ten years with sea turtles!

"10th Birthday Celebration

Saturday, June 10: 2-5 p.m.
This event is free & open to the public.
Center admission will be waived from 2-5 p.m.

Happy 10th Birthday, Georgia Sea Turtle Center!

June 2017 commemorates the Georgia Sea Turtle Center’s 10th year in operation. To mark this momentous occasion, we’re hosting a birthday celebration, and you’re invited! The Center will be “decorated,” showcasing ways you can reduce plastics, we’ll have a birthday card for you to sign, and there will even be cupcakes! The afternoon will include creature features, live music, and a special “Dunk the Doc” fundraiser.

We’ll have additional birthday festivities throughout the month of June, so check back soon for the full schedule of events."

In June of 2007, at the same time my marriage was falling apart,
the Georgia Sea Turtle Center
was starting life.
I had found it as I stumbled about
on Jekyll Island
on a much-needed trip
to restore my soul.
And there it was,
shining like a beacon.
That has made it special to me.

As well as providing a refuge for injured loggerhead, green, and
Kemp's Riddley sea turtles,
and even terrapins,
it has provided a
safe haven for me,
restoring my faith
that life endures.

I know this green sea turtle will recover from her GI impaction, caused by ingesting plastic and fishing lines.
She will then be released
back to the ocean, to continue
her cycle of life.
Nice thought, isn't it?
(smile)
I hope I can be there for her homecoming!


Today, as part of my upcoming birthday celebration, I renewed my commitment to the continuation of this life-saving place and the work they do.
I hope you will have an opportunity to experience its wonders!

94 pints of life from the arteries!

I must admit, I was thinking of that song about bottles of beer on a wall when I wrote the title.
(smile)
Today, I made my usual pre-birthday blood donation at the American Red Cross.
I like to think of it as my Mothers Day gift to others.
(smile)
That makes a total of ninety-four pints donated to help three strangers...
making a grand sum of two hundred eighty-two people who have received my plasma, red blood cells, and platelets.
Of course, that doesn't include donations I've made to other organizations, such as LifeSouth.

I have donated at their blood drives at least three times.
The above T-shirt was granted to me for my blood gift at the 2009 Dragon*Con.
See the pint of blood in the wizard's left hand?
Pretty cool, isn't it?
My BFF and her husband also donated at that drive.
That was definitely cool!

What's my point?
Give blood.
You never know whose life you may save.