As I was walking through the woods I stopped to admire a beautiful old oak tree. Its massive trunk supports an enormous canopy with lower branches almost as large as the trunks of other nearby trees. I’m sure the tree must be several hundred years old, and I thought about all the change it must have witnessed during the course of its life at the edge of a deep ravine. Continue reading “An Old Oak Tree”
One day not too too long ago this critter sauntered up onto the lanai, hopped up on the log, and made himself at home while surveying his kingdom.
Did not pay any of us mere humans one iota of notice.
A magnificent bird !! Long may he reign !!
Best regards to all of you
Dear Readers and Dear Writers
Today is the American holiday Thanksgiving, and so I want to say thank you to everyone who has contributed to this website by stopping by and reading our articles, by sharing them with your friends, and by writing constructive and encouraging comments for the blog writers. Thank you for being people in search of new answers (which are sometimes old answers rediscovered) and new questions. Thank you for being a community of writer/readers, network-builders, and open-hearted learners. Thank you also for all you do in “the real world” to make places of beauty or clean up the messes or protect the weak.
And of course, a big huge thank you to the writers both here on this website and elsewhere for their bravery. It can be a really scary thing to put yourself out there in writing, on the net. Thank you for taking that risk again and again. We need every voice. I know it sounds clichéd but I’ve come to realize that it’s really true. We have to speak a new language and for that to happen we need every voice.
So, struggle on, my friends, with courage and good will, have a wonderful (holi)day and thank you!!!!
The annual holiday celebrations have arrived and it seems a good time to think about what we are really celebrating. It seems the historic and religious significance of these holidays have been overshadowed by consumerism. Thanksgiving and Christmas have become celebrations of consumption filled with opportunities to eat, drink, and make merry with food and gifts. It is the time of plenty (often purchased on credit), but do we really recognize when we have plenty? Perhaps it’s time to pause and think about what our consumption means and if in fact, we are happier for it.
Bill Parke of Blackview Farm, a pasture-based livestock farm that uses rotational grazing and Holistic Management practices, was nice enough to sit down with me and talk for a bit about the farming life. Continue reading “Life All Around: The Joys and Challenges of Small Farming with Bill Parke & Blackview Farm”
Who defines what an animal is? Is an animal rational or irrational? Are the animals inside of us or outside? Descartes wondered how they were different from machines. Continue reading “Actual Animals”
Please read if you will
https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2017/11/tribalism-before-and-after-the-virginia-vote/545408/
The following is a comment from the peanut gallery (author unidentified) that is at the heart of concepts that i had not been able to find the words for… Not only relating to human interactions but to our relationship to the other species and co-habitants of this planet.
Continue reading “Atlantic.com discussion of the usage of “tribe””
Hippocrates said “Let food be they medicine, and medicine be thy food.” At the doctor’s office for my annual checkup I was asked to list any herbs I take and I thought “this should be interesting.” Sure, I take herbal supplements but what about all the fresh or dried herbs I cook with or drink as tea? What about Mediterranean herbs in spaghetti, garlic in hummus, basil in pesto, chamomile or mint tea? What about carrots, sweet potatoes and squash in navy bean soup to boost our immune system and fight off colds? I asked the doctor if I should list basil in pesto and was told “No, that’s food!” (along with a look that said I must be an idiot). Well isn’t that the point, that our food is our medicine!
Dawn picks through the dark thicket
through which I’ve just come –
smudges of bloom persist like just-
poured champagne, high-scents of wild sage
and sprucetips are in the air. Manes of hyssop and
lupine glitter in the sun. Continue reading “A Jewel in the Net: Kestrel Heart”
