An old adventure coming back to the future… Ringtails!

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Naima

As I prepare for a few presentations on my beloved ringtails, I decided I should share the love of the most precious and overlooked animal with my bloggies.  My thesis for my Masters in Biology (Wildlife) involved habitat use research on mesocarnivores with an emphasis on ringtails.  I completed this work from January 2006- May 2009.

Number one thing to make sure everyone knows… Ringtails are not cats.  They do have several common names such as cacomistle, civet cat, ringtail cat and miner cat.  Although some of their old common names have the word cat in them they are not cats.  They are in the same family as racoons.  Ringtails are incredibly agile inhabiting steep cliff faces and adapting to that environment with unique biological characteristics.  They have semi-retractile claws and can rotate their paws 90 degrees which allow them to perform acrobatic moves such as scaling steep cliff cracks and amazing standing long jumps.

To get a quick feel of their agility view this six second video of a ringtail being released out of one of my traps.  They are so quick on their feet.  Remember this was 2008, this video quality was as good as it got for me.

Ringtails inhabit most of the desert southwest in arid areas.  Their kidneys are adapted to not require as much water as other animals and most live within 800 meters of a water source.  They are omnivores feasting on berries and small vertebrates.  I once watched a ringtail dine on juniper berries for about two minutes…awesome!  They are strictly nocturnal and it seems that even full moons are too much light for them to be active in.  Birds of prey and larger carnivores are their main predators.

They are currently not a threatened species although that may be because of the habitat they live in and their adaptation to urban living.  Most people don’t build on or destroy the steep cliff sides that ringtails inhabit.  Also, as more and more houses are built, ringtails have been found in roofs and scat has been found around urban settings.  Today on a walk around my neighborhood, at one point I smelled ringtail poop.  Weird, I know, but ringtails have a musk to their scat and once you know that smell, you won’t forget it.

My research was conducted in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, which is the second largest canyon in the United States, behind the Grand Canyon.  The presence of ringtails in the canyon was questionable and it was my mission to find out if they even existed in the area.  After months of unsuccessful trapping I finally caught my first ringtail!  It was a momentous day as when I first started I had lots of help, but as time went by with no captures, I was by myself hiking and setting traps in the hot, unforgiving canyon.  So when I caught my first ringtail, I was on a cliff, just me and her, a moment I will never forget.  Soon after I figured out the tricks and was on my way to several captures.

My first ringtail capture!

Fluffy

The above picture is of the first ringtail captured that I was prepared with a radio transmitter.  He was young and I never captured another as young as him.  Because he still had some baby fur, I called him “Fluffy”.

The radio telemetry begins.  As I began capturing more ringtails, I began outfitting them with small radio transmitters so I could release them and then come back at night and determine their locations using a GPS.   The process was not easy.  Setting traps in remote canyon areas required a 4-wheeler and small trailer and then just plain old physical work.  I was extremely lucky to have many helpers (friends, family, undergraduates and my adviser) and I am thankful for all the effort and time they put in.  If a trap is set, you have to be there in the early morning before the sun gets to hot to check the traps.  Extremely hard if we were out doing radio telemetry on ringtails the night before.

Big Bear (4-wheelers name) and his Trailer.

Radio telemetry provided its own frustrations with signal bounce off the canyon walls and trying to stalk a secretive, sly, crafty animal like a ringtail!  I swear they were laughing at me while they dove into cliffs and “disappeared”.

Oh telemetry... how I miss thee.

The project was to say the least a challenge.  I decided to terminate the telemetry portion of my research due to ringtail mortality.  In the literature, there is not much research done on ringtails, and what has been done has also had high mortality.  These animals are unique, amazing and cute creatures that more information should be gathered on.  Perhaps one day I will return to my ringtail friends.

The best part of the project was getting to know the animals so well.  I could walk up to a trap and tell whether it was a male or female.  Males and females have very slight characteristic differences and to a trained eye it became easy.  I also became skilled at trapping.  I had never trapped an animal before in my life and all of a sudden I was catching ringtails, raccoons, grey foxes and my nemesis skunks.  My advisor is the king of skunks and can successfully release a skunk from a trap with just straight baby talk.  I definitely did not possess those powers as I lost several shirts and gloves to my skunk friends and also was conveniently sprayed in the mouth one time.  Fabulous.

