The rainforest biome (a major habitat type) can be defined as forest growing in regions with more than 200 cm (6.5 feet) of rainfall per year. Although there are temperate rainforests (such as that of British Columbia in Canada), tropical rainforests occur between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5^o N and 23.5^o S). They are found in regions where the average temperatures of the three warmest and the three coldest months do not differ by more than 5^o C, although there may be daily variations of more than that. Rainfall is relatively evenly distributed, which allows the growth of a heavy canopy of broad-leaved evergreen tree.

The rainforests are home to more than half the animals in the world. Rainforest animals reside in all four strata of the forest. 'Strata' means 'layers'. Scientists divide rainforests into different strata (or layers) for easy reference. Each of these layers is a very different environment and supports different life forms. The strata differ in many ways, including temperature, the amount of sunlight that they receive, the wetness of the environment and the amount and types of life forms living in it.

Today tropical rainforests are disappearing from the face of the globe more rapidly than anything else. As per the estimation, despite growing international concern, rainforests continue to be destroyed at a pace exceeding 80,000 acres (32,000 hectares) per day. World rainforest cover now stands at around 2.5 million square miles (6 million square kilometers), representing around 5 percent of the world's land surface. Unfortunately, much of this remaining area has been impacted by human activities and no longer retains its full original biodiversity. Deforestation of tropical rainforests has a global impact through species extinction, the loss of important ecosystem services and renewable resources, and the reduction of carbon sinks. The problem must be remedied, but the means are not as simple as fortifying fences around the remaining rainforests or banning the timber trade. Economic, political, and social pressures are not allowing rainforests to persist.

Forces behind rainforest loss - Countries with significant rainforest cover are generally among the world's poorest. Therefore, rainforests are being cut mostly for economic reasons, though there are political and social motivations as well. A significant portion of deforestation is caused by poor farmers simply trying to eke out a living on marginal lands. Beyond conversion for subsistence agriculture, activities like logging, clearing for cattle pasture and commercial agriculture are sizeable contributors to deforestation on a global scale. Agricultural fires typically used for land-clearing are increasingly spreading outside cultivated areas and into degraded rainforest regions.

Addressing deforestation issues- Addressing deforestation is a quite tougher job. Different needs and interests of various groups of people have to be taken into consideration while addressing the deforestation matter.

a. Rural farmers - Poor farmers are simply trying to put food on the table for their families. A better approach to addressing the needs of the rural poor may be improving and intensifying currently existing agricultural projects and promoting alternative cultivation techniques.

b. Industrial/commercial developers – At present, illegal logging and counterfeit labeling are major obstacles facing sustainable forest management for timber, but in time the development of higher yielding timber plantations will help alleviate pressures on natural forests. Increased raw material need of the emerging economies is again main reason of large scale deforestation, which need to be curtailed by promoting culture of recycling almost every product we use and by conservation.

c. Restoring and rehabilitating ecosystems - There is no use bemoaning past deforestation of large areas. Today the concern is how to best utilize lands already cleared so that, they support productive activities, now and for future generations. Without improving the well-being of people living in and around forests, we cannot expect rainforests to persist as fully functional systems and continue to cater to our needs. To lessen future forest loss, we must increase and sustain the productivity of farms, pastures, plantations, and scrub land in addition to restoring species and ecosystems to degraded habitats. By reducing wasteful land-use practices, consolidating gains on existing cleared lands, and improving already developed lands, we can diminish the need to clear additional forest.

d. Funding rainforest conservation efforts - Conservation efforts and sustainable development programs are not going to be cost-free. Even countries that already get considerable aid from foreign donors have trouble effectively making such initiatives work in the long term. Some of the following funding strategies may be considered:

(i) Ecotourism—Ecotourism can fund efforts both through park entrance fees and employing locals as guides and in the handicraft and service sectors etc.

(ii) Bio-prospecting fees—Rainforest countries can earn revenue by allowing scientists to develop products from the country's native plant (e.g., with potential pharmaceutical applications etc.) and animal species. The royalties obtained from such commercial agreement should be set aside for conservation projects developed through local communities.

(iii) Carbon credits - For setting aside forest for the purpose of atmospheric carbon mitigation, developing countries can receive payments from industrialized countries looking to offset their carbon emissions.

