Solistalgia

“When one is considering the universe,” Ella Frances Sanders observed in her lovely illustrated celebration of wonder, “it is important, sensible even, to try and find some balance between laughter and uncontrollable weeping.”  “Our life has become so mechanized and electronified,” said the Hungarian journalist and László Feleki “that one needs some kind of an […]

Clean Your Plate

Growing up, I was encouraged to “clean your plate!” It usually wasn’t a problem, my mother was a very good Southern, country cook and we ate well, even when we didn’t have much extra money. My older brother and I were big and had big appetites. One year, when we were in high school. our […]

Bird Bounty

“Considering that birds provide more than US $1 billion worth of pest control and pollination services annually to US farmers alone, healthy agricultural schemes that promote healthy farmland birds will be essential for securing “wins” for both people and nature.” ~ Christopher E. Latimer and Christina Kennedy Our bird feeder is a joy to watch. […]

Only Human

“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” ― Mahatma Gandhi I often read comments from various political conservatives about the need to mandate prayer in schools. Conservatives are also concerned that having Muslim immigrants in […]

Can’t See The Forest

“We wipe out whatever is complex and other and difficult to manage, and replace it with nice, easy farms and plantations full of monocultures of pigs and corn and wheat and palm oil. We like things nice and simple and symmetrical and easy to control, that’s the problem.” ~ Bibi van der Zee Reporter Jim […]

One Word: “Plastics”

“Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Benjamin: Yes, sir. Mr. McGuire: Are you listening? Benjamin: Yes, I am. Mr. McGuire: Plastics. Benjamin: Exactly how do you mean? Mr. McGuire: There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?” ~The Graduate, 1967 Plastics appear […]

Solastalgia

They say I’m old-fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast! ~ The Lorax, Dr. Seuss I found some new words recently. Maybe not new to everyone, but certainly new to me. It seems that the times we live in can create the need to invent new words — […]

If You Can’t Stand the Heat

If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back? ~ Stephen Wright Actually, we did. Growing up in Texas, summers were hot and humid, and one thing you could do was fan yourself — not unlike waving at the heat. We also learned to stay in the shade, wear cool, light clothing, drink lots […]

Ass Deep in Alligators

“When you are up to your ass in alligators, it’s difficult to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp” ~ unknown The sign hung in the engineering grad student lounge at Georgia Tech in the 1970’s — to remind us aspiring engineers to keep focused and not get distracted from our objective. […]