Nature

Ice Age of Emotions on a Warming Planet

January 14, 2013

As seen in New Times SLO Once again this nation has discharged the looney-tunes world of uncompromising gun ownership. Meanwhile, the planet no longer politely speaks and now hands us looney-tune climate conditions.  Rude is rampant. Gun fanatics scream while Mother Earth kicks us like an old tin can.  I’m feeling like I might want to resurrect one of those bomb shelters from the early 1960s. I thought correlating guns and climate change was clever and original until I searched and found […]

Rachel Carson’s Relevancy Fifty Years Later

September 26, 2012

I read Silent Spring in 1968. It changed my view of the natural world and was more than incidental in my personal growth.  Carson’s plea for moderation and close observance to what and how we walk upon this earth speaks louder today than it did 50 years ago.  Her opponents live on and rally against anything that smirks of environmentalism.  To my point of view their arguments remain shallow and manipulated.

My Catastrophic Molt

April 30, 2012

Seen also in The Cambrian A thousand or more northern elephant seals sprawled across the beach when I arrived for my volunteer docent duty yesterday.   These intrepid seals travelled about  2500 miles to this beach to lose their dead skin and old fur.  They must haul out  and remain on land for four weeks  in order to molt.  We call this shedding of the dead epidermis and old fur  a catastrophic molt. I posted myself at the very south end of the Piedras Blancas […]

Why Do Polar Bears Like To Live In The Snow?

April 2, 2012

“Good morning, Dennis,” I greeted the Russian scientist as he sipped the hot coffee we readied for the morning workshop session. (I attended as a volunteer to help the facilitator, The California Gray Whale Coalition, tend to the business of running a workshop smoothly.)

“My grandson called me this morning and wanted me to ask you a question. He wants to know, why do polar bears like to live in the snow?”

The Seduction of Tomales Bay

November 6, 2010

When we neared the first sign of civilization along Highway 1, spouse declared, “This is great! There’s nothing here.”

“Nothing” indicated a deficiency of swank hotels, chi-chi bistros, and chic boutiques. Not a Starbucks or a Pottery Barn to be found.

“Superior Intelligence…and Firepower” in the Garden

August 12, 2010

I’m agitated. I’m feeling like I want to go all Carl Spackler and build exploding clay varmints. While current politicians and news events still send me to a very large glass of wine at night, that’s not what makes me struggle with thoughts of sharp or explosive objects and chemical warfare.

Liberated Time and Some Fur for Ambassador’s Work

July 12, 2010

The good news about my unemployable circumstances  is my liberated time.  For most of my adult years unrestricted time was an illusive  luxury.  Between parenting, career building, and life maintenance, my personal quality time was like a failed reduction sauce of  limited moments with the evening news and occasional bubble baths. Yesterday, with three hours of my unhampered  time, I donned my royal blue jacket and hat that bear the official Friends of the Elephant Seal (FES) logo, and I stood on  the rocky Piedras Blancas bluffs–a place located […]