(iv) Corporate sponsorship – Corporations have the money and a marketing-driven interest in taking a closer look at sponsorship issue.

e. Further steps to be taken once funding is in place – Further steps are to be taken in order to reduce deforestation activities, these are :

(i) Expand protected areas—As many areas should be protected as soon as possible. If protected areas can be developed in such a manner to generate income for local communities, an increasing number of parks should theoretically create more economic benefits for a greater share of the population.

(ii) Increase surveillance of and patrols in protected areas—This can be done at a reduced cost if local communities benefit from the success of the park. If locals have a vested interest, i.e. are compensated via entrance fees etc.; they will want to watch the park so that the source of their income is not diminished. Community surveillance is the most effective way to patrol a protected area, though it will probably be necessary to have park staff conduct patrols as well. Guides should be trained as well to keep watch for activities that are damaging to the ecosystem and report suspicious activities at park headquarters.

(iii) Build research facilities for training local scientists and guides.

(iv) Establish programs that promote sustainable use.

(v) Compensate displaced people.

(vi) Promote ecotourism.

(vii) Ensure economic success does not result in increased deforestation.

(viii) Encourage entrepreneurship - Encouraging entrepreneurship through such a micro-credit strategy could pay significant dividends for a country's economy as a whole.

Conclusion - Simply banning the timber trade or establishing reserves will not be enough to salvage the world's remaining tropical rainforests. In order for the forest to be preserved, the underlying social, economic, and political reasons for deforestation must be recognized and addressed.

I think this one is my favorite. Best not to show it to my daughter who will freak and want one, but even I'm tempted to buy it!! Remember $1.00 from the sale goes to Saveafrog.com.

You can see this one and others at RedBubble.

David Tudor

Rainforest (1968 Mode)

http://www.divshare.com/download/5204323-608

This is my favorite work of Tudor's as it emulates the sounds of a natural habitat, but the end result is alien to any environment on this planet. Originally commissioned for the influential Merce Cunningham Dance Troupe, Tudor avoids the usage of field recordings and ambient frills in favor of utilizing the vibrations of hanging objects through a contact mic and loudspeaker. This setup creates a variety of electro-acoustic phenomena that results in a hopelessly complex pastiche of chattering, beeps, chirping and rich textures that create a bizarro rainforest. It is easy to get lost in the weaving patterns of sounds during these 74 minutes of ambient sound. There is something alternately soothing and jagged about these two compositions that keeps me returning to them. Depending on my mood, it either soothes me into a slumber or agitates me to no end. I would love to see a video of Cunningham's dance troupe navigating their way through such abstract territory. If anyone can point me in the right direction, it would be greatly appreciated.

Here's my latest ACEO Rainforest frog that I will be posting around the web later today. I call it 'Ready for Take-off!' and like my other ACEO's its a Pen and Ink on enviromentally friendly paper. There is an ever growing collection of ACEO's in my Ebay Shop MakepeaceArts - so be sure to check it out. Remember $1.00 from every purchase goes to Saveafrog.com!!

We flew Qantas Air, our route info was the following:

• Tokyo to Cairns (over-night flight)
• Cairns to Sydney
• Sydney to Tokyo

Cairns

Cairns is located in Queensland on the northern part of Australia - it was warm with temperatures between 15-27C, and lots of sunshine (Queensland is appropriately called the Sunshine State). We took an overnight flight from Tokyo and arrived before dawn, a beautiful morning sunrise greeted us from our hotel balcony. As we were still tired from the long 8 hour flight, we took it easy the first day and just explored Cairns downtown area, including The Esplanade boardwalk and harbor area. For dinner, we cooked Kangaroo meat and ate in our hotel - yum.

Our first adventure in Cairns was scuba-diving and snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, one of the natural wonders of the world. I have never scuba-dived before so I took an introductory lesson, and made it alive (barely :-). These pictures were taken by a professional photographer (same picture for all of the scuba divers) - much nicer than the ones I took with my cheapo digital camera enclosed in a waterproof pouch.

The Wet Tropics of Queensland UNESCO World Heritage site is an umbrella name for a series of National Parks stretching for 450 km along the north east coast of Queensland from Townsville to Cooktown, bordering the Great Barrier Reef, itself another World Heritage site. We visited two rainforest national parks - Daintree National Park and Barron Gorge National Park. For Daintree, we joined a tour where we saw the Mossman Gorge, experienced a relaxing river cruise, ate Barramundi fish for lunch, and hand fed Kangaroos in the Rainforest Habitat.