I tried to keep this as short as possible but I could go on for days about my ringtails, so if you have any questions… ask away!

Check out some pics of the adventures below:

 

Ringtails!

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Get out and Camp!

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Naima

Don’t have the money to get away?  YES YOU DO!  This past weekend we took a small trip on the cheap.  Here is how:

  • take advantage of National Forests!  The primitive campsites (no toilets or water) are free to camp and you can collect your own fire wood on site.  It just has to be down wood, no lumberjacks please.
  • pack your own food.  Bring a cooler and make sure to think about breakfast, lunch and dinner.  You don’t have to be fancy to be full.  Hot dogs on a stick are some of our favorites.  Must have morning campfire coffee.
  • don’t forget things!  Buying things at small out in the middle of nowhere shops is always expensive!  David did the packing this time around… so we did not have a lighter!  $2.50 + tax for my new super sassy pink scale lighter from roadside store.
  • hike during the day.  In some areas you have to pay a day use fee but in the national forests you can usually find plenty of areas with no charge!  Free fun.

Whenever David and I have the same days off, we HIT the road!  This past weekend we headed to the Lincoln National Forest, Smokey Bear District just outside of Ruidoso, New Mexico.  We met a friend there and camped for two nights.  What blows my mind every time we travel to the New Mexico mountains is the temperature change from the mountains to the desert.  When we were heading back home from Cloudcroft there is a stretch of downhill road about 16 miles long in which the temperature changed from 66 to 85 degrees F in about 20 minutes!  Insane.

So next weekend when you are considering staying home again, get out and explore!  I envision many of my friends being scared to camp because of bears, bugs, etc.  Here are a few things to know about camping via me:

  • wildlife is more scared of you then you are of them.  Black bears will come into camps (rarely) looking for food, not people.  Raccoons and skunks are more likely guests but they don’t eat people either.
  • You do NOT need a tent.  Have a truck?  set up a comfy bed of blankets in the back!  If you must, sports stores (Academy) have $30 cots that are pretty cozy to sleep on.
  • Comfiest sleeping for me:  $30 cot, $25 pad and some sleeping bags.  ahhh.
  • keep a clean site.  Trash attracts animals.
  • respect thy neighbors!  NO LOUD MUSIC!  – really, don’t have neighbors is my choice.
  • Bugs?  Start a campfire – best bug deterrent.
  • Bring lotion – I always forget it and dry skin always drives me crazy!

So take a look at the pics from this past weekend and start making your own plans to get out!  Or even better, don’t make plans.  I found our campsite on the drive up there!

Oh and check out who is the next big time slack line star!  Not sure what I’m talking about… it’s in the pics.   Along with David climbing a huge 75ft cliff and D-Ray rappelling it!

CAMP!

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Endangered Species Day

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Naima

Endangered Species…  It means we still have a chance to save the species!

It can all be very confusing so here is a quick simplified breakdown.  In the United States we have the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 which lists about 1,995 species.  The ESA is for the conservation of species that are endangered or threatened by extinction as well as the habitat and ecosystems these animals rely on.  The US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service are the organizations that are to carry out the ESA.  The US Fish and Wildlife Service lists 597 animals on the endangered species list in the United States and 794 plants.

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the largest global environmental organization with over 1,000 staff, 1200 member organizations (governments, NGOs) and over 11,000 volunteer scientists.  Protecting biodiversity lies at the heart of their mission and they are the lead for assessing the status of each species.  There are over 10,000 animals listed on the IUCN endangered species list, over 10,000 plants.

The number one reason for the huge numbers of animals on the endangered species list is… Habitat destruction.  Can you think of an area in your hometown that was once a wild space and is now a road, apartment complex, store or house?  Urban sprawl and the 7 billion people on our planet put a huge weight on the natural world around us.

This past Friday (May 18th) was Endangered Species Day.  A day to bring awareness to the population declines of a huge number of species, what is causing their decline and what you can do to help.  At the El Paso Zoo, led by Education Specialist, Heather Rivera, we had our own awareness celebration.  It was culminated with a fun endangered species fashion show.  Volunteers and staff members dressed up as their favorite endangered species and strutted their stuff while educating people on how they can take action and help.  Take a look at some of the pictures from the day, especially that dang cute sea otter!

