Ashley Richards

Since I used to live in Anguilla, I’m still subscribed to an email news list that gives me updates of what’s going on around the island. I seriously just wanted to cry over the weekend after I read the latest email and saw what the Dolphin Discovery in Anguilla (aka Dolphin Fantaseas) was doing to their dolphins.  A local man is so concerned that he put together a page full of pictures and says:

The Dolphin Discovery facility at Meads Bay is closed down. It appears to have been abandoned by the previous management. There seems to be only a handyman present on the site during the day. He tries valiantly and without management guidance to keep up with basic maintenance. The dolphins are left to swim in their own waste. The water has become badly polluted. It is now in what must be a dangerous state for the health of the dolphins and anyone else, for that matter, venturing into the water.

Yes there are more atrocious things going on in the world than these little guys getting abused, but this is something that could easily be fixed. Unfortunately, it’s the tourists that are driving the market for a dolphin encounter in Anguilla and the local government doesn’t seem to be doing anything because it’s such a draw for tourists.  I would love to swim with dolphins too, but I’d feel to guilty.

Other than posting to message boards, writing to travel magazines, newspapers, and Peta, (and creating as many keyword links to Don Mitchell’s site) there doesn’t seem much else that can be done from where I am. Unless someone knows a celebrity that would talk about it – because no one listens to anyone else these days.

Brendon and I talked with his grandmother (aka Nanny)  in Australia via video Skype a couple weeks ago.  It was the first time he talked to her face to face in about 24 years.  After seeing Brendon and talking to him for a bit she said, “We live in a magical age.” And you know  – she’s right.

His aunt surprised us with the call and after getting the web cam and Skype to cooperate it was like the Jetsons video calls. As a kid I thought that would be the coolest thing ever and laughed at Jane wearing her fake face when she answered calls in the morning. Needless to say I kinda wanted one of those when they called.

What seemed improbable as a kid starts coming true the older we get. Today another thing happened. Whenever my sisters and I were being complete grumps when we were little, my mom had this little mantra she would say to us: “I don’t want to be happy. I want to be sad.” She always told us it was from her favorite cartoon from when she was little.  We never saw this mysterious cartoon -  I never thought we’d ever see it, and it was lost to history.

Fast forward 25 years.

Boing Boing featured a cartoon today that sounded like it just might have that line it in. And it does! The cartoon is on YouTube and is called “The Sunshine Makers“. I immediately emailed it to my mom and sisters. It’s a funny, sweet, and silly part of my childhood that suddenly makes a little more sense.

That little discovery might not seem as magical as talking to someone on the other side of the world, but to me it’s on par.