This semester I’m teaching a course called Biosphere in Translation. It’s about how we think of ourselves as part of or apart from the natural world. Here in the US, we are steeped in what we call the “Western” worldview. This worldview sees humans as apart from Nature. Nature has things that we humans...
The winter solstice is today, when the northern hemisphere marks its shortest day length and longest night length. (It’s the summer solstice in the southern hemisphere.) Of course, the Earth doesn’t actually tilt on its axis, it’s just reached that part of its annual journey around the sun where the northern hemisphere is tilted...
Can one being make a difference for many? Over the recent Thanksgiving holiday, my brother brought me a baby oak tree that had sprouted in his yard. Barely six inches tall, it has one brown leaf clinging to the stem. It had had a few leaves and they even turned the rusty red color...
Strap in…..this newsletter will make your blood boil…. On Nov. 3, 2025, during the recent US Government Shutdown, the US EPA registered a new pesticide, epyrifenacil, for use as a “pre-plant burndown herbicide for use in canola, field corn, soybean, wheat and fallow fields,” AND, “for non-agricultural use on non-crop areas such as around...
Many of us will be giving thanks at a holiday table this week. This year, make it more than just a superficial recitation of a rote blessing for food and abundance. Have a helping of gratitude with your meal and your heart will thank you. Think about something for which you are thankful. What...