The animal I chose was sea otters.  The southern population of sea otters is listed as threatened.  Sea otters were hunted for their fur causing populations to decline to a few thousand animals.  Populations have recovered but are still low and are at risk.  I chose the sea otter for a few reasons:  1.  HOLY CUTENESS!  2.  Keystone Species and 3.  Unique characteristics such as:

  • high density of fur to keep warm (unlike most marine mammals have thick layers of blubber)
  • give birth in the water and take care of their young resting on their bellies for six to nine months
  • lay on their backs and dine off their bellies
  • use tools such as rocks to crack open clams and other molluscs
  • intertwine themselves in kelp to stay somewhat stationary in a constant moving ocean

Sea otter cuteness.

Sea otters in California once numbered about 16,000 animals in the early 1900s.  In the 1930s due to the fur trade the number was reduced to 50 individuals in the wild.  Recovery efforts were put in place such as relocation of animals and an establishment of a no otter zone to reduce the competition between fisheries and sea otters.   Today there are a few thousand individuals in the wild but they need more space and are entering the illegal otter zone.  What you can do to help out sea otters is sign petitions and urge our government to “OPPOSE RESTRICTIONS ON SEA OTTER PROTECTIONS and SUPPORT the recovery of the southern sea otter and a healthy coastal ecosystem”.   Visit seaotters.org to learn more and take action!

The other risk to southern sea otters is an oil spill.  An oil spill can quickly wipe out the thousands of southern sea otters because of their small geographic range and small population.   It is incredibly difficult to remove oil from sea otter fur because of the density and survival rates are low.  Prevention of oil spills is extremely important.  So what can you do everyday to help out sea otters?  Ride your bike, walk, take the bus or carpool!  The less we depend on oil, the less there is a risk of an oil spill that can eliminate our southern sea otters.

Sea otter pup!

With all of that being said, I am going to ride my bike to the grocery store today and hopefully ride my bike to work tomorrow!  My motivation to ride the 10 miles to work has been at a low, but Endangered Species Day and my sea otter friends have revived my motivation!  Take one last look at a cute sea otter and get on your bike as well!  I mean, it is National Bike Month as well!!

Endangered isn’t the end, it’s the new beginning.

Endangered.

Picture credits: Smiling sea otter.  Sea otter pups. All the others taken by yours truly with my iphone!  Start snapping your own!

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Boston Daydreams

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Naima

I recently had a chance to visit some old stomping grounds and my family in Boston, MA!  It was a fantastic visit and made me long for green grass, dandelions, humidity, sea water, trees, public transportation and more!

 

We departed extremely early from El Paso, because we did not want to waste the day away just traveling.  So upon arrival at Logan airport, we set out on the trains and buses to navigate our way to Watertown where my brother, sister in law and two kids lived.  I say lived because they are making a big move to Dallas and by the time this blog goes up, they will no longer reside on the east coast.  So it was our last chance to visit Boston with them!  I however still have family in Connecticut, where I grew up and hope to visit them soon as well!

 

I felt like a tourist all over again, trying to figure out the train and bus routes and payment info.  We stopped downtown to grab a quick bite to eat before continuing on.  All in all we took 2 planes, 3 trains and 1 bus!

 

 

Hot dog and a lime rickey!  yes please.

 

Lucha Libre himself!

 

Beautiful path.  This led us to a fun park, the public library and a cute lunch spot!

 

David spent a lot of time teaching Anis how to climb trees.

 

The newest addition Issam.

 

UP!

 

I love and miss treeees!

My brother and his family from Connecticut came up to go with us to the Franklin Park Zoo.  This was where I interned right after my bachelors and then was a keeper for a bit.  I had a great experience as an intern and have vivid memories of working with the eider ducks, joey (baby kangaroo), anaconda and burmese python, birds birds birds and lots of great people (Anne, Jenna, Johnathon, Jake, Michelle and Hulia to name a few)!  I also have great memories from the intern classes we took each week and hope to bring some of those ideas into my workshops at the El Paso Zoo.  I have grown so much since I was an intern.  I remember interviewing and really not knowing much of anything!  Being an intern started my journey and my attitude to constantly be learning and questioning the world around me, which led to me going back to school for a masters degree in biology (wildlife).  Now, I have returned to the zoo world!

 

 

Let me tell you how impressed I am with little Jalloul.  He is pictured above and below.  While visiting the zoo we passed by a graphic of our local birds in the area.  He was able to identify chickadee, blue jay, cardinal, woodpecker and many more!  Most adults can not do that!

