Arron Kerns

Started to keep track of food that is being wasted. I have learned I buy food that goes bad before I can use it. Even though I eat a plant based diet, it is still wasted food. Now I see the benefit of composting so the food can be recycled and possibly help grow other food. 

Well if this isn’t a story to share....

Last week I was in Florida. I was kayaking with a friend at Cayo Costa watching manatees. In the mangroves I spot a blue pad of some sort. I paddle over to reteive it when I notice a plastic bag in the mangroves also. I start to paddle back to the tree line to get the plastic. Now....while I was watching the manatees, and this being a dream come true, I wanted to remember it with some pictures. What device do we all carry these days to take pictures with? Our handy dandy cellular smart phones. In order to protect mine when not using it, I put it inside the lifejacket I was wearing for kayaking. Now, back to retrieving the plastic bag....I start to paddle back to the treeline  and I feel something shift under my life jacket and then hear a slight splash in the water. I knew right away it was my cell phone! I panicked knowing there are irreplaceable photos stored on the phone. I immediately place my paddle in the water to mark the place where my phone went in and to see how deep it was. I was able to hit bottom with my paddle. My friend paddles over and holds my kayak as I jump into the water. My friend then asks “where is your wallet?”.  Now I remembered it was in the pocket of the swimming shorts I wore for the day. I immediately  take my now soaked wallet out of my pocket and place it in the kayak. I feel around under the water with my feet and submerge in the water to see if I can find my phone.  I submerged again, now saying a prayer asking God for His help in retrieving my phone. I come back to the surface and feel around with my feet again. I submerge a third time and I find my phone! It was still working also! I got it to land and took the Otterbox off to wipe it off. The phone, after going into saltwater, is perfectly fine. Thank God for His help! So my watch the manatee kayaking trip not only turned into a “get the plastic out of the ocean” excursion, but also turned into an impromptu “swim with the manatees” trip as well. Although there were no manatees where the phone was located. And there were no selfies taken by the manatees while the phone was underwater. 😁

Walking on Venice Beach in Florida and saw a pacifier along the water’s edge. It was about to float into the ocean. I picked it up and placed it away from the edge of the water so it wouldn’t contribute to the gyres. It made me realize how our human carelessness can have a negative impact on the ocean.