We are stardust, we are golden, And we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden Joni Mtchell, Woodstock One version has it starting with a big bang. Out of the void, a massive explosion spews matter and energy to form the universe. Another has a benevolent spirit creating the universe, then the earth, in […]
Category Archives: human nature
… It is not a sentimental but a grimly literal fact that unless we share this terrestrial globe with creatures other than ourselves, we shall not be able to live on it for long. Joseph Wood Krutch The other night our big cat, Betty, sat by the closed French door staring out through the glass. […]
Every fall when I rake the yard, I get distracted by the detritus among the leaves. Across the street there’s a giant horse chestnut tree that produces interesting brown nuts that roll when you try to rake them. The squirrels vie for them, and often I find one in the street. The nuts are about […]
“It is past time to broaden the discussion of the human future and connect it to the rest of life.” Edward O. Wilson My view from the light rail car was instructive. All along the route, new condos and apartments were replacing old, tattered single family homes and shabby duplexes. As we crossed to downtown, […]
“A food system organized around subsidized monocultures of corn and soy … guzzled tremendous amounts of fossil fuel … and in the process emitted tremendous amounts of greenhouse gas. … the types of food that can be made from all that subsidized corn and soy … bears a large measure of responsibility for the steep […]
“Bwahahaha, I vant to bite your neck!” he exclaimed as he leaned over the pretty young girl mesmerized by his crazy eyes. Scrunched down in the theater seat, I had to hide my eyes behind my hands, so I missed the next part except for the wretched scream — but my imagination filled in the […]
They flew in a ragged formation above the beach, but something seemed off. “They’re flying backwards!” I realized. A strange sight — but a familiar feeling. We were dealing with the aftereffects of a Pacific typhoon along the Oregon coast; the waves were huge and the winds terrific. A rare tornado touched down in the […]
I grew up in a family that hunted and fished and valued the natural world. My father was an amateur naturalist and passed those tendencies on to us kids. As an attorney, he had a close relationship with many of his clients who were ranchers and farmers, and he shared with us what he understood […]
My friend was trying to explain the concept to me, “My people lived here for centuries,” he waved his hand across the the plains in front of us, “We moved our homes with the seasons, and roamed all over — hunting, fishing and collecting plants for food, medicine and religious purposes.” He indicated the mountains […]
The whole world is festering with unhappy souls The French hate the Germans, the Germans hate the Poles Italians hate Yugoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch And I don’t like anybody very much!! “Merry Minuet” The Kingston Trio I’ve been rereading some of the juvenile fiction books I read as a kid, and found them […]
Writes of Nature 