For starters: that cover! It spoke to me immediately. But what is beneath the beautiful artwork is equally delightful. While I have enjoyed all of Sonja Yoerg’s novels, TRUE PLACES has to be my favorite, with its juxtaposition of nature and affluent suburban living. If you enjoy book club and upmarket women’s fiction in contemporary settings – … [Read more...]
Universal Well-Being And Planetary Considerations
What will it take for us to let go of our endless debates and finger-pointings over global warming or global climate change? When will we begin to truly recognize that the heart of our human existence and survival is the planet Earth and all it holds? As E. B. White noted decades ago, everything we do or hope to achieve is intimately reliant on … [Read more...]
Then The Giant Wasps Came
The odds were running high against the young Kohlrabi plants from the start. They were an impulse buy spurred on by my childhood memories of eating them raw and fresh peeled from my grandmother’s garden. I love Kohlrabi's sweet cabbagey flavor. I'd never seen Kohlrabi for sale in our local garden center before. Nor had I seen them locally … [Read more...]
Garden Nemesis Or Garden Poser?
I didn’t see him arrive, but suddenly he was there. His back to me, he boldly surveyed the garden. As if, all my hard work was his for the taking. As if, I wasn’t mere inches away. As if, he had all the time in the world. I moved closer. I knew he knew I was there, but still he didn’t budge. What did he see? What was he looking for? What … [Read more...]
Lost & Found News: Galaxies, Whale Dung, Unicorns, & Wild Horses
Lost: Carl Sagan's Billions; Earth’s Little Blue Orb Found: The Universe Has Two Trillion Galaxies Back in the 1980's, Carl Sagan captured the publics imagination with his talk of the Universe's Billions. Now, based on images collected over 20 years by the Hubble Space Telescope and the use of 3D imagining, Christopher Conselice of the … [Read more...]
Primitive Technology — Where Tiny House Meets Survivor Man
As I am neither a millennial nor a survivalist, it might seem kind of strange that I am a fan of both the “tiny house” movement and the survival/wilderness teachings of Les Stroud and Bear Grylls. I could blame it on a childhood with too many fond memories of playing with my cousins in the tiny ice fishing house my grandfather built and the decades … [Read more...]
Why Zoos?
Some time ago, I wrote a post about a co-worker’s successful captive breeding project at the zoo where I am a keeper. One of the first comments was from someone who was saddened about the animal being hatched into captivity. I explained that there is wild habitat to which this endangered turtle may one day be repatriated, so captive breeding can in … [Read more...]
Words: “… If You Only Talk About The Problem”
"... If You Only Talk About The Problem" “Speaking to thousands and thousands of people has convinced me that, if you only talk about the problem, and not the path forward, it’s almost as if people literally, physiologically–can’t hear you.” ~~ Peter Sinclair, New Video: Birthing the Solar Age ~~~ Peter Sinclair Graphic artist, … [Read more...]
More Oil, The Gulf Stream, Liability Caps and Environmental Exceptions
Have we created The Perfect Oil Storm? Don’t get me wrong, I’m an optimist by nature and a firm believer that ingenuity and determination can overcome almost any thing. While my environmental heart is broken, as someone geeky enough to enjoy watching the Robot Wars (though I’m not nearly geeky enough to build one) it is hard not to get caught up … [Read more...]