Harrison-- Your gallery of photos is awesome! Thanks for sharing it with the list. Photography has been a large part of my life, too, And in a former life, I also dabbled in water color painting. The subjects you seem to be drawn to in nature - wood, what lands and crawls on wood, water and creatures it attracts - are what appeal to me as well.
Appreciatively --BJ BJ Peters "Helping to keep space open in a world seeming to close it." On Monday, April 5, 2004, at 10:57 AM, Harrison Owen wrote:
As reported, I have been dealing with the after effects of a cornea transplant which largely involved stumbling into things which I couldn't see, and putting endless amounts of drops and salve into an eye that had clearly seen better days. Minor inconvenience on the macro scale of world affairs, but it has turned out to be an interesting metaphor for whole mess of other feelings and associations that have been bumping into my consciousness. With my eye shut down, although constantly reminding me of its presence with annoying jabs of pain, I found my world getting smaller and smaller. Space just closed down, leaving me scant room for anything I thought to be useful or fun. Truthfully, I was looking for all the sympathy I could get, and my favorite source of supply, my wife Ethelyn, had just about run out. One thing I could do (sort of) was read my email - and as my world closed in, the vista of little notes from foreign places became sweet indeed. Of course, I loved to hear from you all - but perhaps most sweat was a note from a young Croatian student. Never heard of her before - I assume she is a she, name is Mirja - but what do I know? She wrote at length (you will find the whole note below) about how she and some colleagues wanted to start an eco-tourism project in Western Croatia, and could I help. I informed her that I knew absolutely nothing about Eco-Tourism, but I thought opening a little space might help. Who knows what will happen, and have yet to hear back from her - but I just loved how she closed her letter. "I really do hope you understand the importance your response would have for my near, as well as for my distant future. Any feedback would be valued and would benefit our effort in ensuring a better tomorrow!" Made my day. Opened my space! And I found myself thinking about other ways of opening some space. Photography has always been a favorite of mine. I shoot pretty constantly, and I just love the opportunity to see what I see. However, I have to confess that at the moment, thoughts of photography come rather bitter-sweet, since I can't rightly see. But I do have a whole mess of pictures, some of which I think are rather nice. As it happened I got a call from Ranger Rod, the local Park Service ranger who said he had heard about my pictures, and would I consider doing an exhibit at the Ranger Station. And if I had nothing else to do, would I come over this morning so that we might talk. Sounded good to me - certainly better than sitting around feeling sorry for myself and getting absolutely no sympathy. When I arrived at the Ranger Station, Ranger Rod was sweeping the floor, wearing a dust mask. His eyes were watering, and he looked pretty bad, but when I flopped down the book of shots, he came over, took off his mask and silently started flipping through the pages. He didn't say a word for about 5 minutes - then he said "These are Beautiful, and they are all from my park. Since our budget has been cut, I have been chained to a desk and just can't get out much any more." Opened a little more space, I think. The morning newspaper comes with all sorts of stores about space closing. Israel is building a fence, the Marines have closed off Falujah, we in the US struggle with the Patriot Act, folks in Spain are wondering when the next terrorists will strike, and how to keep them out . . . It is getting pretty close. And the closer it gets the more our possibilities are limited, and the human Spirit withers. In an odd way, the more we try to preserve that Spirit, the more it seems in jeopardy. Some wise soul remarked that after studying history for a long time he had concluded that the telling end-stage of any country or civilization showed up when they spent more time trying to protect what they had than growing what they might become (my words, but his thought). Definite closure of space. So I thought to myself, thought I, how to open some more space - anywhere, anyhow, with anyone???? Doing an OS is cool, but surely that represents but a tiny fraction of the opportunities available. So come on Folks (Lurkers included) how do we open up some more space? And how are we doing right now. Perhaps if we shared we cold give each other some really good ideas. Harrison PS And if you are interested in some of my photo-spaces check out www.ho-image.com *********************************************************************** ***** ************* First, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Mirja Sekulovic and I am a senior student at the American College of Management and Technology, in Dubrovnik, Croatia. A long-time interest in the tourism industry motivated me to engage in a hotel/resort management Bachelors Degree, which I will obtain this May. Being so, I chose to research the possibilities of ecotourism development in Dubrovnik area for my senior project. I am highly motivated by this topic because after hearing and learning a lot about ecotourism, I came to realize this kind of development is exactly what Dubrovnik area needs. More specifically, I decided to focus on Konavle area. Konavle is located in the Dubrovnik County, in its southern part of Croatia. It comprises a variety of attractions: unique culture, history and traditional customs (traditional costumes, folklore, handcraft, viticulture, authentic foods, farming) and beautiful unspoiled nature and sea. To my knowledge these features are potentially applicable for ecotourism development. Various travel agencies have recently started offering various activities (safari tours, horse back riding, and silk manufacturing) as their excursions, but that is all on individual basis, and therefore can not create a complete vacation for an eco tourist. The interest from the side of the local community is present, and it can be seen by various attempts of developing individual rural tourism lodging units. I personally see ecotourism development as my future profession. My colleagues have also researched ecotourism development in Konavle for their senior projects, and therefore we are familiar with this concept. I would kindly like to ask for your advice in steps that should be taken in order to start with the ecotourism development in Konavle. I would like to know how you would organize the development in the described circumstances. What type of organization would you create to achieve the goals? What does a specific area need to posses (in terms of infrastructure and amenities, as well as activities) in order for you to consider it as an ecotourism destination? What do you think are the major benefits of ecotourism development? I really do hope you understand the importance your response would have for my near, as well as for my distant future. Any feedback would be valued and would benefit our effort in ensuring a better tomorrow! Mirja [[email protected]] Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20845 Phone 301-365-2093 Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
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