Learning How to Protect the Planet

It felt a bit like the Griswalds in "Nature Vacation" last Friday, as our New York office went on a hike in the rain. Though the forecast did call for heavy rain showers, we had planned the date for a while, and, as our NY director pointed out, "Well we are the Nature Conservancy."

We went to Mianus Gorge, about an hour north of the city, and the original "place" protected by The Nature Conservancy, by some inspired Westchester residents who banded together, 60 years ago.

While there we learned about trees from foresters Bill and Tom (below), our finance guy, whose 'day job' is looking at conservation deals but taught us all a lot about the trees around us.

Saw some critters...

Mr. and Mrs. Frog

A salamander in full fall fashion

And lots of earthworms, which we discussed as being "invasive species", likely from Asia originally.

The beauty of nature, a sense of timelessness...and that intangible ability that nature has to balance and restore you, and slow you to 'nature's pace'. (Which is far far better than the pace most of us experience)

Some damage from Hurricane Irene last month.

The intrepid crew!

Every day I feel like I'm learning something completely new. And sometimes while the volume of information can be daunting at times, there's a sense of wonder and amazement about this wonderful planet we call home, that we rely on not just for beauty and restoration, but for critical life elements such as water, food and the air we breathe.

Yesterday I was at a global task force meeting with several members of our board of trustees, many who are seasoned business leaders from finance and consulting industries. Listening to them speak about how they personally got interested in conservation was inspiring and you almost saw the kid inside, that never stops learning.

Last night NBC Nightly News aired a wonderful segment about an educational program of ours called L.E.A.F. that helps to grow the next generation of conservation leaders. CBS Early Show aired a similar segment last month.

"...And while this learning isn't happening within the walls of a classroom, it may be the best learning of all..." - Brian Williams

Please click the highlighted links above or below to watch our future.

Lake The Posts

Autumn felt like it officially began last weekend with slightly crisper temperature and a certain charge in the air of things happening. I took a trip up the Hudson with two great friends from college to watch Northwestern take on Army.

I'd never been to any type of Academy game. Besides the rare site of seeing nearly 9,000 purple Wildcat fans on the East Coast (and a large organized group participating in Sailgate), the atmosphere of being at West Point was entirely new for me. Cadettes in white, parachute jumpers, and a certain level of respect and reverence all around us.

While we lost and didn't get to 'lake the posts', there's a sense of watching Army play football and realizing that due to service commitments after graduation, they're playing for the love of the game, and were really happy for the win on Saturday.

And you couldn't help but feel happy for them too.

On the way home we spoke to a couple West Point seniors, who were taking a trip to NYC to check out a couple good parties they heard were happening Columbia University (and hoping for slightly better male/female ratio than what they have at school!). One was hoping to go to med school and said he wanted to join an NGO like Greenpeace after his service duty, the other was a history major and thought law school and being a lawyer might be his path. They were bright, thoughtful, respectful, engaging and certainly "best and brightest" and "our future" came to mind when speaking to them.

I couldn't help but whisper a silent prayer for their safe return.

Yesterday, my friend Dennis shared a post on N.U. fan boards written by an Army football fan, underscoring what I thought about the weekend in terms of "class acts":

Your team & fans were total class today.

I've missed only 3 Army home games since 1994. You had the largest turnout I've ever seen for an away team.

I hope you run the table the rest of the season.

People and Places

Part of honoring September 11th - and any event where you are reminded of deep and shattering loss - is being grateful for what you do have, the small pleasures of day to day life, and especially the people who you share your life with. The perspective given to you after loss of what really matters, and what you should really value most.

I loved this article by the wise and soulful Nicholas Kristof about what we as a country are also very rich in...

"....The wilderness trims our bravado and puts us in our place. Particularly in traumatic times like these, nature challenges us, revitalizes us, humbles us, exhilarates us and restores our souls. It reminds us that we are part of a larger universe, stewards rather than masters of our world..."

Read more by clicking here.

Looking Back

I ran to the roof and snapped this picture a few weeks ago, before Labor Day, trying to quickly capture late August skies before the moment passed.

For two years now, this has been my view, and in retrospect I wished I snapped a picture daily to show a time lapse of how dramatically different the sky looks during the seasons, the range of activity in the harbor, and moving or still waters. The only constant is that gap in the sky, that I always see.

The 10 year anniversary of September 11th has triggered many emotions and memories, and so many things I personally forgot. It's also been strange to think about being back in New York, part two, the city I left partially due to not really wanting to live here anymore after the attacks.

Two of my favorite pieces, is the New York Magazine feature The Encyclopedia of 9/11 - wide and encompassing in its scope - which you can read by clicking here. The other is the 9/11 Diaries shared by my friend Andy from Fortune as he posted entries from the Street Life blog reflecting the hours and days after the September 11, 2011 tragedy, especially through the lens of how things impacted the business world. I had forgotten things like how exciting it was when the stock market opened again, and when sports resumed. Markers that life would go on after all. Please click here to read his entries.

In addition to remembering what it was like living here then, in the days and months after the attack -- how the air smelled as the buildings burned until after Thanksgiving, fear and sadness everywhere, the bars jam packed with people wanting to connect (and dull their pain), the Mayor encouraging us to shop -- I had almost forgotten who we were then: Softer, humble, compassionate, patient, giving, caring, wanting to serve.

The irony of how we become better people, after we're a bit broken.