Oh, the sight of amber-stained clouds during an autumn sunset takes my breath away, and if you add snow-capped mountain peaks, I better not be behind the wheel of a car because I won't be paying attention to the road.  I love the lavender blossoms and silver-barked trees lining many of our local streets.  My memories of Oak Creek Canyon in Arizona and Coeur D'Alene Idaho still inspire me.  I love the smell of the the mountains and the shady, winding roads to Lake Arrowhead or Big Bear Lake.

I can still recall the confused and irritated faces when my squeal of excitment at the sight of dolphins jumping alongside a boat I was taking to Catalina awoke many a early morning sleeper that didn't quite share my enthusiasm.  I remember the elk running in the twilight of a mountain forest and the bobcat that slipped away before I even realized he was there.  I see the hawk soaring in the bleached blue sky of the Ortega Highway and the opossum with her babies making her way along the backyard fence.  And these memories send a thrilling pulse of joy through me.

I remember the ocean waves crashing and spraying over the Huntington Beach Pier and the feel of the rain soaking my hair and clothes as my best friend and I went puddle jumping there.  And I knew a presence and a magic and a power that I can't explain.

I also recall my terror when I heard the soft rattle of a snake near me on a path.  I think that is the one time I have truly known the meaning of fear.  I got a healthy dose of respect for nature and all the creatures that live here that day.

I do love the primal beauty and forces of nature and all her creatures, but the reason I feel so strongly about protecting animals and their habitats isn't so it will be there for me to see or even my children or grandchildren.  I have a deep conviction that these creatures and places have a right unto themselves to exist and thrive.  I may never set foot in another forest or travel through Africa or across the deserts of California, but I am not the issue nor is that important.  Whether I ever see them or not, they are a part of me because they are a part of this world.  They do not live for my pleasure or the pleasure of any other thing.  Each creature has the right to live out the life it was born to live in the place it was meant to live.  When everything is in balance, I may sit in my house and in my room and yet be a part of it all.  I am whole because my world is whole and complete.

I sit before my computer screen while the mountain lion gracefully moves across the rocks in his home and we are one, one in the weave of the web, one in the subtle song that creates the harmony of our world, living and existing together on the bosom of our mother, the earth and in this I know joy, peace, and love.