My earliest memory of a river is the one behind Bobby Rorey’s house. At the bottom of his large sloping backyard, a brown river rolled slowly through this suburban neighborhood. It was about a stone’s throw across (one of mine mind you) and I do not remember ever swimming in it, although I do remember wading through riffle areas–places where the river turned shallow and ripples danced lightly over buried stones. Along its banks we would play, following paths possibly made by deer, although we did not know that then, or more likely made by adventurous children following the meanders through the neighborhoods and surrounding farmlands. This river seems to be one that appears in my dreams at night at times, and to be honest I’m not sure if some of my memories are not in fact dreams of this place. I remember going down the river further than we had ever gone and watching a giant bull through a fence, but there is a dreamlike quality to the memory that brings into question if it is the memory of an event or the memory of a dream. Continue reading Significance of Rivers
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It was in fifth grade that I decided to become a scientist. The inspiration came not because I actually new what a scientist did, but through a book. Before I had read this revelatory text, my impression of what scientists did came from the movies. They had four standard attributes that would allow anyone to recognize one at a glance: (1) a muffed and wild hair style, Continue reading My Scientific Hero I thought I would give you a sense of my work in science to give a better context for what I do for a living. Plus since it involves both evolution and climate change it gives me a chance to promote two of my favorite topics and the focus of this blog! So what do I do? I study tsetse flies. Here is a picture:  http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/887/20001636.JPG Continue reading Tsetse flies: Why evolution and climate change matter As I contemplate the New Year, I’ve been thinking about manmade semi-wild places and what they mean to me. I’m about to teach a class called Religion and the Environment. I’ve watched with interest the debates this year about protecting wild places. And while I love the wild places, lately I’ve been thinking about the sort-of wild places: parks, orchards, and places the canal on which I take my daily jog. Continue reading Schenk Forest and Orchards
I do not think running meant anything until I had been in the Army for a couple of years. We went on two-mile runs on a regular basis, but I hated it. We ran in formation in long lines, singing songs led by a drill sergeant who would shout a line and we would return it or shout back given responses. I wish I could remember some of these, but they have all disappeared except for fragments like, “A yellow bird, (echo) with a yellow bill, (echo) was sitting on, (echo) my windowsill.” Where the (echo) was us echoing what the cadence caller had just shouted/sang. There was lots of swearing. Continue reading Running on our inner ape Starhawk’s book, Earth Path, offers the following blessing on a compost pile. (There really is something very magical and trusting about even thinking of offering a blessing on a compost pile):
I hope the strange and personal aspects of the following won’t put anyone off too much. It’s a little more serious than I usually am on this blog. Apologies up front. In the early eighties as a BYU student I had ear-marked part of my paycheck to help save the whales. Since then, ‘save the whales’ as become so hackneyed that even unswerving environmentalists smile at the kitschy phrase. But at the time I really was concerned with protecting these great creatures (and still am actually). It was being reported in the news at the time that the great blue whale and many other species of marine mammals were on the verge of extinction and urgent action was needed. However, at the same time that I became aware of the whales’ crisis, a movement called Food for Poland had just been launched at BYU by one of my heroes, Eugene England, to alleviate Regan’s suspension of aid to the bedraggled satellite of the Soviet Empire. Continue reading The current financial crisis as a symptom of our relationship with whales I love urban myths. Here’s a doozy. Volcanoes put out more C02 than humans. In fact, I even heard one that said, Volcanoes put out more C02 in a day than humans do in a year. Well, just in case you check the paper every morning to look at current eruptions to decide whether you’ll drive your vehicle into work in the morning or take public transportation—take the public. Continue reading Volcanoes? A good reason to ignore climate change? Every once in a while, there is a perfect storm. A moment in time when all the elements necessary to define and structure flawlessness of form and function come together. These moments are rare. It takes the magic of coincidence. The alchemy of circumstance, combined with a kind of purity that only occasionally emerges. Such was the case in 1959 when Edward D. Wood Jr. wrote and directed the most astonishing film ever made. Continue reading Plan 9 and Malachi agree! It’s time to act on Climate Change Please read my post on The Las Vegas Stylings of Science before you read this one–it relies on it heavily. In January 1991 I heard Al Gore give his Global Warming talk. It was in PowerPoint then too. It was at a meeting of environmental statisticians in New Orleans. Of course, then, Brother Gore’s hockey stick graph was a little shorter and we had not had the hot 90’s to add to his arsenal. Continue reading The Great Global Warming Hoax Hoax |
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