Marble Explores “O” – Laguna Sushi

Sustainability .. Balance and harmony with the sea.  What an apt place to explore ways to commit ‘random acts of ocean kindness’ than with the sushi chefs – and staff – and patrons – at “O” Sushi in Laguna Beach.  What was delightfully surprising was the depth of their relationship and commitment to the sea.  For the chefs and staff, the health of the ocean and the planet supports their livelihood. For the clientele, healthy seas  mean a healthy planet .. and in the case of a sushi bar, a place to gather and eat healthy – clean nonpoisonous foods.  Everyone loved the gift .. and was excited to play it forward.

Yennis Ko

Richard Wu

Min Suk Park & Shinichi Kosano

Ashley Maddocks & Matt Contonelli

Manuel Portillo

Lee

Gina

Marble Makes New Friends

Imelda & the Marble

Alejandro & the Marble

Rigo & the Marble

Aram & the Marble

It was a great day for new friends for the marble.  Loretanos Alejandro and his wife Imelda and Rigo and his daugher Aram now gifted with beautiful blue orbs.  Alejandro dice que – “hay potencia” and “es necessario para protegerle” … Aram spun the orb in her hands and told me about the world – about caring for it, it’s importance.  Rigo & Aram had participated in the Loreto Pride Campaign held last week, and trash load by trash load experienced first hand both the negative effects – all the dumped garbage in the Arroyo Candeleria, and the positive – the pristine environment after a small army of volunteers scoured the dry river bed of trash and refuse.

Blue Earth Day

It is, after all .. a blue planet 🙂

The highest good is like water. Water gives life to the ten thousand things and does not strive. It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao. In dwelling, be close to the land. In meditation, go deep in the heart. In dealing with others, be gentle and kind. In speech, be true. In ruling, be just. In business, be competent. In action, watch the timing. Tao Te Ching ~

Water Relations

Water Relations

The clarity of the tide pool was exquisite.  The runoff from recent storms had settled either to the bottom or father out to sea.  The marble rolled exuberantly in a warm sea grass laden pool.

While the day was joyous and the sun shimmered on the sea’s blue surface, I was reminded, that even through the obvious clarity, several days after southern California storms, the local waters are carry toxic levels of bacteria.

Those bacteria are the source of ear and bronchial infections, along with skin invasions through scratches or open wounds.  If it’s not healthy for humans, how can it possibly be healthy for sea life?

We continually dump our shit (excuse me) into the water and expect that the ocean will magically transform garbage into clean habitat.

Wouldn’t it be magical to see the oceans 10,000 years ago?

Imagine the abundance of sea life.

The push/pull issues of corporate profits vs the health of the seas – and ultimately us – confuses me. I find it unfathomable that any person with any kind of conscious cannot see the relationship between actions and consequences.

Dump oil. Kill sea life. Dump chemicals down the drain. Poison shellfish and local species. Toss plastic bags. Strangle pelicans and terns.

The marble wants to know what it will take to wake up ALL the inhabitants of the planet?

Emma Cherril and the Marble

Emma and the Marble

In Emma's Hand

Marbles reach out and take flight – passed in airports, coffee shops and even a parking lot.  This marble has found it’s way into the hands of Cherril Doty, long time friend, fellow camper, kayaker and environmentalist.

Her intention is to share it, and water stories with her two grandsons.  The young and rambunctious boys can begin to learn early about conservation, where water comes from, how is it used – and wasted, and what they can do in their lives to institute change.

Simple things, like turning off the tap when brushing their teeth. Not letting the hose run in their garden after watering their plants.  Learning how precious each drop is, and how lucky they are to have water in their tap, when almost two in three people lack access to clean water.

Marble Meets Trash

The Marble Meets Trash

The marble asks, ” What is this?”

Something not animal or vegetable or mineral tossed up on the sand.  White, not soft. The fragrance is foreign.

Okay, it’s not the first trash that we’ve seen on the beach, but the first bit of garbage that this particular marble, this elegant small blue orb has found itself in such close proximity … and he doesn’t like it.  It saddens him. He senses something so innately wrong – but just what is it?

We sit quietly, watching the waters and pondering the Styrofoam, nemesis of seabirds, turtles, fish and crustaceans.

So many things come to mind.  The trash ‘island’ in the midst of the Pacific, it’s recently discovered match in Atlantic.  The photograph of the pelican’s dead body – filled with human refuse.  Dead at our hands – without any one of us touching him physically.

The beach clean-ups in both my home towns of Laguna Beach (CleanWatersNow) and Loreto, BCS (Loreto Pride – Eco Alianza).  Hands and hearts grunging in the muck.  Collecting and clearing what others can’t seem to consciously deal with.

It’s GARBAGE for heaven’s sake.  Wake up (okay, if you’re reading this post you are already awake) and use the trash can.

I admit to frustration.  My heart breaks when I encounter seals wearing bits of fish line or net, gulls and pelicans with refuse trapped in their beaks or tangled on their legs.  Another photograph – one of an Arctic tern – one of my favorite migratory birds – wearing a plastic bag collar.  The result of a dive for a ‘fish’ that turned out to be floating refuse, now wrapped around it’s neck – a threat to its flight and feeding.

My heart/head know that the only real answer lies in education – an expansion of the consciousness that to protect the seas is to protect and support all life on our tiny blue spinning planet.  That’s part of the marble’s journey … a growing voice of reason.

Drifting …..

Drifting Marble

The marble sits atop a piece of driftwood, in this case, likely carried from the desert canyons to the sea by recent rain storms that pummeled Baja.  Temporarily, it’s been cast by the sea via tidal swings, back on the shore.

The wood reminds me of other refuse, land-locked trash dumped by humans, that makes its way to the sea during storms.  This happens – not just in Baja – but in LA, San Francisco, Ventura, Texas, Alabama, Florida .. globally.  Every country and/or state that has a border with waters that swirl across our planet, has the need to put into place, protections for our common good.  Not just ours, but the creatures that inhabit the oceans and seas of Earth.  This is shared territory, bound between us by currents that pass effluents and pollutants from shore to shore, depths to shallows, north to south, and east to west.

The oceans have long been considered an amazing filter, but we humans – the biggest producer of toxins – have pushed the ocean’s health to the brink of collapse.  It is long past time to make environmental education a core curriculum in school system on the globe.