I have been pondering wealth and philanthropy.  I just read Steve Jobs biography, great book, lots of history.  Jobs was wealthy but not that interested in philanthropy.  His friend, Larry Ellison, is fantastically wealthy, but seems to put his wealth into estates, sail boats, airplanes and the like.  I haven't heard of an Oracle Hospital, or an Apple Orphanage.  Bill Gates, though, is a philanthropist.  I usually only hear about his African endeavors.  Can you imagine is Gates and Ellison funded a giant scholarship fund for promising high school students to study in fields that G&E favored?  Maybe they do. 

In the Gilded Age, when the US had similarly wealthy people, Carnegie and Mellon competed with each other in their philanthropic achievements.  Then they joined forces, Carnegie-Mellon University.  Pittsburgh is littered with parks, museums, libraries and the like funded by one of these guys.

I think the US public would be more forthcoming with tax-breaks for the wealthy if we saw more projects like these.

Crazy Summer of 2011

I also find it irritating when NPR celebrates anything AGAINST the Church as something wonderful.

Don't Let the Pug Bug Bite!

I have just offered a book I wrote for sale through the web site, blurb.com.  The book is called Don't Let the Pug Bug Bite.  It is about my pug, named Poppy.  It is illustrated by an artist from Houston who I met at a dog show last summer. I focus on puns and rhymes and word-play on the word 'pug' as well as Poppy.  The book should appeal to pug fans, dog lovers and children of all ages.

The direct link to the book is http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2083167

enjoy.

Memoirs -- Father Joe

I have been on a memoir reading kick for about eighteen months. I find it fascinating how people's lives develop. A recent gem I just finished was Tony Hendra's Father Joe. It is sub-titled "The man who saved my soul."

Who is Tony Hendra?, you may ask. I didn't know either. His major claim to fame was that he was one of the creative forces behind National Lampoon magazine, Saturday Night Live, Lemmings and Radio Dinner, as well as numerous scathingly satiric smaller pieces of the same ilk.

Father Joe was a Benedictine monk at an English monastery named Quarr. Tony is forcibly introduced to Father Joe at the age of 14 by an irate husband with whose wife Tony was beginning an affair.

From this inauspicious beginning, a story of faith won and lost and reclaimed. Hendra, like so many of us in the 70s, descends into self-centered existence of drugs, sex and rock-n-roll. I subscribed to National Lampoon in the 70s and recalled several of the pieces he wrote described. I even had a 'Father Joe' in my life, though he died much too soon.

Sometimes it seems that the zeitgeist into which we are born can overwhelm all but the strongest of wills. In my study of stock equities, the market sentiment about a particular sector or industry affects both good and bad stocks alike. Oil stocks, for example, will all move in the same direction for a period of time, even the high-quality ones which are earning money, growing and increasing market share. Only a truly exceptional stock seems able to resist these trends. All of this is to say I see a parallel in my life to Tony Hendra's, not in all the details, but in faith during the last decades of the twentieth century. Father Joe was like an Exxon, steadfast in faith, growing, not faltering to the very end of his life.

This is an amazing little book, well worth the read.