For Barron Gorge, we took the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway to the town of Kuranda, where the cablecar rode atop the rainforest providing some spectacular views below. After having lunch at Kuranda, we then took the Kuranda Scenic Railway back to Cairns, a historical railway that also offered great views of the surrounding areas including the Barron Falls.

Sydney

Sydney is located in New South Wales on the southern part of Australia so it was cooler with temperatures between 7-17C. Our hotel was centrally located, walking distance to Chinatown (where we had several meals), Darling Harbor and Hyde Park.

We were impressed and marveled by Darling Harbor, truly a role model for how a waterfront area should be developed (our Toronto waterfront area looks like a dump in comparison to Darling Harbor). We watched the new Batman movie, Dark Knight, at the LG IMAX Theater in Darling Harbor, which was appropriate since the late Heath Ledger, who played the Joker brilliantly, hails from Perth, Australia.

Of course, a visit to the famous Sydney Opera House (which is also another UNESCO World Heritage Site) is a must. To see inside of the Opera House, you had a take a tour so we signed up for the hour long Essential Tour package. Beside the Sydney Opera House is the Harbor Bridge, where you can climb atop the bridge (which we didn't do).

We took a stroll to Hyde Park, where we visited St. Mary's Cathedral, the ANZAC War Memorial, Parliament House and the Hyde Park Barracks.

We visited several museums including the National Maritime Museum, Powerhouse Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA). There was also time for some shopping at Queen Victoria Building (QVB), The Strand, Pitt Street Mall and Paddy's Market. Finally, a day visit to the Featherdale Wildlife Park, where I got to again feed some Kangas and pet a Koala.

We were in Cairns, when the 2008 Beijing Olympics began on August 8, 2008 (08/08/08) - Sydney hosted the 2000 Summer Olympics. So we also visited the Sydney Olympic Park.

Australia reminded us of Canada. Both are very large, but with small population densities, very diverse (multi-cultural) and casual (friendly). Surprisingly, we found it more expensive compared to Tokyo, but of course, that could be because we stayed at two of the most popular tourist areas in Australia.

It was a great vacation and we saw many of the key attractions in Australia. We are now back in Tokyo, which we did miss, tired, and had a sushi dinner on our first night back :-). We now return to our regularly scheduled Japan programming (until our next Asian adventure).

PS. More pictures can be found on my Facebook.

Riau's governor announced the temporary ban, which will remain in place until signed into law, at a ceremony in the province's capital Pekanbaru.

"The moratorium is an important first step and an opportunity for the local government, forest communities and other stakeholders to improve forest governance," says Arief Wicaksono, Greenpeace Southeast Asia's Political Advisor.

Curbing deforestation means the province will scale back plans to triple the area of land under oil palm cultivation.

Oil palm, which is used in the production of palm oil, is currently the largest driver of forest clearing in the province.

A study released in February estimated that deforestation of 4.2 million hectares of tropical forest and peat swamp in Riau over the past 25 years has generated 3.7 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Source: Mongabay.com

Date: 15/08/2008

Oil exploitation in the virgin rainforests of the Amazon will be a disaster. Already many mineral extraction sites have turned precious rainforest into a wasteland. The land emerges raped and pillaged with a total ecosystem sacrificed.

Mankind is a very slow learner - we are repeating the mistakes which have led us collectively into a mess of our own making. The huge warning signs are ignored as we blithely pursue selfish ends.

There is no question we are beginning to pay very dearly for our remiss attitudes!

Os ministros do Tribunal Superior Eleitoral ( TSE ) decidiram que o presidente da Corte, ministro Carlos Ayres Britto, deverá intensificar os trâmites burocráticos para que forças federais de segurança atuem nas eleições do Rio . Na prática, eles deram a Britto carta branca para acertar com o ministro da Defesa, Nelson Jobim, o envio de tropas das Forças Armadas, se o pedido for feito pelo governador fluminense, Sérgio Cabral. O governador já se declarou publicamente favorável ao auxílio.

