A Republican, a Democrat, a utility executive, and a construction manager walked into a bar. They had been invited by a lobbyist. There’s no punchline. This is what actually happened. I was at a renewable energy seminar in the Twin Cities. There were four people on the panel plus [...]
I grew up in the forest. I was a feral child. Alone, but connected to the earth in some ways I didn’t understand. So the forest became a haven, a parent and a teacher. That was the way it was, until I fell in love. I fell in love [...]
There is an attack against renewable energy and the environment in this country. It is being conducted by large utilities, coal, and oil companies. The impact will affect our energy policies, manufacturing, economy, and environment for decades. It is abetted by Republican state and federal legislators that are being [...]
I am camped on the Colorado outside of Moab, Utah. The river winds past willows just a few feet from my tent reflecting the red rock canyons. Unfortunately, I learned too late that across the river and upstream several hundred yards is a radioactive uranium mining tailings dump. The [...]
Pooh Bear is at the top of the stairs. Christopher Robin has him by the foot and Pooh is about to be bounced down the stairs on his head. He wonders if there is a better way to descend the stairs, but by the time his head hits the [...]
Night in Chaco Canyon Coyote willow in the wash Saltbush on the flats Grace notes of a vireo Red sunset on the rocks Ancients in their kivas Certain desperate stars Ragged upon the world The black cold desert night While the Lyrids play An effervescent game Who will ever [...]
I am on a desert walkabout. Places like Hovenweep, Canyons of the Ancients, Arches, Great Sands, Chaco. I try not to hike the main trails. It’s not that I don’t like the sights. It’s that I don’t like lots of people. Not personally. Just en masse. It’s the back [...]
Remember when you were a kid. It was August, and the summer was a thousand years long. You’d take your bicycle out past Society Road to the swimming hole on a hot day. That’s where you met Libby. Just friends then, but it felt like something else. The next [...]
The grass is yellow. It is spring and there have been no rains. The endless vista washes up against the bare Sangre de Cristo mountains. Normally this time of year, they would be sprinkled with snow like powdered sugar on a cake. Ahead of me are the great sand [...]
The Lone Ranger used them. They’re supposed to kill werewolves. They seem like a cool idea, one that could possess magical powers. But when it comes to environmental and climate messaging, they are not much good. In a previous post I covered the balance of fear and hope required [...]
