Mediterranean

I was caught up in a wonderful graduation day yesterday (Friday) for the daughter of dear friends. She received combined MBA/Law degrees plus an award for top marks in both. It was indeed a day to celebrate! Beginning with a beautiful ceremony at Convocation Hall, in the magnificent grounds of the University of Toronto, we lunched while awards were presented, then rushed home to shower, change and drive back downtown to the terrace of The Fifth for dinner and party-time!

In fact I was having such a great time celebrating, I forgot to move this post out of draft by hitting “Publish”. So here we are … a day late. But, never mind, let’s celebrate World Oceans Day every day and do our part as best we can.

If it’s Friday, it must be France …

The Mediterranean is a sea. A beautiful, historical body of water that has a unique magical aura. In fact, connected to the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltor, the Med (as it is affectionately known) is defined as a sea because it is mainly surrounded by land.

June 8th is World Oceans Day so please click this link take a minute to visit their website. I should have been talking about this weeks ago but, to be honest, in my state of *finish the MS total self-absorption*, I wasn’t aware of it.

In fact, it was my friend Tele Aadsen’s blog that gave me the reminder. As well as a writer, she fishes commercially in Alaska and no one in my world  is in a better  position to speak on this topic than Tele. She also has a video in this post that she shot as five whales accompanied them on one of their outings. If you haven’t already visited her blog, do it now. You’ll be very glad you did.

Tele also introduces us to Roz Savage whose memoir, Rowing The Atlantic, describes her 500 days at sea in a 23-foot rowboat. CAN YOU IMAGINE? I am always fascinated by individuals who take up such challenges and can’t wait to read about it.

Fellow writer/blogger Nancy J. Nicholson and her husband live on their sailboat and are cruising the Caribbean at the moment. Needless to say, they have a strong commitment to doing all they can to support the ongoing work of preserving our oceans. You can find her here.

In Toronto, we live on Lake Ontario and last weekend saw the annual lakeside clean-up by everyone who cares to give a day and help take care of the lake shore. An annual event, the turnout is always impressive – rain or shine!

Last summer we lived in Antibes on the shore of the Mediterranean for almost five months. Living with that awesome view of the Med and the hills and mountains beyond was a very special experience, we’ll never forget.

We never tired of the view or of spending as much time as we possibly could hiking the coastal trails, enjoying the catch of the day, or doing beach-time. Here are a few of my favourite Med shots.

Okay, okay … I’ll stop. I had a great time sorting through my photos for those and could go on and on …

How far do you live from the sea or an ocean or any body of water? Let’s make a commitment to do all we can to conserve and protect our rivers, lakes and oceans today and every day.