Encourage your friends, discourage your enemies. In memory of Randy Pausch.

That is the martial way – to hold your head higher as conditions worsen, so that one’s enemies see that you cannot be vanquished and your friends’ flagging spirits can be lifted by your energy. After seven years of karate training, this concept is still primarily an intellectual one for me, one that I try to apply during class when the weather is oppressively hot and the workout is challenging. The workout is only an hour and a half, or on special occasions, several hours long. Any average warrior can hold out for that amount of time. In real life, the challenge is obviously much, much greater; to keep one’s head high no matter what is happening to you. For most of us, our “enemies” are not people, they are obstacles of all kinds that slow our progress through life.

No one exemplified this warrior spirit better than Randy Pausch, who died this morning after a nearly 2-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He fought this battle publicly as he chose to continue to give generously of himself. His spirit was so big and so exuberant that I actually had hope that he would beat the odds – even as I checked his web page weekly and saw the measure of tumor markers climbing steadily higher. Even when referring to those numbers, Randy continued to offer words of hope and encouragement. He continued to fight so he could have as much time as possible with his wife and children and a life that he loved dearly – a life in which he achieved his dreams. His message of hope is one that we all desperately need in order to overcome the obstacles we encounter (or create) in our personal and professional lives. He said:

"The brick walls are not there to keep us out, the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're there to stop the OTHER people."

Remember the martial spirit of Randy Pausch when you face that next brick wall, and try to rise to the challenge to use your own spirit to encourage those around you and banish your enemies, whoever or whatever they might be. I can think of no better tribute to this great man.

Landmark Conservation Legislation in Canada

Canada has set an extraordinary example to the world. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty recently set aside 55 million acres of land – half the size of the province – as permanent conservation land.

I did not read about this in the U.S. media and, shockingly, could find nothing about it in the usual news sources. I first heard of it on the Massbird listserv on which a member quoted Scott Weidensaul’s report of it, which she saw on the carolinabirds listserv.

You can hear about it straight from the source by watching this video:

Scott Weidensaul kindly provided me with a link to his original account of the landmark legislation at his blog. It is a beautiful story. And if you haven't read any of Scott's books, check them out!

Meanwhile, U.S. President George Bush lifts the ban on offshore oil drilling, and the U.S. Department of the Interior opened up 2.6 million acres in Alaska for oil exploration. Although there is no hope for significant conservation measures under this current administration, one can dream that improvements will occur in the next.

For a treasure trove of wonderful information on birds of the boreal regions, with suggestions on how you can help, visit the Boreal Songbird Initiative website. The site also provides a link for writing a thank-you letter to Premier McGuinty. I wrote to him and hope you will too. Thanks to his vision, millions of avian voices will continue to ring out from the far North for years and years to come.