The secret to sustainability is long-term thinking. ~ Patty Limerick The rocks were slippery and the icy cold water was rushing quickly past, so I was quite careful as I reached out to retrieve what turned out to be a baggie caught in a riverside eddy. I used my hiking pole to skewer the bag […]
Tag Archives: people
I think that I shall never see, A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest, Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in Summer wear, A nest of robins in her hair; […]
“With climate change increasing, drought increasing, and more high rainfall events, I think there’s more of a need to incorporate permanent vegetation into agriculture systems.” Susan Stein, Director of USDA National Agroforestry Center In the movie Interstellar, the near-future world is being consumed by climate change, and one-by-one the monocultural crops that feed the world […]
I have a Fort Theory of Ecology, Fort Theory of Conservation. Every ecologist I know, every conservation biologist I know, every conservation professional I know, built forts when they were kids. If we have a generation that doesn’t know how to build a fort, we’ll have a generation that doesn’t know how to care about […]
“A little water clears us of this deed.” Lady Macbeth, The Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare As I entered the utility building I was met by a combination of unidentifiable smells. Here, the sewage plant, the water treatment plant and the solid waste incinerator for the pipeline construction camp were protected from the Alaskan winter. […]
It was cold and windy at the top of Glen Canyon Dam, and most of the fledgling engineers huddled against one of the massive concrete supports. I stood on the reservoir side staring into the distance and wondering what it had been like before the water covered it. Looking over the other rail, the narrow […]
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 […]
… 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, […]
Writes of Nature 