Thanksgiving in Alma NB

Family & Friends sit down for Thanksgiving dinner

What a blessing it is to have family to visit in rustic regions like Alma New Brunswick! My son Trevor and I spent the last few days with my sister Karen Casey and her extended family at their hotel on the Fundy Coast. It was a truly delightful time of good hiking, fine foods and great company!

The coastline around Alma NB

Fall colours were everywhere you turned

My fellow nature explorers: Trevor with his cousin Alexandra

We went on a photo safari to nearby Hopewell Rocks

This river near Cape Enrage was flowing upstream as the tide came in!

Dickson Falls in Fundy National Park

Turkey vultures hanging out at a local cemetery

Turkey Vultures close up

Fishing boats by the Salmon River in Alma NB

Colonoscopy

I had a colonoscopy this week and asked Dr. Arya (an excellent physician) not to sedate me. I wanted see what he saw on the large monitor as he explored my large colon looking for and removing polyps (small wart-like growths).

It was truly fascinating! I saw and learned a lot. The colon's tissue is very similar to the inside of your cheek. Blood vessels run very close to the surface and there are many muscular ridges visible. Dr. Arya pointed out the opening to the appendix and another from the small intestine. He took his time to look for polyps and removed six small ones.

If you haven't had a a colonoscopy recently, ask your doctor if you're due for an inspection. And if you're not the nervous type, I highly recommend taking the journey through your "inner passage" while awake. 

Fort Ross Reunion

I am part of a family that traces it roots back six generations to a pioneering couple  - Wilhelm & Josephine Benitz - who settled at Fort Ross on California's Sonoma coast in the 1840s. This was a time when San Francisco had a population of only 200 people. Today their homestead is the oldest standing wooden building  - indeed, one of the oldest family homes - in western North America!

Fort Ross, the most southern Russian settlement in America

exploring the fort's warehouse

In July we gathered again at Fort Ross, formerly a Russian settlement and now a California State Park, for four days of family celebration.

Cousins from all over the world came to honour the ancestors, explore the old fort, and party hearty!

Conga-on, Family!

the Russian bell

preparing the canon for firing

We fired the fort's cannon.

We rang the old Russian bell.

We worked as volunteers cleaning the buildings and building a new fence.

We hiked, canoed, toured wineries and finally said long good-byes until our next reunion in five years time.

pulling nails out of old boards

yes, we do windows!

the clean up crew ready for work

sharing Yerba Mate

One of the most memorable moments was meeting the descendants of the Kashia-Pomo tribe who lived and worked here along side our family and for whom this land is sacred.

Seated together we exchanged gifts; acknowledged the good things that happened between us; forgave each other for the wrongs committed; and reconciled our differences in hopes of working together again for the betterment of all.

The ceremony ended with the passing of Yerba Mate, a herbal drink from South America.

Angela & James present a painting of the land before immigration to Rino and Martina (painting by Angela Prior)

California poppies grow around the fort

Fort Ross as seen from the Russian cemetary

the old Russian chapel within the walls of the fort

visiting the last apple tree in the old family orchard

So if you're ever travelling up the Sonoma coast along Highway 1, do stop in at Fort Ross and have a look around. You won't be disappointed. Tell them Simon sent you!

Coast Redwoods

To walk among these ancient trees and camp beside their enormous trunks was an awe-inspiring experience. Together with my son Daniel, his girlfriend Chelsey, and her father Karl, I spent three days last week among the redwoods of northern California, the tallest trees in the world.

photo by Chelsey Burke

Wrapping my arms round a 50 foot tree trunk was a small step first to learning about these forest giants:

• they can live for more than 2,200 years
• they appeared on Earth over 240 million years ago
• they once covered much of the northern hemisphere
• today they grow only along the coast from Southern Oregon to Big Sur 
• their roots may only be 12 feet deep but their tops reach over 360 feet
• Redwoods capture more CO2 than any other tree

Read more about Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) here.

treetops reach into the clouds to gather moisture

Monkeyflower grows in a sunny spot

a male dark-eyed junco on the forest floor

ferns grow all year round in the redwood forest

Daniel perched in an upturned root

a giant in Humbolt-Redwood State Park

poison oak: leaves of three, let it be

Turning 65

Trevor, Chelsea, Daniel, Simon, Gail, Heather and Megan

I don't know why 65 is a milestone year, the way 40 and 50 were. Perhaps it's the "officially a senior citizen" thing. Never-the-less, I decided to make a party out of it, as big and as fun as possible. So we rented a bar downtown, decorated it, and filled it with 90+ people: friends and family that I know and love.

