Our part of town is over a hundred years old with historic houses built pretty close together and aged lawns, flower beds and tree-lined streets. There are plenty of old trees and swaths of ancient shrubbery coursing through the yards and alleys. Our proximity to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains (just a few blocks […]
Author Archives: stevetarlton
“If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.” ~ President Harry Truman Climate change doomsayers predict inevitable catastrophe due to massive flooding, horrific hurricanes and tornadoes, and years-long droughts. Some of that will occur in some places, but the one climate change prediction most likely to become reality is global warming. Luckily […]
“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, Just like the ones we used to know …” ~ Irving Berlin As a kid, in Texas, I loved singing Christmas carols and could do a particularly superb job with White Christmas, Joy to The World, and the others that required throaty emphasis. (Frank, Bing and I all […]
We seem to think that expanding agricultural productivity will require more and more chemicals, and methods that are detrimental to natural ecology. There are, however, all kinds of efforts underway to capitalize on the efficient and eco-conscious use of agriculture without destroying Mother Earth. Journalist Zach Zorich reports, “According to Archaeologist John Hart, Iroquois farmers […]
Masses of people crowd the street and stalls suffocate the sidewalks while bicycles, scooters and pedicabs careen through the masses … somehow — many with stacks of boxes and other cargo precariously balancing in the back. Crowding forces people off the sidewalks and out into the streets, hindering the already impaired traffic flow. The few […]
“All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.” ~ The Platters Santa’s not the only one making a list and checking it twice. We dragged out the Christmas card and gift lists from last year (well, last several years), and cross-checked with our mostly-current address books. The Christmas card list was relatively […]
In preparation for Christmas, we dug out the previous years’ Christmas gift and Christmas card lists. I also went through the address book, noting any changes due to family situation, moves and death. The listings remind me of those who are gone and raise all kinds of memories from earlier days. It’s interesting to be […]
It’s the season of holidays — Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s — and it always feels too busy and, well, sometimes not so merry. The pressure’s on to entertain family and friends, and obtain appropriate and awesome costumes, holiday cards and gifts. Even though I’m retired, I am conscious of my routines being disrupted, and […]
“For decades, scientists have tried to figure out ways to reverse climate change by pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and storing it underground. They’ve tried using trees, giant machines that suck CO2 out of the sky, complicated ocean methods that involve growing and burying huge quantities of kelp.” ~ Shannon Osaka The prime climate change demon […]
“In a lifetime of living in this body, I have known no more powerful a homecoming than music — nothing roots us more firmly into the house of being, nothing levitates us more buoyantly to that transcendent place beyond marrow and mind.” ~ Maria Popova I remember being at our grandmother’s house, banished outside […]
Writes of Nature 