Trees, boats and pies

Merhaba,

In a few days we’ll be heading off to Cappadocia. In the meantime Randal is busy working to get us a new dinghy, finding someone to repair our SSB radio, plotting a course to London and a zillion other things. All that while baking really good pecan pies. I’m doing my usual laundry, dishes, walks around town, some painting and knitting and planting saplings in the local national park just down the road. Here’s the tree planting story as well as a visit to a wooden boat being rebuilt, and some photos from our St. Patrick’s Day Potluck Dinner.

Tree Planting

Gwen on KW received the following email from her friend Eva……..

"Hi Gwen, Spring has arrived & so have 250 pine saplings to be planted at the Kazim Koyoncu memorial forest! (Kazim Koyoncu was a Turkish singer/environmentalist who died of cancer at a young age.) http://www.last.fm/music/Kaz%C4%B1m+Koyuncu

Imdat Avci (if you don’t already know who this is.. you will meet him!) started planting this forest in memory of Kazin Koyoncu a few years ago. Imdat has organised 250 saplings & has prepared the holes for them to be planted. All we have to do is put a tree in the pre-dug earth and finish the planting of it.

After the planting there will be a free BBQ & live music.

EVERYONE WELCOME!”

Eva

How do you get to this event?

The forest is on the Yalancibogaz road (AKA Yat Marina road), by the sea. Coming from Marmaris, it’s just past Albatros Marina. It’s a 10 minute walk from Netsel Marina.

This SUNDAY 17th MARCH from 12 noon.

PLANT A TREE – IT’S GOOD FOR THE SOUL!

Attached is a photo of the sign, you can’t miss it! "

Gwen

Our pals Mary and Rick and I went off to plant trees. When I was a kid we donated money to plant trees in Israel. Sunday we actually had to do the work. The event started at noon so we set off about 11:30 and got there just a few minutes early…a bit more than a 10 minute walk, but nothing a member of the Dead End Trail Hiking Club couldn’t handle. We weren’t the first to arrive but we were earlier than most. So we set to work and each planted about a half dozen trees before other folks came and soon all of the available holes were filled. So while I don’t know if there were 250 saplings, there definitely were not 250 holes. But not to worry there were many volunteers and some actually had shovels so I’m sure all of the saplings had new homes before the barbecue began. In the midst of the planting we stopped for a ‘Photo op” and TV News Interview.”

You will not forget the poet from the Black Sea ‘Children’s Jacket” here at this place.

That is a totally wild guess except that I did find the following “Kâzım Koyuncu 1972-2005 (Şair Ceketli Çocuk) “ and we were planting the saplings in the Kâzım Koyuncu Memorial Forest.

The curved info on the bottom is the name of the local company providing the barbecue.

Trees planted in past years.

Saplings waiting to be planted.

One of “my” trees.

You picked up a sapling, found a hole, peeled the plastic casing from the sapling’s roots, put the sapling in the hole and then pushed the dirt back in with your hands hoping not to encounter any creepy crawlies never mind glass shards. I should have thought to bring gloves

Mary and Rick with a planted sapling.

Preparing for the “TV” segment.

Imdat Avci http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=151719

“İmdat Avcı is a one-man environmental movement, sailing the high seas in the Marmaris area, where he cleans up trash wherever he finds it. This mission is his passion and his life’s work.

Once a careless user of the natural world, a traumatic experience in his 30s converted him into an eco-warrior, and now he tirelessly scours the highways and waterways of Muğla and fights inefficiency, waste and animal cruelty wherever he finds it.”

Mary stepped forward to help hold the sign.

She also was brave enough to speak on camera and said all the right things about being happy to take part in this local environmental event.

Whole families took part in the tree planting.

By 1:30 we’d helped fill all of the available holes. Lots more volunteers were arriving, some carrying spades to actually dig more holes; so we waved good-bye and started back to the marina. As we were passing Albatros marina, we heard someone call out to us. It was Joan, an x-pat we’d met several times in the past few months. She asked if we wanted to see her friend Hassan’s wood boat. There had been a horrible fire just a year ago and he was in the process of rebuilding her. We said yes and joined her to go meet up with Hassan.

Hassan on the right (hatless) with his helper.

We were invited aboard. I said no as I hated ladders. Hassan, Joan, Mary and Rick went up the ladder. As I hate wimping out even more than I hate ladders, Mr. Helper walked to the stern of the boat with me and I climbed an even steeper ladder to the top and then he just took my hands and hauled me onto the boat. I did warn them that climbing up was 10 times easier for me than climbing down so I would be there until the boat was put back into the water and I could step off onto the dock.

Hassan giving us the tour.

Her name is Panorama and she is due to be back in operation by the end of March.

She will be beautiful once again.

Rick, Mary, Hassan, Joan on what will be the sunning deck.

Well I did manage to climb down the front ladder which had some really big spaces between the rungs. I do hope we get to see Panorama when she is back in the water.

Then it was back to the boat where Randal was slaving away making 2 pecan pies for the St. Patrick’s Day Potluck Dinner. Pecan Pie is Southern, not Irish, but no one was complaining and both pie plates were empty by the end of the night.