Oil in the Gulf

Living near the Louisiana coast, Ken and I have been keeping an eye on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  It is heartbreaking to see our Louisiana fishermen losing their living and way of life.  As a Louisiana native, I can tell you that these fisherman are hard-working, honest people who are facing yet another struggle after recovering from Hurricane Katrina not even five years ago.  Also, our wetlands may be destroyed and that would eliminate that extra level of hurricane protection that we so desperately need.  And then there's the wildlife.  Several days ago the first bird covered in oil was found and cleaned up, and several sea turtles have been found dead. 

Ken and I live North of Lake Pontchartrain,which borders New Orleans.  At this time, it seems that Lake Pontchartrain will be saved, but we're at the mercy of Mother Nature and the winds.  The oil is way too close to home!  Our St. Tammany Parish President has booms in place in case he needs to use them to protect Lake Pontchartrain, so hopefully we won't be affected.   With all the work we're doing on our sailboat, we don't want to put it back into water full of oil!

Anyway, we're watching history and another major disaster in Louisiana (and the Gulf of Mexico).  Whether we're affected or not, this is such a tragedy and alternative energy is looking better and better.  At least when we're living on our sailboat we'll no longer be driving vehicles and we will be using alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power.  I think Holland is brilliant with all of their windmills!

With this oil spill and plans of cruising the perimeter of the Gulf of Mexico on our sailboat, this is just another reminder of how beautiful (and fragile) this Earth is.  We need to do everything we can to protect our planet.  It is my understanding that the amount of oil released into the Gulf could have been drastically reduced if BP had installed a safety switch to shut off the oil.  However, BP did not install the switch in order to reduce costs, and oil is still flowing into the Gulf as we speak - weeks later.  This is infuriating to me!  Yes, oil is crucial to our way of living, but maybe it's time to really get serious about finding ways to be less dependent on it. 

We'll be anxiously watching the developments in the Gulf, and hopefully things will not get as bad as they could and BP will get some control of this leak.  Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!