Balance of Nature

“They say that if a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazonian rain forest, it can change the weather half a world away.”                 ~ Catherine McKenzie  The natural world maintains its balance through diversity and interconnectedness. There are upsets and cataclysmic changes from time to time, but usually life just goes on. That is until we […]

Living on The Edge

“Edge effects are the changes in biodiversity that occur inside the space surrounding the shared edge of two or more distinct ecosystems. This transitional zone rich in biodiversity is known as the ecotone; examples are between woodlands and plains, forests and mountains, and land and water.”                 ~ Gia Mora I live in a small […]

Sun or Shade?

“Land use issues are often critical to further solar development. Renewable energy requires on average 10 times more land than fossil fuels do per unit of energy. Moreover, solar panels are site-constrained, needing to be sited where the sun shines, whereas fossil fuels can be transported and burned in areas less exposed to human interaction, or close […]

Night Lights

Van Gogh, Starry Night The area so dark, I could watch the champagne fizz of shooting stars from my bedroom window; catch a glimpse of the harvest moon while brushing my teeth. Every evening, the night pressed in against my windows in a way that felt visceral, like a velvet blanket tucking me in.                                                 […]

To Pee or Not to Pee

“By reusing something once flushed away, they say, they are taking a revolutionary step toward tackling the biodiversity and climate crises: Moving away from a system that constantly extracts and discards, toward a more circular economy that reuses and recycles in a continuous loop.”                                                 ~ Catrin Einhorn At some point in their lives, […]

All of a Piece

“Every particular in nature, a leaf, a drop, a crystal, a moment of time is related to the whole, and partakes of the perfection of the whole.”           ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson “The tides are in our veins, we still mirror the stars, life is your child, but there is in me, older and harder […]

Street Trees

To this day, its origins remain a mystery. But somehow, amid the chaotic meeting of the so-called New World and the Old, two plants from continents thousands of miles apart — an American sycamore and an Oriental plane – met and reproduced.                                 ~ Zaria Gorvett One of the nice things about the old neighborhood […]

Lunar Eclipse

MOONING — 1) To wander about or pass time languidly and aimlessly. 2) To yearn or pine as if infatuated. 3) Slang, to expose one’s buttocks in public as a prank or disrespectful gesture. (The Free Dictionary) This week we experienced a rare lunar eclipse resulting in a blood moon — a red tint due […]

Shift the Stats

“Contact with nature in cities significantly reduces feelings of loneliness, according to a team of scientists … Loneliness is a major public health concern, their research shows, and can raise a person’s risk of death by 45% — more than air pollution, obesity or alcohol abuse.”                ~ Damian Carrington It is well known that […]

It’s Not Nice To Fool (with) Mother Nature

“Hundreds of local projects to restore ecosystems on coastlines and mountains, in river valleys, forests, and grassy plains, have proved their worth in using restored nature to boost the resilience of millions of people to the ravages of onrushing climate change … Most are cheaper and more effective than any engineering alternatives, with more spinoff […]