The Life & Death of Nigel, the World’s Loneliest Seabird

Thanks to my cousin, Seldy, for making me cry with this article.

The Life and Death of Nigel, the World’s Loneliest Seabird 
by Yonette Joseph
The New York Times, February 4, 2018

LONDON — The story of a lonely seabird named Nigel who tried to woo a mate that had a heart of stone and died on an uninhabited island off New Zealand has captivated many on social media.

Nigel and one of the too-coy decoys

Footage of the bird preening and cooing as he fruitlessly courted a decoy made of concrete has been watched obsessively online. Though his chosen partner kept a cold silence, Nigel, a gannet, won the affection of visitors and conservationists alike.

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Feb 4 – March 1: South Island, NZ another LONG ONE by Cathy

2/4 Sunday
Perth-Sydney-Christchurch. Our flight from Perth to Sydney was delayed, which wasn’t all that bad since it lessened the amount of time we had to wait in Sydney, but our late arrival into Christchurch made us miss the last shuttle to the Jucy rental car lot – something we figured out after watching every other rental car’s shuttle bus come and go over the course of about 45 minutes and then finally Googling Jucy’s hours. 

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Jan 18-21: Swellendam & Knysna

In the morning, Mick and I made one last stop at African Gems & Minerals while Jeff met up with our host’s cleaning person to check out. Mick added one more stone to his collection – this one a Herkimer diamond. It’s not a real diamond, of course, but it’s really pretty and interesting. Mick looked it up and found a Herkimer diamond is a double-terminating (pointed on both ends) quartz crystals found in Herkimer County, NY, of all places! They’re called diamonds because they’re clear and because they have 18 facets – 6 on each end and 6 around the center.

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Jan 14-17: Cape Town, South Africa

We arrived in Cape Town feeling pretty good, despite the very long flight (14 hours including layover in Frankfurt). The exhaustion from the hours-long repetitive attempts to find a comfortable position eventually led to a few winks, which definitely helped. We picked up the one bag that we’d  been asked us to check, and headed for the rental car lot. When we walked outside the airport, the first thing we noticed … heat! Ahh…… warm, but not hot, breezy, but not windy. In a word, heavenly. Time to put the winter uniform away and dress for summer.

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Jan 5-13: Zürich, St. Moritz, Zürich

With a solution to the birth certificate debacle and a new flight scheduled to Cape Town, we arrived in Zürich relieved and excited for Mick to see the city that Jeff and I remembered really liking when we’d stayed there briefly in 2000. While the winter scenery is perhaps less vibrant than in summer, the city itself and the views of the Alps are amazing.

Even the birds line up to look at the Alps
These beautiful lights rained down streets all over the city

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Atticus Finch for President

Last  summer, Mick and I listened to the audiobook version of To Kill a Mockingbird and followed it up by watching the movie. There’s a lot to learn from Harper Lee’s story, but it’s the impact of words, particularly coming from a soft-spoken man like Atticus Finch, that lingers. Mick and I even considered making up T-shirts saying, “Atticus Finch for President.”

“As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat [degrade] black men [minorities] every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash.” ~ Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird

 

When we read the news today, the day before we depart for South Africa – one country of an entire continent that President Trump has  now labeled as a “shit-hole” – I wished we’d made up those T-shirts. Since August 1st, the day we started our world tour, we’ve been trying to dissociate ourselves from the racist, misogynistic, homophobic, anti-immigrant agenda of Donald Trump as each country we’ve visited has different, but justifiable reasons to dislike his policies and/or him personally. I love my country, even more so after our travels thus far, but I am embarrassed to be represented by someone I do not respect and whose actions and words I consider to be ignorant, unacceptable,  and quintessentially un-American.

“If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.” ~ Samuel Adams