The Dog Park

I love taking the dogs to Hansen Haven, I call it dog haven. Dog haven is an off the leash dog park that is at the mouth of Parleys Canyon. It is a very nice dog park that allows the dogs to run and play, and to go for a swim in the river. I love to bring Tag there especially because it is like being in the mountains and it gives him a lot of space to just flat out be a dog. Dog haven is very large, it spans for over a mile and there is an upper and a lower hiking trail.  The lower trail runs next to the stream where the dogs can get water and go for a swim. The upper trail is more in the sun and will actually meet up with the famous Bonneville  shoreline trail that runs along the east bench of the Wasatch front mountains. I encourage all who would like to take there BFF dog companions to a real off the leash dog park, not like these wannabe places that are fenced in, are the size of a back yard and have over 20 dogs stepping in there own feces. 

      

     Here are a few pictures and a video that I took of our dogs Tag and Rick at Dog Haven.

An injured Red Tailed Hawk

This is a Red Tailed Hawk that I found at a rest area near NV. I saw her sitting on a grill and I started filming and walking towards her hoping to get closer, I didn't realize I would be able to get as close as I did. I knew she had been injured or was sick because she didn't fly away when I or Tag got within touching and sniffing distance. Luckily, I had a blanket for Tag in my truck so I used that to catch her and take her home to find a wildlife rehab center to take her to. My wife and I took her to the Ogden Nature Center to recover. When we first took her the lady told us that it was the worst case she's seen with a hawk being so underweight. She has recovered and has been at the Center for almost 3 months!

Going to Australia

Cairns, Australia is where Holly and I will be moving this coming January. Yes, we are moving there, and for a long time, in fact for over four years. I am going to start my schooling at JCU (James Cook University). I will be studying for a double major in Tropical Rain forest Ecology and Environmental Engineering.
You are probably asking why would I want to go 9,000 miles to a foreign country when I can almost do the same degree here in the states, well that is just it, I cannot get that same degree in the states. The reason why I chose JCU in Australia is because they have the best research facility for biology. The school is smack dead in the middle of a rain forest and also right next to The Great Barrier Reef, I am able to have the best of both worlds. The rain forest is listed as a World Heritage park, the Daintree, which is known as the oldest rain forest and is the most biodiverse (I love that word) in the world. The Great Barrier Reef is also listed as a World Heritage park, it is the largest living organism in the world and is the most biodiverse then any body of water in the world.

So now you have my reason why we are going to Cairns (pronounced like a tin can except with an s). I will now tell you about why I love wildlife and ecology so much. I have loved animals and nature ever since I could remember thanks to my wonderful mother. She would always point out animals, like a red robin eating a worm, a beautiful butterfly on a daisy and even the small little animals that most people don't even pay attention to, like a spider spinning its web or some ants gathering food. I was so amazed that there was another world, or so to say dimension, that I would spend days trying to learn more about this wonderful world we live in. I have dedicated my life's work in educating myself and others about wildlife and the environment around them so that they to can have a better understanding about the world they live in. I feel this is my calling in life and that I need to do all that I can to get the education that I need to pursue this goal. This is why my wife and I are moving to Australia.

Now you have it, and now I would like to post some pictures of Cairns and the Daintree rain forest and the unique plants and animals that surround this wonderful land and ocean.

PS. Thank you for taking the time to read and to understand the great love that I have for this wonderful world we live in. Keep smiling.

Cairns at night

Part of the Great Barrier Reef

A Cassowary

The JCU campus

Part of the Daintree Rain Forest

A Rainbow Lorakeet

Cape Tribulation (the only place on the earth where a rain forest meets the ocean)

Palm Cove, north of Cairns

A Cockatoo they fly wild, as common as Utah Seagulls

Pearl Jam.

The Greatest singer/songwriter in the world

Yes Eddie Vedder from the band Pearl Jam. Eddie is such an inspiration to me from the songs he writes and how he sings with such strong emotion and heart. The messages that are in his songs are in a wide range, from a lost love (Black) (Come Back) to the song (Alive). I will say that I do not agree with all of Eddie's music or the politics that he may believe in, but at the same time you have to be your own person and stick to your convictions. (I am mine). And who can not say that Eddie is not awesome, and has such a great voice and style that you can only love him. I want to tell every one to go out and buy their first album titled Ten, and then buy their newest one titled Pearl Jam, and i promise you, you will not be disappointed. You will only be in love....

Thoughts and words

I am a person who loves to share.  I am a man who feels the worth of a person, to look into someone's eyes catching a glimpse of a story that has not been told, to hold the hands of a stranger is to touch a life.  To hear the words of  the winds whispers, to take hold of a dream and not let go, to be a friend, a neighbor, to listen with my heart. I am a person of change to see the good in everyone. For when you walk with nature you walk with the Creator.