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The story about the little girl who was chosen to sing the national anthem at the Olympics but who, ultimately, was deemed "not cute enough" to be seen as a symbol of the nation, has gotten me riled up. Have you read about it? Don't! It's maddening. I'll tell you about it and get you mad right here.

Apparently a "cuter" child was selected to lip-sync the words along with a recording of the voice of the "not cute enough" child. And yet, I read, it was assumed that the Chinese people would know this was a necessity for their national image.

But before I spin off the planet in anger at China, I have to look right here at home.  Once at a swimming pool full of rich kids, I overheard one of the proud mothers saying "Where do the ugly children swim?" She was saying it rather tongue in cheek... but it had a certain truth ("They're not here. We've filtered them out.").

I'm guilty of this.  How often am I a "respecter of persons" as Scripture warns against? Often! And I abhor it. Hate it. Detest it. And yet, some days I don't even notice what I'm doing.  And other days I'm embarrassed by something that somebody I love does or wears because it might reflect on me. (Who's watching, exactly?  And aren't they hyper-concerned with their own image anyway?)

We most value a certain type (depending of course on culture) or certain attributes and then favor those who fit the mold.  Scroll down and see again the photo of the Barbie dolls piled up, with .99 marked on one of them.  We like her type; we like the one-size-fits-all concept, and then on the other hand we don't much value each other's dignity.

We retouch photos... so people can see what we wish we looked like.  I know none of us want to be thought of as "the girl with acne" or associated with our "awkward stages," but -- really -- why?  Those times are part of the story.  Part of what got us here.  And most things don't last forever.  And the ones that do generally come with an attached gift of learning that other things matter way more than the outward appearance.

I loved my children's school photos when they were young and picked out their own mismatched clothes that did not reflect the taste of the management (me).  Or when they had teeth missing.  Or made up a hairstyle never before seen on a human. 

One year the lady who worked for the photo studio that does the cheesy school photos ("rainforest background please") told my son, and I quote, "I will get fired if I let you look like this," as she tried to neaten up his hair.  He told her, "My parents like me like this."  I hope he was polite.

Another year the same child attached a laminated dollar bill to his shirt -- not just for picture day but for the whole year.  I don't know why.  There's no reason to glorify trying to be different just for the heck of it, but I still would rather see a kid with weird hair and a dollar bill attached to his clothes (if that is in fact what said child looks like this month) than to airbrush him into compliance and anonymity.

Image... varnish... spin.  If we think everyone else looks and seems great, we won't believe that it's okay if we aren't doing so well.  To the degree that we admit that we are all glorious and all a mess, we can all relax a little more.  It's okay not to be okay.  Trust me.

Great job by the WWF getting the point across in this one of a kind and very creative print campaign.

Truly,
Mr. Echo

The 160,000-hectare Kulla National Park is located in the McIlwraith Ranges on the Cape York peninsula and contains the largest tropical rainforest in Australia.

The forest houses 57% of Australia's butterflies and is seen by scientists as a critical refuge for biodiversity against the impact of climate change.

Source: Mongabay.com

Date: 06/08/2008

Anyone unfamiliar with the mangosteen fruit is really missing out – they are just incredible! The Garcinia Mangostana L. is a unique tropical fruit that is considered to have amazing health benefits. Described as a “superfood” in today’s health lingo, this fruit has been used for centuries in traditional medicine throughout much of Asia.

Mangosteen, banned from US import until 2007, can now be found in the States in everything from supplements and juices to coffee mangosteen ice cream!

Check out this ad for Snapple Peach Mangosteen Juice Drink:

Rumor has it that Queen Victoria of England offered knighthood to anyone who could bring her a Mangosteen in edible condition. Easy enough, you say? Malarkey! This fruit soon became known as the queen of fruits. What makes it so precious is that when discovered, it required five years to grow in extreme tropical conditions in far-off lands. It’s no picnic to harvest, either: the usual method is to climb the tree to avoid letting the fruit hit the ground or be handled roughly. Oh, and did we mention that Snapple Peach Mangosteen has immunity-building qualities? Enjoy, your majesty.

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If you don’t want your magnosteen diluted with water, sugar, pear and apple concentrate, natural flavors, citric acid, vitamin C, vitamin A palmitat, vitamin E acetate, and acacia gum, just come to the Ranch between August and October to taste one fresh off the tree!

