SeaTrek – Fueling the Passion

I have written many stories about fueling your child’s passion. Offering many opportunities for your kids to explore what it is they really love. For our son, it was photography & cars. Next month, his photographs will appear in an international car magazine!

For our daughter, it’s music, writing, animals & marine life. If you scroll through my archive, you’ll see many stories about her special beluga, swimming with dolphins in Jamaica, Florida & in Bermuda training 9 dolphins for a full day – gating, feeding, measuring, exercising & frolicking with these sociable, small-toothed whales, click: Favorite Day.

So when in England we heard about SeaTrek – known as Europe’s 1st Sea Bed Walk at Sea Life – we made sure to book it! The staff said they’ve never had a more enthusiastic participant!  We’ll let the photos & 8-second video speak for themselves. 

   

Our 11-year-old loved the sting rays, sea turtle, gorgeous fish, urchins, simply everything!

   
When I say we have a budding marine biologist in our midst, I think one might agree.

  

 The Bright Spot – Oh, just everything about this story. Empower your kids. Fuel their passion. If you are in England, enjoy SeaTrek by clicking Sea Life to get more information: Sea Life.

Winning Streak at Belmont Stakes

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Having always been a big animal lover, my favorite childhood activity was horseback riding. Now years later, one of my favorite date nights was when my husband surprised me with horseback riding at sunset.

I love them big. I love them small. And I love them fast.

I dream one day of owning a sanctuary for rescued horses & ponies.

 

Summers in England attending Newmarket & Royal Ascot were a favorite pastime. Being picked up in a Rolls Royce with a personal chauffeur (his name happened to be Arthur),    enjoying strawberries & cream, endive-wrapped smoked goat cheese and escargot in a private box within the Royal Enclosure & my own personal winning streaks at Ascot in years gone by are fond memories.   

I took our little one to the Belmont Stakes a few summers ago. The only differences were that the courses I attended in England were grass, and the track at Belmont is the largest thoroughbred dirt racecourse in the world, plus, we did not go via Rolls, but instead in our Mom supermobile minivan, chauffeured by yours truly 🙂 . 

 

 

 

It rained that day but it didn’t dampen our spirit. Our daughter watched with awe as the horses thundered past.

 

 

 

 

 

And guess who called the winning horse, race after race?

                                                                                     Yup, our little one. It became quite the topic of conversation as folks heard about the streak of winners.

What surprised everyone was how the horses were chosen ~ she picked her favorite color of the saddle pad in the current race lineup. As the horses pranced by, she would say, “That’s the prettiest blanket, Mommy, that’s the one I think will win.”

And sure enough, as luck would have it, horse after horse with the pretty-colored blanket would cross the finish line.

The Bright SpotTM  – I would have had a bit of fun placing a bet but I never had the chance to since each choice was made just as the race was about to start…but the best part of the day was sharing Mommy/Daughter time and visiting the jockeys and horses after the races.

  Today – after 37 years! – the Triple Crown trophy was won by American Pharoah

– the thoroughbred racehorse who is only the 12th horse in 147 years to earn the title of Triple Crown Champion! Phenomenal!

 Our Little One is older now and loves horses so much. Watching this event will surely last with her for a lifetime.

 

Our Moussebaby

 

If you knew Moussie, you knew he was one of the most loved dogs in the history of forever.

 

 

 

Saved from a brutal past and surviving on 2 1/2 working legs, we cherished every day together from the time I was 29 until 42.

Moussie was on air with me at the television stations,

he walked me down the aisle at my wedding, he soothed my aching heart when I lost my beloved father, he and our newborn came to work with me every day when we opened our own company, and Moussie adored our son and protected our daughter every single day.

 

   

I spent the years ceaselessly protecting & caring for his broken leg & mangled paw, carried him over any asphalt or concrete, lifted him up staircases and into my car…

      

…met with prosthetic doctors in Texas, surgeons in Connecticut, boot fitters in New York, and pet massage specialists in Illinois in any effort to help ease the strain & pain on his permanently broken leg.    (Dr. Randie Shane with Moussie)

   

When an emergency procedure led to an overnight stay in the hospital – Moussie’s 1st night away from me in an unfamiliar place – I immediately ripped off my shirt in the car and had my husband bring it to the ER vet so Moussie could feel comforted with my scent all night long.

