My friend Darcie mentioned to me that a doctor had recommended that she get a daily dose of nature. He defined that in three ways, 1) putting her feet on the ground--on the dirt, grass or sand, 2) walking under trees, 3) putting her head under water. My life is very sanitized from nature--I wear shoes when I walk outside, and I sit in my metal box on wheels to get around. These three actions are ways for me to have a tactile connection with nature each day. I thought it sounded glorious. Living in Hawaii, I knew that doing one of these each day was a way to better appreciate that I live in one of the most beautiful places on this planet. Furthermore, after attending the IUCN, a repeated concept was that the best way for us to conserve nature is to be out in nature, which means I could be better at my job by taking the time to do this. So for the next 30-days I will put my toes in the sand (while grass and dirt are cool, I want to get to the beach), walk under the trees, and put my head underwater. Here is a fun video that supports this challenge. (I heard the creator/director of this video speak at the IUCN.)
Here's a video of me singing the Star Spangled Banner:
Here's the back story:
Yesterday (Tuesday, January 13), my friend Stephanie sent me a text message request to sing the National Anthem at an Army Promotion Ceremony the following day, AKA today. Apparently, the soloist originally tasked with the job dropped out last minute and through a string of people saying no and recommending other people, it came to me, and having just made a New Year's Resolution to sing in public (not at karaoke), I said yes.
Most people I told about this asked me why I agreed to do it. Here are the two main reasons I came up with. First, the reasons not to seemed like weak excuses that would continue to get in my way if I let them: "I'm not sure if I can sing that song," "I've never done anything like this before," "why me?" Second, this performance mattered. Major Trang Malone was being promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and according to her, this could likely be the last promotion of her career. This was an important part of an important ceremony, and she was clearly in need for someone to do it (if I was being asked).
To add to the pressure... Both of my parents are known to tear up when they hear the National Anthem. Their love and deep respect for this county and its symbols have been ingrained into both me and my brother throughout our lives. I did not take this request or task lightly and knew I wanted to perform in a way that honored my country, Major Malone, and those I love who have and continue to serve.
After I said yes, there were definitely a few hours of nerves and panic that I feared I had made a horrible mistake in agreeing to do this. I thought of ways I might be able to get out of it, and how I would break it to the Major that I just wasn't cut out for this.
I practiced over and over in my house trying to muffle the sounds from my neighbors by singing into the closet full of clothes or by wrapping a blanket around my face (seriously, I did that). Some of the dry-runs made me feel better, some worse. My friends Stephanie and Brian came over, and they helped me find the right note to start on (and download an app so I could play that note right before singing a capella) and to realize that the high notes aren't TOO high. A calm came over me as I accepted that I was going to do it, and I was going to do it well.
While it was hard to fall asleep, I had a new-found resolve that was still with me when I woke up in the morning. The ceremony started at 3PM, and I arrived at 2PM in time for the rehearsal where I did a dry run that I was happy with. Coincidentally, the ceremony was held at Camp Smith where Austin now works. Austin's superiors fortunately have a "family first" policy and let him attend (yes, I informed Trang I would have a plus one.)
I'm happy with my performance. (I think/hope it sounded better live.) Watching it again, I see how I could improve on it, but I received many compliments, most importantly, from the honoree. Though, I think the best compliment came from Austin who said that not only did my singing make him feel proud of me, it made him feel proud of his country.
So now that I've crossed that resolution off my list, I can just put my feet up until 2016! ;-)
We spent two nights in Christchurch then drove further down the east coast to Dunedin (pronounced "duh-nee-din") where we also spent two nights. Driving through New Zealand is like what I imagine the Midwest to be in that it seems every bit of land is fenced off and being farmed, but instead of flat and boring, its green and rolling and instead of wheat and corn it's cows and sheep. In fact, I've eaten both since being here. Seeing the wide open, grassy farms I'm confident that the animals on the plates here have been treated humanely. Even from the MacDonald's... Yup, I had a cheeseburger from McD's. Can't remember the last time I had that. The dairy here is also fresh and cheap, so we've been snacking on bread and brie during our road trips--like mother, like daughter.
Yesterday from Dunedin we drove to the Otaga Peninsula to see penguins. We saw sea lions blubber onto the beach and roll around in the sand just meters in front of us. From a hide, we were able to see an endangered yellow-eyed penguin crawl out of its home/hole in the cliff for some air. At one lookout on our trip we saw a blue penguin, which is the smallest of all 18 penguin species, darting around in the water. It was hard to follow since it didn't stay up long, would shoot down and disappear into the depths, and then pop back up in random places. But it was so cool to see.
Later on in the day we decided to take a tour, which seemed a little pricey but ended up being totally worth it. First of all, it was just the two of us and the guide on an ATV, so it felt like a personal tour. He took us to a fur seal nursery that cannot be accessed by the public. It was one of the cutest places I've ever been. There were seal pups all around us. One came flopping down the road right in front of us to slide into the pond nearby. Then we went into a hide that brought us so close to the seals, we could've touched them. It was amazing. We could've spent all day there. But we eventually pulled ourselves away to go to Penguin Beach, also off limits to the public and is one of the few places in the world where yellow-eyed penguins nest. There was a bunch standing on the beach and some resting near their nests. Too far for photos, but close enough for binoculars to give us a good view of their colors.
Today we're on our way to Queenstown, which is considered the adventure capital of the world. Perhaps some bungee jumping?
