The Nature of Things

I think Linda Pastan's poem speaks for all of us who find solace in books. For life is continuous as long as they wait to be read—these inked paths opening into the future, page after page, every book its own receding horizon. The Bookstall by Linda Pastan Just looking at them I grow greedy, as if they were freshly baked loaves waiting on their shelves to be broken open—that one and that—and I make my choice in a mood of exalted luck, browsing among them like a cow in sweetest pasture. For life is continuous as long as they wait to be read—these inked paths opening into the future, page after page, every book its own receding horizon. And I hold them, one in each hand, a curious ballast weighting me here to the earth.

A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment : A Black-necked Stilt searches for tasty bits in a flooded field at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas coast.  *~*~*~* A new study shows that it is possible for the United States to achieve at least 90% of its energy from renewable sources by 2035. Not only is that feasible, it would also be cheaper. *~*~*~* The current administration in Washington has reversed rules promulgated during the Obama administration (of course!) that forbade baiting bears in Alaska with things like donuts in order to shoot them. The rules also made it illegal to shoot caribou while they were swimming. *~*~*~* The lead researcher on a new study says there is not a nook or a cranny on Earth where plastic cannot be found. It is in the water, it is in the soil, it is in the air we breathe. *~*~*~* A study of milkweed in California found that this only source of nourishment for Monarch butterfly caterpillars was contaminated with 62 di...

Who knew that "influencer culture" was a thing? Who even knew there were such people as "influencers," people whose entire existence seems to be built around their ability to get you to buy stuff? Well, you knew, of course, because you are "hip" and "with it" and totally clued in to life on the internet. But me? I only live on the outer fringes of that circle and I admit to being pretty clueless about a lot of things. I only became aware of influencer culture when I picked up Jennifer Weiner's latest book. Weiner guides us on a heady romp through that culture as we follow her character, Daphne Berg. Daphne, you see, is one of those influencers. A not very influential influencer on the great scale of things but she has her followers and fans. She is a plus-size woman who was previously a plus-size teen and a plus-size child. Daphne is fat, and she has accepted that fact and she now expounds the philosophy of body-acceptance through her various...

This is another series I have avidly followed over the years. Dr. Siri, the one-time state coroner, now retired, of Laos, has been a delightful companion through all the previous fourteen books of the series, but now the author and publisher tell us number fifteen will be the last. I'm thinking that is probably a good thing. This one seemed a bit stale and the plot is basically the same one that has served the author well throughout the series, but perhaps it is time to give it a rest. It is 1981 and Laos is still struggling to make a go of its newly installed socialist government. That was the revolution that Siri and his best friend Civilai and his now-wife Madame Daeng had supported and fought for during all the years of the struggle. But their victory has been bittersweet. Corruption is rampant in the new government and it has not brought the succor and relief to the ordinary citizens of the country that the revolutionaries had once dreamed of. Now, both Siri and the twentieth ...

This is the twenty-second entry in Charles Todd's historical fiction series featuring Inspector Ian Rutledge. It's been a quality series throughout and this latest one is really one of the best in my opinion. It begins, as always, with Inspector Rutledge being sent to a small village to solve a murder, this time of an unknown young woman. But, unlike the usual plots, Rutledge gets lucky and solves the case quickly. He gives a name to the woman and identifies her unexpected murderer and heads back to London. Arriving at Scotland Yard, he finds that his boss, the odious Chief Superintendent Jameson, is pleased with his quick resolution to the case but unhappy about another ongoing case. Another unknown young woman had been found murdered at Avebury, her body found among the ancient standing stones there. Rutledge's colleague Chief Inspector Brian Leslie had been sent to investigate but he had found nothing but dead ends. He wasn't even able to name the woman and his repor...

There is only one poem that speaks for the events of these past two weeks. It is by the great African-American poet Langston Hughes. He wrote it in 1935. It might have been written yesterday. I've featured his poem here before, but it has never been more apt than it is now. Read his words, Americans, and take them to heart. They are words already written on the hearts of the thousands upon thousands of peaceful protestors of many races and creeds who have taken to the streets in recent days to demand an end to police brutality, to say the names of and demand justice for those murdered by the police and police wannabes. They make me proud and give me hope that maybe this time things really will be different. Most of all, they give me hope that... Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,   The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies, We, the people, must redeem The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers. The mountains and the endless plain— All, all the stretch of these ...

A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment : A female Eastern Bluebird checks out a nest box. *~*~*~* The United States president continues to take advantage of our distraction by the pandemic and now the protests against police brutality against black people in order to roll back every possible environmental protection rule that he can. When this toxic presidency is finally over, it may take a generation to undo the damage he has done, if, in fact, it can all be undone.   *~*~*~* This has been "Black Birders Week," a response to the recent notorious incident in Central Park when a white woman called the police on a black male birder who had had the temerity to ask her to leash her dog. It is the hope of organizers to call attention to the racial disparity in the hobby where black people are under-represented and to encourage more black people to get out and enjoy the wonders of Nature. *~*~*~* A new study estimates that as many as five hundred species m...