 

They loved the silly rides.

 

Chillin with the tigers.

 

If you go to Boston, there are few stops you must make.  Mike’s Pastry shop is one of them.  The place is always packed and is nestled in the North End which is home to fantastic Italian restaurants.

 

 

While exploring some of downtown Boston, we noticed several Hubway areas.  Hubway is a unique way to rent a bike to get to work, get some lunch or tour the city!  Locations are set up all around the city to pick up and drop off the bikes.  Lots of people were utilizing this green service!

 

El Paso is trying to set up a rent a bike system for downtown as well so people don’t have to use their cars for the short trips around downtown.  I am all for it!  But really, our downtown area is small enough that we should easily be able to walk from place to place in less than 5 blocks.  But the bikes would help to create a more bike and exercise friendly mind set.

 

One of the biggest differences of visiting Boston, is the amount of people out exercising, walking, enjoying parks, and using public transportation.  It is a culture of activity.  El Paso offers many outdoor activities and sunny weather to enjoy it, but I am still shocked at how many people have yet to visit the Franklin Mountains, the largest urban park in the country.  That’s right, it is only about 20 minutes from downtown!   But while living here, I have not held up my end of the bargain either.  I vowed to ride my bike to work at least once a week.  This year, I have not rode my bike to work very often and I have not taken the bus much either.  The simple reason is time.  It takes a little over an hour on the bus or on my bike and about 15 minutes in my car.   Time is just another excuse.  Visiting Boston has sparked my ambition again and I hope to be back on the bike soon!  The traffic here is not as bad as in Boston but maybe the cars there are a bit more aware of bikes?

 

Need motivation to ride your bike?  Read this article from Grist entitled, “Get your ass on that bike!” in honor of National Bike Month!

 

I am so excited about a school I have been working with that is going to take public transportation for their field trip!  I love it and wish more schools took a chance and used public transportation!

 

 

Rent your Hubway bike!
Water taxi!  Call and they come and pick you up!
The crazy fam.

 

Just enjoying the city!

 

Basically how we felt having to say goodbye. 🙁

It was awesome to visit family from Boston and Connecticut.  I am excited that some of them will be moving to Dallas.  I hope to get to them a lot More often!

 

 

UNTIL NEXT TIME BOSTON!

 

I will be dreaming of seafood…

Clam chowda in a sourdough bread bowl and calamari. 🙂

 

Boston daydreams.

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Cooler Cleaning.

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Naima

 This is what happens when you leave liquid inside a cooler and neglect it for a few months:

Mold, bacteria, stains… makes me want to vomit!

But here is the proof that my natural cleaner works!  All I used was my home made cleaning recipe with natural ingredients and ten minutes later, clean and ready to go!

Why should you make the switch?  Store bought household cleaners, even some of the “green” ones, contain many harmful chemicals that can affect your health.   Cleaners often contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other chemicals that contribute to chronic respiratory problems, allergic reactions and headaches.  You don’t have to believe me, read this article from the American Lung Assocation, click here. 

The smell of bleach is often times related to a sense of clean because of the vast amount of historic uses.  Bleach has been used for decades to clean and disinfect, but its time to change! Bleach and other harmful chemicals is not the only way to keep your house clean.

I know I have posted the recipe on the blog before but here it is again with the places you can find the ingredients.   I don’t measure so these are approximates and probably different than the last recipe I posted!  The mix does not have to be perfect.  The end result can be used everywhere on everything!  Although, I don’t clean windows or mirrors with it as the baking soda leaves a residue.  So what should you use on your windows?  Water.  Nothing else.  It works.  Somebody (or some company) tricked us into believing we need a blue spray to clean our windows!

In a spray bottle add:

  • 2 Tblsp Borax – Basically a mineral with a high pH (9.5) which increases the pH of the water it is in to make other cleaning supplies more effective.  The boron in borax inhibits metabolism in organisms and therefore kills unwanted pests and acts as a disinfectant.  Found in grocery stores, all purpose stores, ie: walmart, target.  Look in the laundry detergent section.
  • 2 Tblsp vinegar – Because of it’s high acidity it is effective at killing most mold and bacteria. 
  • 2 Tblsp baking soda 
  • 2 Tblsp All Natural Soap – I use Dr Bronners Lavender.  You can find these at all natural food stores but they also now have them at Target. 
  • 10 drops of Tea Tree Oil – The big disinfectant!  Essential oils are found at natural food stores or health markets. 
  • 10 drops of peppermint oil – I just like the smell.  I now associate peppermint with a clean house.
  • Fill the rest with warm water and shake.  