It was a blast! Free drinks and Mexican food flowed all evening. The DJ played dance hits from 60s to the present. Gail read some thoughtful messages from friends who couldn't be there. Then I came out as "a really old me", with a long beard and cane, to tell a few ageist jokes ("my back goes out more than I do") and introduce the rap video that I had made for my 40th birthday party, 25 years ago. People weren't sure it was me on the screen!

A huge birthday cake followed, loaded with candles blazing away. I had a wonderful time. And the pictures below will forever remind me what a fun evening it was!

a Bueno Brothers selfie: Ross, Simon, Lawrence and Paul

with Gail, Michele and Nicolas

with Larry & Eric: co-workers at AV House in the early 80s

with the lovely Megan Barker

Vicky, Tom, Melodie and Gary: Focus on Nature friends

Coral Crisis

A green sea turtle glides over fire coral

 The beautiful island of Barbados is surrounded by coral reefs. In fact the whole island is composed of ancient coral stone. But there is a problem: the reefs are but a shadow of their former selves.

Knobby sea rods sway in the ocean swells

Pollution, agricultural run-off, warming water, acidification, over-fishing and coral collecting have all taken their toll over the years. Concerned citizens are taking action to restore the reefs and there is now one marine reserve established in Barbados. But there is still much to be done here and around the world.

A massive brain coral

Did you know that coral reefs are the most complex ecosystems on Earth? Amazingly, 32 of the world's 39 animal phyla are found on reefs, compared with only 9 phyla found in tropical rainforests.*

*Barbados: a Coral Paradise, p. 31

A garden of flower corals

So let's all do our part to raise awareness of the plight of coral reefs and work to preserve them for future generations to enjoy.

A large sea fan anchored firmly to the coral rock

Plate corals can grow huge if they have a chance

Daytime feeding  pillar coral

The Green Flash

The Green Flash: I caught this elusive natural phenomenon on video this week as the sun set over the Caribbean Sea. I slowed down the ending so you won't miss it.

‪Pseudosphinx tetrio‬

I found a beautiful caterpillar crawling up a tree, here in Barbados.
Naturally, I took a few photos and then looked him up on the internet.

It's never a good idea to pick up caterpillars that you aren't familiar with.  In this case, it was a good precaution as he has a nasty bite.

Pseudosphinx tetrio‬ is a common Caribbean moth whose host plant is frangipani which produces the flowers we call plumeria.

Like monarch caterpillars on milkweed, it converts the sap of the frangipani to a chemical which make him very unpalatable to eat. Hence the bright colours of the caterpillar: birds beware!

A couple of nights later, a large, dark sphinx moth flew into the kitchen, drawn by the lights.

It was indeed the Pseudosphinx tetrio‬, commonly known around here as the frangipani hawk moth.

Black Witch Moth

A Black Witch Moth, (Ascaphala odorata) flew into the house last night.  In Mexico and Costa Rica they are called Mariposa de la Muerte and are considered bearers of bad omens.


These moths, members of the family Noctuida, are very large but not very beautiful, until you look more closely. The intricate patterns are quite striking when seen through a macro lens. It makes me wonder about the whys and the hows of evolution.

Amazonian Giant Centipede

Lying in bed, half-asleep, just before dawn, I felt something on my arm. It was like a silk ribbon being pulled across my skin. I glanced over at Gail who was still asleep. It suddenly occurred to me that there was something moving in our bed!

Dead centipede with a Bajan quarter for scale

Scolopendra gigantea, or the Amazonian giant centipede, can get up to a foot long, though this one was about 4 inches. They hunt other arthropods, even frogs, lizards and small birds. They bite their prey with their fangs and inject a venom. A fascinating creature, and fortunately not deadly to humans.

But I wasn't taking any chances. I switched on the light, shook the sheets, and saw him scurrying across the floor. I generally avoid killing things but made an exception here. One quick blow from my iPhone and it was over.