 

My husband & son administered an IV in his neck for weeks following.

 

There is nothing we would not do for our animals. They are family. We are a tight family.

We used to jest with friends that if Moussie, Phillip and I were in a canoe and it was sinking and one of us had to get out, Phillip swims. 🙂 (Unbelievably, one person didn’t get it…she said, “Oh, you have a canoe?”  *sigh*)

 

People have often quipped if they return from Heaven, they’d like to come back as one of our pets!           Here’s a few reasons why:

          

   

  

  

  

  

  

   

 

 

     

  

  

   

  

  

Moussie worked the morning shows with me. My neighbor, Kristi, babysat him till I was done with the noon news. She always had it on the TV so he could hear & see me. He had many wonderful sitters: Stephenie, Adrienne, Mark, Dottie, Kep, John and Shanie, just to name a few.

Reminiscent of Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley, we, too, crisscrossed the United States, enjoying adventures on the free roads, visiting many states and friends along the way.

Birthday dinners of filet mignon, cuddles under the covers, drive-in trips to Sonic, and his fun job at the TV stations listing the school lunch menus on the morning show and assisting with the weather, and even the contest “Where’s Moussie?” for viewers spotting him around town. Moussie was loved and cherished every minute of his life in our family.

Raised by grandmothers & mothers who were healers and lovers of animals, it was natural for Phillip and I to instill deep compassion, respect and love of all animals. All children should be taught kindness toward every creature, big & small.

     

  

       

       

    

          

     

No words were better spoken than those of Don Vincenzo Giobbe, circa 1700: “…and I whispered to the horse: trust no man in whose eye you don’t see yourself reflected as an equal.”

Such is our belief for all animals…so it is no wonder our 8-year-old daughter published her 1st book, The Healing, How Little Kids Can Help Even the Tiniest Critters, and she has been busy with author’s visits/book signings and will sit on a panel of doctors & healers in a few weeks to discuss her book from a child’s perspective. (Author’s Visit with 77 children/10 adults)

 

 

 

 

 

Teaching children to use gentle voices and soft hands is so important.

          

Teaching kindness, compassion, respect and tenderness is the premise for my children’s book,        Moussie Tales, due out when I finally find the perfect illustrator who can actually capture Moussie’s eyes, an ongoing search, indeed.

The understanding and care you show your children yields understanding and care to those in the world around them.

Over the years, Moussie thrived along with all of our family’s animals and life was great.

          

           

       

  

We spent many beautiful years with Moussie, and when he passed away, a huge part of my heart went with him. (Getting the worst news ever from the vet on my 42nd birthday)

Saying our good-byes.

  

Days of yesteryear…

The final goodbye 🙁

Shattered and lying in bed, I wrote Moussie a letter that raw and painful day he crossed over Rainbow Bridge waiting till I would once again embrace him in my arms. I didn’t know my husband found the letter on my laptop and built an entire website dedicated to Moussie around it! Www.MoussieTales.com People wrote the loveliest comments on his Remembrance Page, thank you all!

The Bright SpotTM - Our darling Moussebaby brought us years & years of joy. For that, we are forever grateful. When our neighbor brought us The Rainbow Bridge poem, it was the only thing that eventually comforted me. Picturing Moussie running freely without pain, the wind flapping about his beautiful soft ears, eased my pain. Until I hug you again, rest my sweet, precious Moussie. I love you!!

Blind Kitty ~ Humanity at its Finest!

We have rescued many animals (you can see more on the Moussie Tales side bar on the left-hand column of this site) & our family was so touched by this video.

God bless the folks who adopted this blind little kitten. Watch this tender video as Oskar discovers his very 1st toy:

Soft Hands, Warm Heart, Now that is Strength!

Teach your children to be kind to animals, to use gentle hands and soft voices. A respect of nature and the world we live in will always serve them well. 