]]> http://alexknightblog.wordpress.com/?p=16 Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:45:26 +0000 Communication Goddess http://alexknightblog.wordpress.com/?p=16 The Red Eyed Tree Frog is my favorite frog. I like the sticky pads on the frogs' hands and feet.

I've been listening to Steve - songsmith, multi-instrumentalist, political commentator, troubadour, activist - for more than twenty years. He has written the soundtrack to my life. I feast on each new CD that I hear and somehow this southern boy from Texas, ex-heroin addict, ex-con but also anti-war, anti-death penalty, anti-insanity activist has spoken in his music of my own experiences, moods, frustrations and loves.  When he was singing songs of restlessness, I was restless.  When he's been angry at his government, I've also been livid.  Now he's in love both with his new wife and with his new city, New York, where he moved to after years of living in Tennessee.  And although I'm not in the big love, I am in love with the Hammer, this rusty little city I live in. 

He has constantly expressed my politics in beautiful simple poetic lyrics and gone down a number of musical avenues from country to rock to tropical to folk to bluegrass and taken me with him on each ride. Tonight, after playing his guitars, mandolin, and banjo and dueting with his wife, he played with a DJ behind him providing electronic beats. He has so many songs, all great. And although there was a big representation in the Hammer-crowd of drunken wild folks demanding "Copperhead Road" (which you can see him cringe to with impatient disdain, for it would seem that, fifteen years later, it is the only song people know of despite a repertory of hundreds), the majority of the audience were singing along to his lyrics from several of his albums, demonstrating that they, like me, were in awe.  To have the chance to sit twenty feet from him, down below the high stage of the Festival of Friends, on the concrete ground (which, of course also doubled as a seat right on the dancefloor), be encouraged by him to sing out, and to be able to watch his face as he sang, and watch his subtle and not so subtle reactions to the antics of the crowd, well, in an odd way,  at moments it was like it was just him and me and we forgot the other ten thousand folk.  In fact, I'm quite sure he smiled at me at one point. Sigh.

His wife, Allison Moorer, played the first set and although the best thing about her for me is that she is Steve's wife, I do enjoy them singing together and she is a good singer of songs.  I do know from reading her blog that they are both readers, and she writes about the books she reads.  So after my soul was totally swelled by the sounds of Steve, I lingered outside his black bus for a good half hour or more with the other diehard Steve fans - all guys wanting to get their albums and CD covers signed.

Fortunately he finally came out and although I wasn't the first in line, he turned to me (probably because I was the only woman) and I quickly handed him Walking with Wolf. I could tell he was tired and wasn't going to have patience for long. I told him how thrilled I was to give him these words of mine after all the years that his words have excited me, pushed me, caressed me, comforted me, filled me (actually, I mumbled something much shorter). I truly believe that he and Allison will enjoy Wolf's story.  I was so moved to be able to give him the book.  He looked me in the face and said "cool, thanks" in his southern drawl and with a tone of surprise, maybe cuz I wasn't asking for anything, just giving him something. He reached out his arm and I touched it. I've still got chills.

These chills were much better than the chills I had all last weekend when I had a reoccurrence of the swollen gland in my neck with a touch of fever that I had about a month ago in Costa Rica.  I finally went to the doctor and got the right drugs and started feeling better, after five days of laying around moaning.  My beautiful neighbour, Genevieve, who left a lovely welcome home spread of wine, cheese and crackers in my fridge, also fed me fresh corn and grilled vegetables through my illness - what a wonderful person to have nearby. 

Once I felt better, I went into Toronto and distributed the book to media outlets and Pages bookstore.  I also put signed copies in the hands of my grand gurus, Bruce and Ken, who were so much a part of the final production of the book and continue to support, encourage and amuse me.  I know I will re-employ their services in the Spanish translation (which Wolf's son Carlos is now in the process of working on). Meeting these two talented blokes (along with Jane our editor and my old friend Laurie who did the layout) was one of the biggest gifts of the last year.

Now that I am slowly coming back to earth after my near-Steve encounter, I have to get out in that jungle and get it under control.  The next month is so busy with preparing for the book launches in September and for all the visitors who are coming to help me celebrate my 50th birthday at the end of August, that I gotta get those weeds outa my path so I can see the forest through the trees.  But I will be working to the sounds of Steve in my soul, renewed, rejuvenated, re-happy. Consider the following photo a "before" picture..."after" to follow.