Texas Shangri-La

Abandoned half a century ago, a secret garden blooms anew By Tracy Barnett - Houston Chronicle ORANGE, Texas — Far, far away, down the interstate and past the road construction and the 18-wheelers and the noise and commotion, past Baytown and Beaumont and Port Arthur, lies a land that time forgot. A place near the Louisiana border where snowy egrets and great blue herons and cormorants gather in the trees by the hundreds, flapping their wings and calling to each other as the sun sets over the sparkling waters of the bayou. A place where bright green aquatic plants carpet the dark waters around the knees of the ancient cypress. A place where a secret garden, locked behind walls for half a century, has come back to life. A place called Shangri La. At the Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center, the largesse of one man - timber baron and philanthropist H.J. Lutcher Stark - transformed an abandoned bayou into a celebration of nature in the 1950s. Named after the mythical land in the 1933 book Lost Horizon, the garden was to be a place of beauty, peace and enlightenment. A who's who of southeast Texas attended the celebrated inauguration of the garden, but a freakish coastal snowstorm nipped Stark's project in the bud soon afterward, and he closed the gates. Fifty years passed before the foundation that bears his name decided to put the garden back together again. They found a man particularly well-suited to the job: Michael Hoke, a high school science teacher who left the profession to educate the public in a different way, through a nature education center in Orange. He was brought on board to coordinate planning for the center in 2002, and its gates opened to the public last year - just five months before Hurricane Ike came through, leaving splinters and flooding in its wake. All winter long, Shangri La Botanical Gardens has been rebuilding under the steady and watchful eye of managing director Hoke and horticulturist Gary Outenreath, formerly of Moody Gardens. It reopened to the public in early March, and the legend begins anew. We were there the last day of February, when last-minute plantings were being sheltered in greenhouses as the threat of a last-minute frost loomed. But the enchantment of the gardens still was apparent. And even more enchanting than the gardens is the bayou itself; a big part of the experience is the ride on an electric-powered boat through the cypress-tupelo swamp past three outdoor classrooms called "educational outposts." We docked at one of them, and Hoke led us down a boardwalk through the cypress trees and an expanse of brilliant green, and he stopped short. "Now take a look," he said. "If you don't think that's beautiful, you need to stay after school!" The 252-acre Shangri La is not all swamps and woods. A meditation pavilion, a lake and nine formal gardens greet visitors who wander more than a mile and a half of carefully manicured footpaths. At the heart of the gardens, two ancient cypress trees form a giant gate framing the garden and the heronry beyond. The heron rookery was fluttering with waterfowl as they took their perches and prepared for sunset. A large bird blind down the trail offers several high-power telescopes where you can watch the feathered multitudes preen and fish for hours. In addition to the outdoor classrooms, there's a children's garden called "Good to Grow." Its whimsical and hands-on approach is geared toward drawing kids into a more intimate relationship with nature. Hoke's enthusiasm for the garden and for the earth in general is highly contagious, and his mission goes far beyond running a garden and nature center. Under his guidance, architects designed the facility using the most stringent environmental standards to earn a LEEDS platinum rating, the highest and the first in Texas. As the sun goes down, we take our leave, and as we reach the highway, I turn back to look at the entry sign. "Be kind to your world," it says, echoing a phrase I saw repeated inside the gardens. Clearly, Michael Hoke's garden doesn't stop at his gate.

Find this article at:  http://www.mysanantonio.com/life/travel/Abandoned_half_a_century_ago_a_secret_garden_blooms_anew.html If you go Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center offers a restorative retreat for all ages. Plan to spend at least four hours if you want to see the entire garden and take the one-hour boat tour. There may be a wait for the boat ride. Getting there: To get away from the traffic, exit Interstate 10 at Winnie and take Highway 73 through Port Arthur and Bridge City. Shangri La is at 2111 W. Park in Orange. Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturdays, noon-5 p.m. Sundays through October. From November through February, open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily and noon-5 p.m. Sundays. Admission: Adults $6, students and seniors $5 and children under 12, $4. Outpost boat tours are $4-$6. Best bet: Buy an all-entry pass for the gardens and the boat tours for $6-$10. Don't miss: Lunch at the Star and Crescent Moon Cafe and shopping at the Garden Store, which stocks a variety of gift and educational items for adults and children alike. More information: 409-670-9113, www.shangrilagardens.org

Texas Birding Trail

Birding trail includes 310 sites on the Texas Gulf Coast

By Tracy Barnett - Houston Chronicle

World travelers migrate to the Texas coast for the astounding variety of birds that congregate here. Yet birding remains a mystery to many Americans.

It shouldn't be. You don't have to spend a fortune or years of training to enjoy the parallel universe unfolding outside your window. You just have to pay attention.

A good place to start is the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, which marks its 10th anniversary next year. This network of more than 300 birding sites was such a good idea that other states are copying it.

We've selected a dozen of the trail's best bird-watching sites and asked a team of experts to pick a single bird to represent each one.

So grab some binoculars and a field guide, and let's get started.

Upper Coast

GREAT EGRET

Location: High Island

Formed from a salt dome that rises 32 feet above the surrounding marshes, High Island's altitude has attracted migrating birds for centuries. The place was hit hard by Hurricane Ike but is still rated one of the top birding sites in the nation. Four sanctuaries and a visitor center are run by the Houston Audubon Society.

Look for: Pure white feathers, long black legs, long yellow beak.

Size: 37-41 inches, wingspan up to 4 1/2 feet.

When to look for it: Year-round.

Factoid: Hunted nearly to extinction for its fine white feathers; now the symbol for the National Audubon Society.

More High Island birds: Ruby-throated hummingbird, rose-breasted grosbeak, white ibis, anhinga, roseate spoonbill.

Directions: www.houstonaudubon.org

PILEATED WOODPECKER

Location: Big Thicket National Preserve

Called "the Galapagos Islands of Texas," this vast wilderness of 97,000 acres includes a variety of habitats: arid uplands, boggy lowlands and eastern forest.

