It is eerily still, like the small town without birds or sounds in the opening fable of Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring”, as self-isolation sweeps across the nation, along with the corona virus. Big crowds and the incessant visibility of celebrities, sports figures, politicians and the powerful have ceased.
It is an early spring. It has been for some time. Spring this year, thanks to global warming, has been tentative, slowly opening in February, buds and small flowers peeking out a window cautiously, as if a sudden freeze could still nip them in the bud.
My mood elevates, despite the automotive din, as a few chickadees and titmice arrive to greet me from nearby branches.
As soon as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi announced the initiation of an impeachment inquiry into the actions of President Donald Trump, the RCC signed on in support of a pro-impeachment rally.
“Many children…delight in the tiniest things” – Rachel Carson
The antidote to our rush to destruction and hate, Carson believed, was in developing empathy and love for all living things.
The climate crisis, like the threat of nuclear war at the height of the Cold War, needs a rallying cry, and it needs action — fast. 05-14-19
This winter, when it was often cold and rainy, I watched with delight as robins hopped and jumped and dangled from the small branches of my backyard holly tree to get to and gobble its small clusters of bright red-orange berries. 03-11-19
As the first snow flurries begin to fall, I rush to put out extra seed in my yard. Within seconds, a junco appears beneath the feeders, as if beamed in from Canada. 01-14-19
My close observation of the details of asters — call it a fixation or fascination if you will — has allowed me to find out a number of things as I took breaks from my equally obsessive attention to this year’s critical election. 11-11-18