Sandy Wilson, Public Relations, Media Relations, Communications in Jacksonville, Florida

Memorial Day marks the beginning of the summer season.

More important: Memorial Day is a day of remembrance.  Many of you will spend the day tomorrow remembering the ones you love and the ones you have loved who have bravely served our country.  

Every year at this time,  I think of my lifelong best friend's father  Charlie Lewis, who died serving his country in Vietnam and I silently thank him for his sacrifice.  I never met Charlie and know him through his daughter - he was a wicked poker player, he was a fair and honest man, he was a brave soldier and he loved his family.

I hope you have a safe and peaceful day tomorrow and that you also remember someone special.

I ran across this video of Hawaiian legend Iz singing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and thought it would be OK to post a link to this video - click here.

Michael gave me a DOG book for Mother's Day with a note that said: Pick one!
So, I picked an Anatolian Shepherd & he said: No...too aggressive.
I picked a German Shepherd and he said: No... way too aggressive.
I picked a Bulldog and he said: No... too ugly and they slobber.
I threw in a Chihuahua just to test him and he said: No... too little and they're yappy.
So, I said: Michael, what kind of dog do you think I should I pick?
And he said: Why don't you pick a Lab?
So, now we're looking for a Chocolate or Silver Lab - a really big, yappy, slobbery one that will jump on bad guys who try to break into the house.
I'm giving Michael a fence for Father's Day!
It's going to take a while to pick out the material and design.

What does any of this have to do with green?

Well, the fence will probably be made from recycled materials and when I walk our Lab, I'll use biodegradable doggie bags.

We're back from our travels and happy to report good green planning all along our ho-ho-holiday way.

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning in beautiful Callaway Gardens and loved their natural decorations @ the Lodge and Spa.  Located on top of Pine Mountain, Georgia, Callaway Gardens is committed to eco-friendly living, environmental education and renewable energy year-round!

As we passed through nearby Atlanta on our way to Nashville, we learned that Atlanta  has also established forward thinking green initiatives.  In 2003, the city of Atlanta passed an ordinance requiring all city funded development to be LEED certified. That's thoughtful planning for the future. 

As we headed into good old country musical Nashville, we noticed a spectacularly clean downtown area and we were so pleased to discover a concerted city-wide effort to establish Nashville as a leader in green initiatives and livability.

We're back in Jacksonville now.  We're taking down the Christmas decor, and gearing up for Tree Hill Nature Center's Bring One For the Chipper event on January 9, 2010.  Bring your UNDECORATED  Christmas tree to Tree Hill on January 9 and take aromatic mulch home. Great way for the family to recycle.  (NOTE: Tree Hill is a client and the event is FREE.) 

I love Jacksonville.com - the Times-Union online paper.

They added me to their Twitter Business List.

What's not to love? 

I'm slowly recovering from a nasty bout of diverticulitis and am preparing for Tree Hill Nature Center's Music and Harvest Moon Festivals on Saturday, October 24.

There is a HUGE, GIGANTIC, ENORMOUS divide between the two - hospital and fun event.

That said, for a mere $5 admission fee, you should come to Tree Hill to hear incredible live music all day long in beautiful, luscious nature.   October 24 from 10 am - 6 pm @ Tree Hill Nature Center.

Back to the beginning: During my hospital haze, I wondered if the health care industry is implementing strategies to save resources.   Looks like we have an affirmative on that.  Yeeahh!

I've been traveling this month and experienced an amazing family vacation in the Outer Banks, NC.  There were many opportunities to commune with nature and I was happy to see lots of green thinking. 

OBX has a ban on plastic bags now and even the local Brew Station is going green.

We wondered who owned the windmill we saw from the summit of the Wright Brothers National Memorial.

TreeHugger has created a tribute page dedicated to collecting blog posts that detail Ted Kennedy's history of championing environmental issues throughout his career.

What a wonderful example of the way one person can make an impact for many. 

No matter how you feel about Kennedy,  personally or politically, there is no denying that he followed his footprints on a green path for the benefit of many. 

I  stumbled on this website this morning and it looks like a good resource for beach access information. 

As a nearly lifelong East Coast Beachie with significant sand in her flipflops, I just signed up to receive updates. 

 Beach access should be available for all, right? You tell me who owns the sea.