“I think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt As the story is told by comedian Stephen Fry, the early Persian Shah wanted someone to give him a game that relied on intellect, not chance. That […]
Category Archives: human nature
“Blue skies smilin’ at me, Nothin’ but blue skies do I see.” ~ Irving Berlin, Blue Skies Take a deep breath, then exhale. You have just accomplished what every tree, indeed, all vegetation, accomplishes continuously. But unlike humans, trees absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen. That — trees replenishing our oxygen — is what makes […]
As we walked into town for breakfast, up ahead I saw him rise from his spot on the planter in the shade to pick up an empty plastic water bottle that had blown down the street. He tossed it into the trash can and reclaimed his spot. As we passed, he avoided eye contact, but […]
“I knew when I had looked for a long time,” she writes, “that I had hardly begun to see.” ~ Nan Shepherd, quoted in Landmarks, Robert Macfarlane, 2015 When I drive, I try to be conscious of my surroundings — other traffic, buildings or pedestrians and the surrounding scenery. But in traffic, my attention stays […]
“Okay,” the young student volunteer said, taking a break from collecting native grass seeds, “we’re going to use these to replant all that disturbed ground,” she pointed over to the old nuclear weapons manufacturing plant site, “then global warming will come along and turn it all into a desert. What’s the logic in that?” Several […]
“Sometimes it is a little better to travel than to arrive.” Robert M. Persig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance “It’s the week of the fourth,” he said, “and every bastard from Texas to North Dakota is coming to Colorado in a forty-five foot RV full of kids, pulling two trailers loaded with ATV’s […]
It was late spring before I got around to the first lawn-mowing this year, and of course, I found out that the mower needed a new battery. It took a while to find one, so I borrowed a mower to finish the job. Now, with some delayed rains, the grass is taller and ready to […]
“It is true that I remember the terrains over which I have walked barefoot differently, if not necessarily better, than those I have walked shod. I recall them chiefly as textures, sensations, resistances, planes and slopes: the tactile details of a landscape that often pass unnoticed. They are durably imprinted memories, these footnotes, born of […]
I once thought that all the sky Was filled with flying things, In every breath of wind I felt The rush of feathered wings. I thought the sea was filled with fins And tails and scales and more; That when I neared the ocean’s edge, That seeing me, they’d roar. The land, of course, a […]
“New Urbanism is an urban design movement which promotes environmentally friendly habits by creating walkable neighborhoods containing a wide range of housing and job types.” – Wikipedia New Urbanism is one of our primary tools against sprawl. Greater density, alternative transportation, layered development, increased diversity — all contribute to a more efficient community. I had […]
