Ratting Out Land Mines in Cambodia

I toured the APOPO Visitor Center in Siem Reap, Cambodia and came away with a deep respect for their work, for what they’ve accomplished, and a new-found admiration for rats. An estimated 4 to 6 million unexploded land mines are still buried in Cambodian soil in the aftermath of war. Nearly 100,000 people have been maimed or suffer amputations from landmines when they were tripped. Since 1992, Cambodia has succeeded in clearing nearly 5 million mines — but still have about that many more live explosives to defuse. Here’s where the RATS come in. Until the rats got involved, the process of locating and disarming mines has been painfully slow. People with metal detectors slowly scan an area and when they find what they think may be explosives, they dispatch a bomb-sniffing dog. The dog must be kept back a safe distance so it doesn’t get too close and trip the mine. However, enter the rat instead of the dog. More landmines are cleared faster and done so more safely, returning the land to farmers and local communities. Why RATS? They are super smart and very lightweight. They can be trained to sweep across a field, sniffing to locate buried explosives. When they find something, they scratch the surface until a human bomb-defuser takes over. Because they weigh so little, the pressure of their paws does not create a problem.

APOPO is one of six NGOs operating in Cambodia clearing mines. APOPO’s method is fast, simple, and cost-effective. They have been training African Giant Pouched Rats for 25 years. Their star rat, Ronin, holds a Guinness World Records Title for the Most Landmines Detected by a Rat. At the time of his award in August 2021, he had detected 109 landmines and 15 items of unexploded ordnance. The visitors’ center tour includes a demonstration of a rat detecting buried explosive. The guide reassured us that although the metal case did contain real explosives, it lacked a fuse. Phew. The tour wraps up with an offer to hold a rat. No thanks, but thanks for the education. #apopo #cambodianlandmines #africangiantpouchedrats #siemreap #worldgrazer

Creatively Chaotic Clothing in Vietnam

As I wandered through the food markets in Sa Dec Vietnam, I was struck by the women’s wardrobe choices. At first, I assumed they pulled on whatever top and pants were clean and in reach, which resulted in what appeared to be a careless mismatch. The equivalent of “Did you get dressed in the dark, girl?” But the further I moved into the crowded market, it became clear to me that the outfit selections were intentional. Fun. Mishmash. The wilder the wardrobe, the more winningest. Inspired by the late New York Times’ photographer Bill Cunningham, I turned my camera to capture the whimsy. Everywhere I turned there was a brilliant clash of color and pattern.

Bogged Down in the Bog

The New York Times published an opinion piece this week screaming the virtues of those soggy, timeless, ecologically-critical places called bogs. Merritt R. Turetsky wrote that "Bogs are a living archive. Because of the bog’s specialized ecology — an oxygen-poor, acidic habitat created in part by the otherworldly mosses that grow there — the decomposition of dead plant material slows to a near halt. Year after year, layer after layer, plant debris accumulate, storing carbon and recording the changing world with it." On a recent visit to Tallin, Estonia, I went with friends on a guided walk through the bog on the Viru Bog Nature Trail. Or, should I say, we waddled and windmilled our way, trying to trudge across the squishy terrain.

Merritt R. Turetsky went on to write, "The first thing any bog teaches you is that the ground cannot be trusted. You step onto a patch of moss that looks solid, only to feel your boot sink into layers of partly decomposed plants, peat that has accumulated over millenniums. Somewhere below lies stable earth, but in a bog, safety is always elusive."

A Dramatic Claim to Fame

It takes a mouthful of qualifiers to establish this claim to fame. There's a theater from the 1700s that is...ready for it? ...the oldest theater in the world that regularly uses original 18th-century stage machinery. The theater is in Stockholm, on the grounds of Drottningholm Palace, on a beautiful little island that can be reached by ferry (or car, for the less romantic approach).

The venue stages productions that use the original 18th-century stage machinery, which was built in 1766. To change the scenery, stagehands use hand-operated wooden winches, ropes, and pulleys. For special effects, they turn to the original mechanical wind, thunder, and wave machines. Here's a video shown to visitors to reveal the behind-the-scenes workings.

Makes one wonder. Why? How did the theater's operators manage to preserve that outdated equipment? How did they resist the temptation to pitch it all out and modernize? The answer is that after its first century or so of productions, the theater people lost interest in it. The space ended up being used as a warehouse. It was forgotten that the building had been a theater in the past. But in the 1920s, it was rediscovered and preserved. Now it's a unique celebration of the past.

Being Bookish in the Baltics and Scandinavia

Drop-dead fabulous public libraries were highlights of my sightseeing in Latvia and Finland.

Latvia’s capital, Riga, touts its new National Library one of the most significant cultural buildings in the country. They’re right. Of course, it is packed full of books, audio and visuals, but it’s also a major venue for exhibitions and festivals. My favorite, though, was Helsinki, Finland’s cool OODI. It is so much more than a library. It is a destination. Once you get past oohing and ah-ing over OODI as architectural eye-candy, you encounter the magnificent spaces for working, meeting, 3-D printing, sewing, collaborating, making music, having coffee, and oh yes, reading. It’s a fantastic cultural center, wrapped up in the gorgeous aesthetic of Scandinavian architecture.

Ridin' the Repurposed Rails

You can roll effortlessly (well, almost effortlessly) through six miles of gorgeous scenery along the Narragnsett Bay coastline. We got a 4-person rail "bike" from Rail Explorers and took a 1.5 hour ramble along the coast, through two golf courses and a nature preserve. It's a different perspective that you can only get from the railroad tracks. And a fun outing.

Ballet in the Boughs - Newport Parks Department

I had an excellent front row seat, seeing a dedicated crew deliver a public service. The Newport City Parks Department’s hardworking expert tree team toiled in July’s scorching heat for hours in front of my house, caring for trees who had looked to me like they were dying. Big sections of the trees were riddled with shriveled wood. I had figured the trees were rotting with disease. Wrong. They just were in dire need of what amounts to a haircut. Deadwooding. It was amazing (and a little scary) to witness. I literally pulled up a seat (dragged a dining room chair out to the front porch) and sipped my coffee as I watched. The team of three cut down multiple dead branches from the two city-owned honey locusts. Jenna climbed in the bucket loader and swung it around, lopping off the wood with her saw. Charlie flung a rope up into the treetops to assist his climb up, reaching areas where the bucket loader couldn’t go. Fisher stood on the ground and spotted Charlie, dangling in the air from the rope. Once they amassed a giant pile of discards, they fed the mound into a super-fast wood chipper. I enjoyed watching those amazing, dedicated people. And I wasn’t a bit surprised to learn in chatting with Fisher, that he just graduated from college and after his summer job ends, in the fall, he will begin studying to become a priest.