My family lore holds that some of my forefathers (foreparents?) were Scots-Irish and the rest were English. There always seemed to be a divide in the extended family between the “rough side” and the “polished side” attributed to these genealogical differences. As I understood it, the Scots-Irish were originally poor Scots who had no land […]
“It is past time to broaden the discussion of the human future and connect it to the rest of life.” E.O. Wilson, Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life Extinctions. Habitat loss. Climate change. We are wreaking havoc on the natural world. In spite of his dire warnings, E.O. Wilson is relatively upbeat about our chances […]
“We do not seek to imitate nature, but rather to find the principles she uses.” (attributed to) R. Buckminster Fuller “Our task is to make cities function more like natural landscapes.” Nature’s Fortune, Mark Tercek and Jonathan Adams “A companion rock? Really? Can’t we just move the tree and leave the rock here?” my buddy […]
As I sat on a bench overlooking Clear Creek, the noise from the nearby highway was discernible, but not too intrusive. I could hear the creek below me and the kid noises from the playground across the creek. Broken sunlight through the clouds, light wind; I felt stress drain away and my batteries recharge. It […]
I never thought about heights until we went hunting down on a ranch in the Texas Big Bend. The place was huge, and the rancher drove us around in his war-surplus jeep looking for deer down in the canyons. He would drive fast across the rough terrain, steer for the edge of the canyon, then […]
“Easy to be hard, easy to be cold.” Three Dog Night At twenty below, I wasn’t sure the car would start, but it turned over quickly. The heater under the battery had worked, as had the oil plug heater. Apparently the dipstick heaters were overrated, so I had gone with the local mechanic’s advice. For […]
As instructed, I lay on my back and wiggled into the narrow opening. It was tight, and my headlamp did little to light up the darkness beyond the gap. Scraping through, I took a deep breath, and my chest pressed against the massive rock above me. Stuck! Fighting panic, I breathed out and wriggled the […]
In his cage, the young skunk lowered his head and stamped his front feet. “Tap-tap; tap-tap.” Then, he lunged forward, tail in the air, stopping less than a foot from my face. He would repeat this dance twice, but on the third lunge, he would swing his butt around and spray, aiming for my eyes. […]
“Little Egypt came out struttin’, wearing nuttin’ but a button and a bow.” The Coasters As I sang by the bonfire, the adults laughed and the kids were embarrassed. The fire kept us warm in the night breeze off the ocean, and the sand sifted beneath us as we passed the wine around and ate […]
Those who hear not the music think the dancers mad. Unknown “Either faster or slower,” Sammy said, “You’ll kill us at this speed.” I slowed down as the pickup throbbed across the curve, the tires jolting each bump in the washboard texture of the dirt road. The throbbing stopped and I regained control. Pulling his […]
Writes of Nature 