Quick, simple, cheap and FUN!  You kind of feel like a mad scientist when you are mixing it all up.

Cooler and “cooler” cleaning!

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My First Poppies Fest! 2012

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Naima

Well March 31, 2012 was a crazy day.  The 2012 Poppies Fest on Castner Range was held at the Museum of Archaeology, chaired by yours truly.  The poppies themselves were in fantastic bloom and survived the harsh winds and cold front the week before.  Castner Range was in all of its glory that day with poppies blooming, unique craft vendors, educational exhibitors, children’s activities, nature tours, nature talks, live music, yumtastic food and a vibe of protecting our mountains!  Thousands of El Pasoans, the Mayor, Congressman Reyes and lots of media came out to support the event and the mission of preservation. 

The Museum of Archaeology lies in the heart of Castner Range along the Transmountain Corridor, which is a road that travels through the Franklin Mountains in El Paso.  The road is the only road up and over the mountains and gives a traveler a beautiful view of the landscape while easily linking the East and West sides of El Paso.  The Transmountain corridor is in a heated battle between people who want to make the road wider and build, build, build, versus people who would like the area to remain in its natural state.  I am sure you know which side I am on.  The foothills provide much needed habitat for the unique and extremely high biodiversity that lies in the Chihuahuan desert.   Although, I am all for the improvement and building of El Paso, but there is plenty of underutilized space within city limits for growth.  There are many run down buildings, empty spaces within the city that could be revitalized and keep the growth centralized.  Centralized growth would allow for ease of public transportation or (an absurdity) walking from place to place.  Let’s leave Transmountain wild and build our city at our city.  Keep it simple.

If you were not able to attend the event but would still like to support Poppies Fest and the preservation of the Franklin Mountains, “like” the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition!  They are working hard to preserve the natural beauty of our mountains and have recently collaborated with the Sierra Club to take on the “builders”.   The best way to keep up with what is going on with the conservation issues surrounding the Franklin Mountains is to follow a friend’s blog at elpasonaturally.blogspot.com, where you can find just how to make your voice heard!

As you can imagine I was running around most of the day, but I was able to snap a few pictures of the event. 

Setting up their educational exhibitor stations.
Tigua Drumming and Dancing – and of course people enjoying.
The friendship circle dance led by the Tiguas.
LOVE this pic.  Just warms your heart.  Boy scouts were in charge of making sure people correctly placed their trash and recyclables!
Heather and Takota (EPZ Golden Eagle) made a showing!
Ceiba and Friends performing. 
Nature Tours every hour!  Wish I went on one!
Even David made it out.  Checking out a tipi.
Border Patrol volunteers on hand ALL DAY!  They were awesome!

This day took an army to put together.  I am so thankful for the committee volunteering their time to make Poppies Fest a priority.  Lots of appreciation goes out to all of the volunteers (over 100 people), all collaborating organizations, sponsors, media that helped promote the event for FREE and everyone that attended!

I am truly grateful for the opportunity to be the event chair.  I am excited to work out some kinks for next year!  (PS: I know our biggest kink is the shuttle situation.  Many ideas have been tossed around and you can bet next year will be better!). 

Poppies! … do you know why they are called poppies?  Because when they go to seed, their seeds “pop” off of them! 

Posted in elpasonaturally.blogspot.com, franklin mountains, Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition, poppies, Poppies Fest | 1 Comment

The zoo has been a zoo!

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Naima

The past two weeks at the zoo have literally been a zoo!  For the most part the weather has been great and it has been Spring Break!  Ahh, Spring Break, a time of relaxation and revitalization to push forward into a new year.  NO LONGER!  This spring break was an extremely busy yet creative time for me at the zoo. 