Meet our newest furry baby from the shelter. Her name is Purr.

The examples we set as adults have profound effects on our children. The way they treat each other and other living beings they learn from you.

It’s easy to be tough, cool and sometimes even mean, but to be big & strong and still kind and loving, now that’s a real gift! A treasure for a lifetime for all who receive that love.

The Bright Spot – I am proud of my children, my husband and my parents. Thank you, Mom & Dad, for giving me the gift of Soft Hands, Warm Heart. You were the greatest teachers and I love you!!

Do You Need Fur That Badly??

If you’ve read my Press Release, you know my husband and I fervently hope for the end of the brutal seal hunt in Canada and have worked with the Senior Vice President of the Humane Society of the United States Wildlife to stop the largest massacre of marine mammals on the planet – slated to begin this early April on the baby seals’ birthing floes. 

According to this Senior VP, “the Canadian government is now allowing 468,200 seals to be killed – an increase of 80,000 from 2010. This is the HIGHEST SLAUGHTER since the 50s and 60s when the sealers nearly decimated the seal population by as much as two-thirds!!”  468,200 seals will be slaughtered in a 6-week period – you do the math, that’s a lot of hooked-club bludgeoning in an 8-hour day!!

There’s ONE thing that you can do to help STOP this, read below.

Fact: 95% of the seals beaten to death are less than 3 months old.

Fact: Over 50% are 12 – 30 days old! Most have not even eaten their 1st solid meal. They are nursing on their mother’s milk on their birthing grounds.

Fact: Most cannot swim yet as they are so young. Even the bigger seals cannot defend themselves – they cannot run away! Come on – they don’t even have legs, this is NOT a hunt but a vicious, savage massacre! 

Fact: Observing vetrinarians say as many as 42% of the seals are skinned alive. Video shows the mothers cry!

I mean, really, do you need fur so badly that you are willing to wear the remains of a baby seal beaten to death by a hooked club? Seal products are banned in the US, thank God, but it needs to stop worldwide and YOU CAN HELP BY MAKING ONE SIMPLE CHANGE – DON’T BUY CANADIAN SEAFOOD – JUST LOOK AT SEAFOOD LABELS IN YOUR STORES OR ASK WHERE SEAFOOD WAS PURCHASED WHEN YOU’RE IN RESTAURANTS, OR JUST GO TO THE HSUS SITE BELOW FOR DETAILS.

If you have the guts for it, read my article in XD Magazine, but be warned the photos are graphic. Click on the red words below here that say “end the seal hunt” to read my article, and to see how YOUR ONE simple change can have a huge impact:

Article:  End the Seal Hunt

Or click on the seal photo below to learn more about the boycott to not buy Canadian seafood until this henious brutality stops.

 

 

The Bright Spot  – YES, THERE IS ONE AND AGAIN, IT’S YOU!!  650,000 individuals and 5,500 companies are participating in the HSUS ProtectSeals Boycott of Canadian Seafood. THANK YOU if you are one of the 650,000 people and THANK YOU if you go to the seal link above and join the effort.

Harmony and Magic

Do you remember the love the young boy and the 7,000 pound Orca in “Free Willy” had for one another. I love to see such a connection between people and animals.

I have witnessed the most remarkable relationship between our 5-year-old daughter and a young Beluga whale ~ the two just make my heart swell.

 

Sometimes there’s a crowd, sometimes we’re just there on our own,

but the two of them take no notice of anyone but each other.

He will look directly and intently at her, swim to her and play

with only her no matter how many people are around.

He brings her his toys – balls and floaties,

and she will stay and play for ages, cooing and singing and encouraging the activities…

even in the rain!

They have a unique and beautiful friendship.

The young beluga will swim up to her and sing his whale song…

and await her return.

And we will make the long journey back and forth because this connection, this love, this tie to nature is an incredible gift.

Our little one has begged to swim with her beloved Beluga. The rule is that children must be 6 years of age. Guess where we’re going in a few months! 🙂

The Bright Spot  – may we all be so blessed to be that in tune with the world around us.