Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. ~ Arthur Ashe A few years ago I became intrigued by the concept of ‘carbon footprint’, the sum of all the greenhouse gases — like carbon dioxide — emitted by someone’s actions. Early on, the size of your footprint was represented by the […]
Tag Archives: science
“…if we build a city that allows children and youth to thrive, we are inherently building an inclusive, sustainable city for everyone.” ~ City of Toronto, quoted by Lloyd Alter A scream, shouts and high-pitched laughter. The kids down the block are engaged in some complex game that seems like an amalgam of tag, Marco […]
Now more than ever, in an age when children grow up staring at tiny screens all day and Earth itself is threatened by human heedlessness and folly, it’s critically important to protect those places and get out to experience them as often as possible. But it is not necessary to live exclusively in the world […]
To me, it is a landscape of scary places, the geography of nowhere, that has simply ceased to be a credible human habitat. ~ James Howard Kunstler, The Geography of Nowhere Some would say that urban sprawl is the major quality of life issue of our times. We see it every day, driving from our […]
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. ~ Hamlet by William Shakespeare Removing the leaves and mess on top, I reached the gooey black layer. A millipede raced away from the light and red worms squirmed to bury themselves again. The compost was ripe and ready to be harvested. I’m a lazy gardener (although […]
There is a place where the sidewalk ends And before the street begins, And there the grass grows soft and white, And there the sun burns crimson bright, And there the moon-bird rests from his flight To cool in the peppermint wind. Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black And the dark […]
Conservation is a task in which we can all join. We can be proud of the virgin flora of our state and try to see it preserved. Let us save some of the old narrow winding roads, tree branches meeting overhead, birds singing and nesting, an occasional animal darting from cover, and persuade highway builders […]
Photo by Tom Atkins “Gentlemen, it is the microbes who will have the last word.” ~ Louis Pasteur In War of the Worlds, the invading alien fleet is defeated by one of the smallest creatures on Earth, a microbe. Earth’s germs were too much for the aliens, and they died just when mankind was on […]
Shine little glow-worm, glimmer, glimmer Shine little glow-worm, glimmer, glimmer Lead us lest too far we wander Love’s sweet voice is callin’ yonder Shine little glow-worm, glimmer, glimmer Hey, there don’t get dimmer, dimmer Light the path below, above And lead us on to love* The fireflies blinked as we slid silently through the close, […]
“A man should be tall enough so that his feet touch the ground.” attributed to Abraham Lincoln How Tall Is Tom Cruise? I’ve seen him in films where he was taller than guys known to be 5′ 8”, 5′ 9”, and 6′ 0” and in photos where he was taller than his wife who was […]
