HoLLIE – Week 6

The Week 6 of HoLLIE (Howard County Legacy Leadership Institute for the Environment) class focused on The Chesapeake Bay Watershed and Environmental Advocacy. As my norm, I arrived early so I could enjoy the sunny (but cold) morning at Belmont before the before class. I stopped at one of the pullout spaces on the narrow drive to photograph the stumps from the recent tree removals (and there are more to come). The first picture is looking away from the Manor House; the second shows the Manor House in the distance.

I took pictures of the two stumps from the trees already cut down. Someone had carved in one of them. Aargh! It’s sad when a tree is cut down and the carving struck me as disrespectful to the tree and the place.

After I got to settled into my place in the carriage house, I trooped over the butterfly meadow where I saw the bright yellow grass late last week. It was still there, and I liked the snow and blocks in the picture with it.

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The little walks outside were a good start to the day that was sedentary otherwise. Our speakers were from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Land Trust Alliance (re the Chesapeake Bay), and Patuxent River Riverkeeper in the morning. In the afternoon we heard about sustainability and what individuals in our area can do toward the goal of moving toward sustainable lifestyle…and beyond to regenerative. The last segment of the day was a short lecture on effective environmental advocacy that included a practice use of the planning template from the lecture….learning enhanced by attempting to apply the technique.

Next week we’ll be outdoors in the last segment of the day. I’m already watching the forecast for the day; as of now – the forecast is cold and a bit breezy…but no rain.

Previous HoLLIE posts: Week 1, Week 2, week 3, week 4, week 5