Look for: Red crest, black and white stripes on face, black body.

Size: 16-19 inches, wingspan up to 2 1/2 feet.

When to look for it: Year-round.

Factoid: These woodpeckers dig huge rectangular holes in trees in their search for ants. Sometimes the holes are so big they break a small tree in half.

More Big Thicket birds: Red-cockaded woodpecker, Bachman's sparrow, Eastern bluebird, brown-headed nuthatch.

Directions: www.nps.gov/bith

WOOD DUCK

Location: Armand Bayou Nature Center

Boardwalk through forest and marshes, butterfly gardens, 1800s farm site and live animal displays. Stay late and try a moonlight pontoon boat cruise.

Look for: Shiny green crest on head, blue-green patch on wings, white patches on a harlequin face.

Size: 18-21 inches with 2 1/2-foot wingspan.

When to look for it: Year-round.

Factoid: After they hatch, ducklings jump from a nest in a tree and head for water. The ducklings may jump from heights of up to 18 feet without being injured.

More Armand Bayou birds: White and brown pelicans, anhinga, black- and yellow-crowned night herons, black-bellied whistling duck, belted kingfisher.

Directions: www.abnc.org

SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER

Location: San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge

One of three coastal preserves that harbor more than 300 bird species. The other two are Brazoria and Big Boggy.

Look for: Long, forked tail and salmon-colored underbelly.

Size: 9-15 inches.

When to look for it: Early spring to summer months.

Factoid: The scissor-tail is an avid recycler, using bits of trash in its nests - everything from cigarette butts to carpet fuzz. One study showed up to 30 percent artificial material in the nests.

More San Bernard birds: Common moorhen, clapper rail, Carolina chickadee, red-bellied woodpecker, common yellowthroat.

Directions: www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges, click on Texas

Central Coast

BLACK SKIMMER

Location: Matagorda Bay Nature Park

The park features miles of pristine coastline, miles of river and hundreds of acres of wetlands at the mouth of the Colorado River. Managed by the Lower Colorado River Authority, it has facilities for campers, anglers, bird-watchers and outdoor lovers of all sorts, plus an RV park.

Look for: Bright red bill with a lower mandible that's much longer than the top one; black on top, white underneath with short red legs.

Size: 16-20 inches.

When to look for it: Year-round

Factoid: The skimmer drags its lower bill through the water as it flies, catching small fish as it goes.

More Matagorda Bay birds: Black-bellied whistling duck, blue- and green-winged teals, gadwall, ibis, sandhill crane.

Directions: www.lcra.org/parks, click on "Developed parks"

WHOOPING CRANE

Location: Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

The largest and most accessible wild flock of whooping cranes in North America can be found here, along with a wealth of other species, including alligator, javelina, white-tailed deer and armadillo.

Look for: Very tall white bird with black wingtips and red forehead and cheeks.

Size: Almost 5 feet tall, with a wingspan of nearly 8 feet.

When to look for it: November through March.

Factoid: Only 16 whooping cranes - the tallest bird in North America - were left in 1941. Intensive management has brought the population up to 230, but the bird remains highly endangered.

More Aransas refuge birds: White and brown pelicans, ibises and spoonbills, six kinds of herons, four kinds of egrets.

Directions: www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges, click on Texas

ROSEATE SPOONBILL

Location: Port Aransas

Who says you have to rough it to watch birds? This laid-back beach town boasts multiple bird-watching sites, including Mustang Island State Park, Wetlands Park, Port Aransas Jetty and Paradise Pond, just to name a few.

Look for: Bright pink coloring and long, spoon-shaped bill.

Size: 2 1/2 to almost 3 feet.

When to look for it: Year-round.

Factoid: Inside the odd-looking bill are thousands of nerve endings, so when the bird thrusts it down into murky waters and sweeps back and forth, it detects vibrations from crustaceans, snails and other aquatic creatures, which quickly become dinner.

More Port Aransas birds: Reddish egret, American oystercatcher, red-winged blackbird, seaside sparrow and Caspian, royal, sandwich, least and Forester's terns.

Directions: www.portaransas.org/viewing_locations.html

BROWN PELICAN

Location: Corpus Christi

In America's Birdiest City,cq birding spots include Blucher Park, Suter Wildlife Area, the hike and bike trail on the Texas A&M campus, Packery Channel County Park and even the John F. Kennedy Causeway.

Look for: Dark gray-brown body with white head and neck; distinctive bill with expandable pouch.