Ecology

The living sloths are omnivores. They may eat insects, small lizards, and carrion, but their diet consists mostly of buds, tender shoots, and leaves, mainly of Cecropia trees. They have made extraordinary adaptations to an arboreal (tree-living) browsing lifestyle. Leaves, their main food source, provide very little energy or nutrition and do not digest easily: sloths have very large, specialized, slow-acting stomachs with multiple compartments in which symbiotic bacteria break down the tough leaves. As much as two-thirds of a well-fed sloth's body-weight consists of the contents of its stomach, and the digestive process can take a month or more to complete. These facts tell us that sloths are not only slow-moving, but slow in most other aspects as well.

Although unable to survive outside the tropical rainforests of South and Central America, within that environment sloths are outstandingly successful creatures: they can account for as much as half the total energy consumption and two-thirds of the total terrestrial mammalian biomass in some areas. Of the six living species, only one, the Maned Three-toed Sloth, has a classification of "endangered" at present. The ongoing destruction of South America's forests, however, may soon prove a threat to other sloth species.

Physiology

Sloth fur exhibits specialized functions: the outer hairs grow in a direction opposite from that of other mammals. In most mammals, hairs grow toward the extremities, but because sloths spend so much time with their legs above their bodies, their hairs grow away from the extremities in order to provide protection from the elements while the sloth hangs upside down. In moist conditions, the fur hosts two species of symbiotic cyanobacteria, which provide camouflage. The bacteria provide nutrients to the sloth when licked during grooming. Sloth fur is also host to algae; this algae colors the coat green and acts as camoflauge. Because of this algae, sloth fur is a small ecosystem of its own, hosting many species of non-parasitic insects.

Sloths move only when necessary and even then very slowly: they have about half as much muscle tissue as other animals of similar weight. They can move at a marginally higher speed if they are in immediate danger from a predator (4.5 m or 15 feet per minute), but they burn large amounts of energy doing so. 

They are particularly partial to nesting in the crowns of palm trees where they can camouflage as coconuts. They go to the ground to urinate and defecate about once a week. They go to the same spot each time and are vulnerable while doing so. The reason for this risky behaviour is unknown.

The frigid forests of southeastern Alaska and the lush overgrowth of the Amazon have more in common than the letter "A." Each are one of the few true rainforests found on the globe.

The Amazon rainforest receives an amazing 80 inches of precipitation each year (my hometown of Phoenix averages less than nine inches).

In comparison, the forests surrounding Ketchikan get an average of 152 inches -- more than 12 feet of rain each year, nearly double the average precipitation in the Amazon!

That results in beautiful lush forests, with greenery on every surface. One of the most fascinating examples of the effect on plant life are trees that look as if they're on stilts. Nurse trees -- dead logs in the process of decaying -- serve as rich mulch for all sorts of new growth. Tree seedlings take root, and as they mature, their roots reach below the log to soil below.

As the nurse log continues to decay, it crumbles away, leaving a large tree with the top of the root system exposed, creaing shelter for all sorts of other life.

On our trip, this relationship was explained to us by Daniel, a young Tsimshian with a passion for the land. He grew up on Annette Island, son of a father who was a totem carver. Daniel makes his father's tools -- he pointed out trees with branches of the perfect angle -- and is learning the art from him.

The traditional rhythm of life for the Tsimshian is a key example of how our attitude colors our contentment. While we might look toward the pleasant, temperate summers with delight and the long cold Alakan winters marked by a scarcity of daylight with dread, the Tsimshian treasured each season. The summer for its abudance of food, ease of living and joy of the surrounding beauty; and the winter to congregate in clan houses, enjoy the fruits of summer's labor, create works of art, tell stories and relish the sense of family.

They understood the peace that comes from appreciating each blessing in its season.

Imagine that.

Hike up the Hoh River and the Hoh Rainforest. It may not prove the existence of God to you, but it will confirm some sort of spiritualism in yourself.

A temperate rainforest, the land it unique, you won't find something like it hardly anywhere. The land is spectacular. Primal. The rains wash anything away that isn't supposed to be there. It is clean. Beautiful. It's so wondrous, that walking it fills you with a sense of loneliness.