On April 12, On Wings Of Care (OWOC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of wildlife, wild habitat, and natural ecosystems, flew over ExxonMobil's Pegasus Pipeline spill in Mayflower, AR to take photos.

::::::::

Perky oil booms placed strategically to save the world.
(Image by On Wings of Care)   Details   DMCA

Is this Arkansas in Spring, or a desert wasteland?
(Image by On Wings of Care)   Details   DMCA

Combining her skills as pilot and scientist with her passion for wildlife,  Dr. Schumaker has clocked nearly 600 hours of flight time over the Gulf of Mexico,  documenting the status of wildlife,  coastal wetlands,  and offshore waters.

On Wings Of Care's four-minute video flyover is below:

Big manly equipment is dwarfed by the magnitude of the spill ...
(Image by On Wings of Care)   Details   DMCA

Only 2 portapotties? Exxon must not be planning a big party.
(Image by On Wings of Care)   Details   DMCA

The fragrance of tar sands oil fills the air ...
(Image by On Wings of Care)   Details   DMCA

A beautiful day in the neighborhood ... or it should have been!
(Image by On Wings of Care)   Details   DMCA

Just another day in paradise...
(Image by On Wings of Care)   Details   DMCA

Author's note: Bonny Schumaker of On Wings of Care is piloting the plane, and  after the Mayflower flyover, she is involved with flying 13 rescue dogs to their "fur"-ever homes. I asked her for captions and info on the photos and video when she gets a moment, but I am not sure when we might get that info. I am sure she is a great multitasker, but I don't expect her to be able to fly a plane full of 13 dogs, and text, too!  So, I decided to post the images alone, than  hold them back until I got further info.

Meryl Ann Butler is an artist, author, educator and OpedNews Managing Editor who has been actively engaged in utilizing the arts as stepping-stones toward joy-filled wellbeing since she was a hippie. She began writing for OpEdNews in Feb, 2004. She became a Senior Editor in August 2012 and Managing Editor in January, 2013. In June, 2015, the combined views on her articles, diaries and quick link contributions topped one million. She was particularly happy that her article about Bree Newsome removing the Confederate flag was the one that put her past the million mark.

Her art in a wide variety of media can be seen on her YouTube video, "Visionary Artist Meryl Ann Butler on Creativity and Joy" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcGs2r_66QE

A NYC native, her response to 9-11 was to pen an invitation to healing through creativity, entitled, "90-Minute Quilts: 15+ Projects You Can Stitch in an Afternoon" (Krause 2006), which is a bestseller in the craft field. The sequel, MORE 90-Minute Quilts: 20+ Quick and Easy Projects With Triangles and Squares was released in April, 2011. Her popular video, How to Stitch a Quilt in 90 Minutes with Meryl Ann Butler can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrShGOQaJQ8

She has been active in a number of international, arts-related projects as a citizen diplomat, and was arts advisor to Baltimore's CIUSSR (Center for Improving US-Soviet Relations), 1987-89. She made two trips to the former USSR in 1987 and 1988 to speak to artists, craftpeople and fashion designers on the topic of utilizing the arts as a tool for global wellbeing. She created the historical "First US-Soviet Children's Peace Quilt Exchange Project" in 1987-88, which was the first time a reciprocal quilt was given to the US from the former USSR.

Her artwork is in collections across the globe.

Meryl Ann is a founding member of The Labyrinth Society and has been building labyrinths since 1992. She publishes an annual article about the topic on OpEdNews on World Labyrinth Day, the first Saturday in May.

OpEdNews Senior Editor Joan Brunwasser interviewed Meryl Ann in "Beyond Surviving: How to Thrive in Challenging Times" at https://www.opednews.com/articles/Beyond-Surviving--How-to-by-Joan-Brunwasser-Anxiety_Appreciation_Coronavirus_Creativity-200318-988.html

Find out more about Meryl Ann's artistic life in "OEN Managing Ed, Meryl Ann Butler, Featured on the Other Side of the Byline" at https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/OEN-Managing-Ed-Meryl-Ann-in-Life_Arts-Artistic_Artists_Quilt-170917-615.html

On Feb 11, 2017, Senior Editor Joan Brunwasser interviewed Meryl Ann in Pink Power: Sister March, Norfolk, VA at http://www.opednews.com/articles/Pink-Power-Sister-March--by-Joan-Brunwasser-Pussy-Hats-170212-681.html

"Creativity and Healing: The Work of Meryl Ann Butler" by Burl Hall is at
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Creativity-and-Healing--T-by-Burl-Hall-130414-18.html

Burl and Merry Hall interviewed Meryl Ann on their BlogTalk radio show, "Envision This," at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/envision-this/2013/04/11/meryl-ann-butler-art-as-a-medicine-for-the-soul

Archived articles www.opednews.com/author/author1820.html
Older archived articles, from before May 2005 are here.