Size: 3 to 4 1/2 feet with a wingspan of up to 6 1/2 feet.

When to look for it: Year-round.

Factoid: The pelican incubates eggs with its feet, not the breast like most birds. This led to their near-extinction during the mid-1900s when DDT was used widely. The chemical weakened eggshells and made them more vulnerable to breakage. A DDT ban led to their recovery.

More Corpus birds: Roseate spoonbill, egrets, herons, gulls, terns, osprey, peregrine falcon, crested caracara.

Directions: www.ccbirding.com/aoc, click on "Where can I go birding?"

Lower Coast

CRESTED CARACARA

Location: Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge

At 45,000 acres, it's the largest protected area of natural habitat left in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. If you're very lucky, you may spy an ocelot.

Look for: A large, falcon-like bird with a white head and neck and a black cap and crest.

Size: 19-23 inches with a wingspan of nearly 4 feet.

When to look for it: Year-round.

Factoid: This striking raptor is the subject of legends and folklore throughout Latin America. Some sources identify it as the bird depicted on the Mexican flag.

More Laguna Atascosa birds: Pied-billed grebe, northern shoveler, mottled duck, chachalaca, aplomado falcon.

Directions: www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/laguna.html

GREAT BLUE HERON

Location: South Padre Island

The island is a crucial first landfall site for birds making the long migration across the Gulf of Mexico. The South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center, a part of the World Birding Center network, is at the southern tip of the island.

Look for: Tall, gray bird with long legs and long, S-shaped neck, a white stripe on the top of the head and a black streak below that.

Size: 3-4 1/2 feet with a wingspan of up to 6 1/2 feet.

When to look for it: Year-round.

Factoid: A white version of the great blue heron, the great white heron, lives in Florida and the Caribbean. In parts of Florida where both birds are found, there's a blend with a blue-gray body and a white head and neck.

More South Padre birds: Piping plover,peregrine falcon, brown pelican and various warblers, tanagers, orioles and thrushes.

Directions: www.worldbirdingcenter.org/sites/spi

GREAT KISKADEE

Location: Weslaco

This town has been called a model for the coexistence of nature and urban areas. Estero Llano Grande State Park is a part of the World Birding Center network, but there's also the Valley Nature Center and Frontera Audubon Thicket.

Look for: Large black-and-white striped head, brown wings and tail, bright-yellow underparts.

Size: 9 inches.

When to look for it: Year-round.

Factoid: This bird extends from South Texas through most of Latin America, Its common name in Spanish (bien te veo) and in Portuguese (bem te vi) mean "I see you well" - and sound a lot like the bird's call.

More Weslaco birds: Chachalaca, green jay, olive sparrow, lesser goldfinch, red-crowned parrot, Altamira oriole, buff-bellied hummingbird, and a host of rare vagrants from Mexico if you are lucky.

Directions: www.weslaco.com/Visitors/Nature

GREEN JAY

Location: World Birding Center

The center is a network of nine Texas preserves with hundreds of bird species and a dedicated staff to help interpret it all. The headquarters is at Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park in Mission.

Look for: Green jay-type bird with a blue face and black around the eyes and throat.

Size: 11 inches.

When to look for it: Year-round.

Factoid: The green jay lives mainly in Mexico and points south. The only place it's found in the U.S. is South Texas.

More birding center birds: Altamira and Audubon's orioles, broad-winged hawk and hook-billed kite.

Directions: www.worldbirdingcenter.org

SOURCES:  Cecilia Riley, executive director, Gulf Coast Bird Observatory; Gary Clark, Nature columnist for the Houston Chronicle; Shelly Plante, nature tourism coordinator, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department;  Cornell University Bird Lab, www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds

Find this article at:  http://www.mysanantonio.com/life/travel/Birding_trail_includes_310_sites_on_the_Texas_Gulf_Coast.html

World Birding Center

The World Birding Center:

Mission, Texas

http://www.worldbirdingcenter.org/


Lake/Flato Architects of San Antonio have created a World Birding Center in Mission, Texas.

"This eco-tourism headquarters is located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, one of the richest bird habitats in the world. The design approach was to do more with less. The architecture learned from the regional vernacular, responded to the harsh climate, and minimized disturbance of the adjacent 1700-acre native habitat preserve. Sustainable features included a 35% reduction in building program, outdoor circulation, a narrow floor plate for effective cross ventilation and daylighting, steel arch panels as both structure and roofing, efficient building systems, water conservation and re-use, and restorative landscapes."   Explore their very intriguing web site.

 http://www.lakeflato.com/projects/birding/01.asp