The first week of spring break we had our first ever Spring Break Camp from 9-12pm, Monday through Friday for kids ages 7-14.  It was a success.  Although I was crunched for time I loved coming up with activities for the kids to enjoy and at the same time be learning about wildlife and conservation.  The themed days were Nature Art, Geocaching, Nocturnal Animals, Backyard Wildlife and Tracks and Scat.  My two favorite activities for the kids was a home made nocturnal maze I built for them using materials we had at the zoo.  They were blindfolded and had to use their senses to navigate the maze.  The kids loved it but really loved leading each other through the maze.  My other favorite was chalk art, in which they were challenged to make their pavement box into an animal’s habitat.  It took a while to set up but the kids enjoyed crawling around on the ground to create their masterpieces.  I am extremely thankful to the volunteers who helped me out during the week!  25 kids and no volunteers would have been horrible!  Luckily they also helped me break down and set up the zoo everyday. 

Nature Art: Chalk
Nocturnal Maze at the zoo!
Where are you?

To view all of the pictures from the camp thanks to Adrian Cisneros, take a look on the El Paso Zoo Facebook page here.  There are some really cute ones that will make you smile!

Most schools were off the second week in March but there were a decent amount that were off the third week.  For those kids and families we offered daily one hour workshops at 10am and 2pm everyday Monday through Friday.  There were families that joined us everyday and I grew close to them and looked forward to their arrival each day.  A one hour workshop was perfect to entice them with the activity for the day but also explore more that the zoo has to offer.  I loved the workshops.

One family thanked me for the week with this awesome potted plant! LOVE.

The second Saturday of my Spring Break was working at Kidspalooza!  Even without knowing what Kidspalooza is, it sounds like a madhouse… and it was!  The El Paso Zoological Society had a booth at the downtown El Paso children’s event.  My station was making magical animal masks out of household materials (paper plates).  In my head the point was that you don’t have to have all the supplies in the world to be creative and do a project with your kids.  There are tons of materials you can upcycle into beautiful works of art.  With 20,000 people attending Kidspalooza I don’t think that message was passed along.  We probably had a few thousand come by our table and it was busy the entire day.  People were crazy about the masks but I don’t think many of them thought, wow this is something I could do at home!  Throughout the day, I did manage to gather a few more emails for the email list at the zoo.  If you would like to know about upcoming programs or events or just see my dandy emails, sign up here.  No worries, I won’t sell your emails and you will only receive about 1 per month unless there is so much going on I need to send 2!  Thank you to Renee, the Zoological society director, Darrel (volunteer), and the facilities guys that dropped off and picked up the tent and tables!

Our peaceful setup prior to the thousands of people!
My Spring Break continues… The 6th annual Poppies Festival on Castner Range is this upcoming weekend March 31st at the Museum of Archaeology!   The planning committee has been planning this event for months and this year the Mexican Gold Poppies are blooming!  I am the chairperson for this event and I have also never seen the poppies before so I am sooo excited for this Saturday!  The event is FREE and will include children’s activities, about 30 unique art vendors and 30 educational exhibitors, live entertainment from local indian groups and musicians, a live wolf, nature talks, nature tours, food including local buffalo stew and so much more!  The event is 10-4 and parking is at the EPCC transmountain campus with shuttles provided.  
Spread the word about the Poppies Fest and join us to help preserve Castner Range.  The Museum of Archaeology is in the heart of Castner Range. 

Castner Range is a former artillery range, owned by Fort Bliss, known for its cultural, geologic and unique biology.  Many consider Castner Range the crown jewel of the Franklin Mountains.  This is the reason I got involved in the event.  Often during my programs at the zoo urban sprawl comes up, and it is easy for people to picture urban sprawl happening around the world.  Many wild places are being destroyed for human use for homes, apartments, stores, roads, etc.  But what people don’t realize is this is happening in our backyards.  The Franklin Mountains are part of El Paso but only the state park is preserved as a wild space.  The foothills of the mountains is being sought after by contractors to build houses, roads and more.  This area is extremely important for the rich biodiversity of the area.  If you want to learn more, come to the event!  The Franklin Mountains Wildnerness Coalition is a nonprofit dedicated to preserve the scenic beauty and wilderness character of the Franklin Mountains.  Even if you don’t frequent hiking in the mountains, but just value being able to look up from downtown El Paso and see the mountains, come to the Poppies Fest! 

Castner range in all its glory!

Beautiful.

My Spring “Break” should really be called Spring Madness.  But the good kind: the fun, creative, exhausting Madness! 

Madness.

Posted in Castner Range, el paso zoo, El Paso Zoological Society, franklin mountains, Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition, Kidspalooza, Museum of Archeaology, Poppies Fest, Spring Break, Workshops | 1 Comment