In Search of the Imperial Woodpecker

Once again Martian went of on his travels this time to Mexico to try and find the worlds largest Woodpecker.

He asked me this time to do a single drawing showing all the black/white and red woodpeckers that occur in Mexico as the leaflets used in Cuba did not work for various reasons, so he wanted to try something different this time. In Cuba the leaflets were given out for people to report any sightings as it turned out they reported any woodpecker.

With the single drawing Martian could ask questions directly of those who claimed to have seen the Imperial Woodpecker, he could then determine if there was any substance to their claims.

Sadly (or not) he did not find it.

In Search of the Cuban Ivory-billed Woodpecker

Some years ago I was asked by my dutch friend Martian Lemmertick to do a drawing of this one of the biggest woodpeckers in the world.

He was off to Cuba to search for this bird which sadly he did not find, as far as I understand the last person to see it some years earlier was Dr Lester Shorts wife, (Dr Short who wrote the monograph on Woodpeckers of the World, did not see it himself).

Who knows maybe one day it will turn up again... Is that a good thing or a bad thing, sometimes it is best we do not find such rare birds etc as we tend to ruin things even with the best will in the world.

A good friend of mine (Richard) told me that he saw this picture on the front of a menu card in Woody's Restaurant in Corfu... nice compliment but I think Woody's owes me a couple of meals as he did not ask me if it was ok to use my picture.

A Fire for You

On this, the shortest day of the year,
I have journeyed to the Great Plains
to build a fire for you.

The night air is cold like a cellar
cut from ancient stones.

But I found some wood among the deserted plains
buried under the grasses and dirt, hidden away like

leaves that had become the soil.

After I cleaned the wood by hand its dirt beneath
my nails and the fabric of my cloth I sent a flame combusted

by the mere thought of you and the wood became fire.

There were hermit stars that gathered
overhead to keep me company.
Your spirit was there as well
amidst the fire's flames.

We laughed at the deep meaning of the sky
and its spacious ways.

Marvelling at the flat mirror of the plain
that sends so little skyward,
like the hearts of children denied
a certain kind of love.

You played with spirits
when you were young among these fields.
You didn't know their names then.

I was one.
Even without a name, or body,
I watched your gaze, unrelenting to the things
that beat between the
two mirrors of the sky and plain.

I believe it was here also
that you learned to speak with God.
Not in so many words as you're now accustomed,
but I'm certain that God listened to your life
and gathered around your fire
for warmth and meaning.

In the deserted plains he found you set apart
from all things missing.

Dear spirit, I have held this vigil for so long,
tending fires whose purpose I have forgotten.
I think warmth was one.

Perhaps light was another.
Perhaps hope was the strongest of these.

If ever I find you around my fire,
built by hands that know your final skin,
between the sheets of the sky and plain,
I will remember its purpose.

In barren fields
that have long been deserted by the hand of man
I will remember.

In the deepest eye of you
I will remember.

In the longest night of you
I will remember.

On this, the shortest day of the year,
I have journeyed to the Great Plains
to build a fire for you.

By Wingmakers

Once again an extract from Simon Crisp’s:

International Models of Best Practice in Wilderness and Adventure Therapy on key terms used within the world on Nature-based Therapy.

Wilderness-adventure Therapy

‘Wilderness-adventure therapy’ can be thought of as distinct from, but related to the previous two types. Here wilderness activities may be done in a short session format, or where a natural (but not necessarily isolated) environment is used for an adventure therapy type of activity. Examples include: rock-climbing or abseiling on natural rock or a caving activity conducted in a real cave, over several hours or within a day. The activity does not extend over night (so there is minimal emphasis on community living), but the activities utilize qualities of the natural environment. For research purposes ‘Wilderness-adventure therapy’ in particular should be differentiated from ‘wilderness therapy’ and from ‘adventure therapy’.

Therapeutic Wilderness Camping

Therapeutic wilderness camping involves long-term residential camping in primitive accommodation in an isolated area (see Gass, 1993, p10). Typically, the isolated setting underscores a model of community living. Emphasis is placed on the development of pro-social relationships through a structured program of behaviourally moderated privileges. It can be distinguished from ‘base camp wilderness therapy’ through its extended time-frame format (usually a minimum of 12-15 months full-time). Additionally, a focus is given to the comfort that comes from individual effort in shaping the environment through hut building, furniture making, etc. The setting also often involves a developed site with permanent fixtures and ancillary buildings and facilities.

Simon Crisp 1996 pages 10 – 11.

Were does Natural Awareness I guess it falls between these categories? Primarily it falls under Wilderness-adventure Therapy unless of course I take people to a remote location in which case it comes under Therapeutic Wilderness Camping.