Happy Birthday, Blog!

In honor of this blog's birthday, here's a beautiful image I found, which is the cover to a book called, Le géant de la grande forêt. 

The book looks awesome!  

My intention for the coming year, maybe after Easter, is to try to do some more writing here.  Maybe focus on some responses to the Lectionary readings each week.  That's ambitious, I know. 

Thanks for reading!

Great Proustian (?) Green Idea

I'm basically going to cut & paste a whole bunch of Blogfish's post on the genesis of one's environmentalism and Proust. But really, you should go over there yourself and check it out. Great ideas abound!

Conservation, sensuality, and Proust

What was your first taste of conservation? Love of nature? My guess is that your senses were involved before your brain.

Maybe you saw something fantastic, or had a blissful time soaking up nature in a beautiful place.

Then what happened? You saw a threat and got worried or even angry about harm to nature?

If you're like me, you fell in love with nature first, and only later had your brain awakened to threats and the need for conservation action. You started with a loving connection to nature, and only later got all thinky and brain-centered about saving things.

This is well-said by Justin Van Kleeck over at sustainablog, where he writes

environmentalism is mostly about the amazing power and glory of nature. Indeed, environmentalism means luxuriating in the abundance of beauty lying just beyond your door. It is like a life lived within a Proust novel: every thing, every moment, is just dripping with sensuality.


I think there's a better solution, and it's found in Justin's "living community" that's "green with a heart." Rather than telling people to "grow up," we should invite them to feel connected and live their lives with a consciousness and a celebration of the connections between people and nature. That's the way to explode the myth that environmentalism is costly, gloomy, and smug.

The Built Environment

I've been thinking about the "built environment" for the past couple of days. First, it was the post on Boing Boing, originally pulled from the BBC (which is increasingly becoming my source for American news, since our own press can't seem to get its act together!). There are essentially "Hoovervilles" popping up already as a consequence of the "sub-prime meltdown." During Bush I's reign we had the "S&L scandal", but at least that just meant that working and middle class people bailed out the bankers through taxes. This time around a lot of them are losing their homes. It's sad. But I'm also wondering what it means for the the abandoned houses - the (already) built environment - that is left behind. What happens to those houses, and the land that was destroyed for them to be built? I don't think this is good news for the environment in general.

And then there was this post (I'm sorry to say I can't remember how I got there!) about an artist's envisioning of the built environment. Or landscape as museum. Beautiful. And a little bit scary, if you ask me. But gorgeous and affecting.

Finally, Garden Punks finished a review of Omnivore's Dilemma, which it sounds like I have to read. Once I get my hand on Affluenza, O.D. is next!

Newsy Bits

I've been scanning the blogosphere today, and have found several items that interested me, and I thought I'd share.

First off, ever since Lakshmi and Sam started on their domestic, open-adoption quest, I've been learning a lot about the process. They have kindly been answering my questions and helping to de-mystify the whole "open adoption" concept for me. Lakshmi turned me on to "Peter's Cross Station" and Lily Sea's post there today was amazing. I can see that there are very few "unbiased" voices for pregnant women considering adoption. And I think she is doing the right thing by blogging about it. I share her concern for my daughters if they are ever in the position of having to face an unplanned pregnancy. It gives me pause. But her post seems like it would be very helpful for any (young) woman in that situation today. So, keep it up Lily Sea!


In other news, two articles about water: 1) From Simply Cooking, how Pepsi (tm) is selling water from a drought-parched land and selling it to us at a premium. When, oh when will the bottled water craze end!? 2) How the Vintondale, PA post-mine-chemical-leaching-catastrophe reclamation is working in my own back yard of upstate PA. Thanks again to Pruned for doing such a great job blogging.

The Siren Chronicles talk about how the wave of foreclosures is helping out the homeless - they're squatting in the subdivisions!

I love the mast head at the Siren Chronicles! I just saw the Odyssey over the weekend at the
Curio Theatre, and it was AWESOME. Anyone in Philly should go check it out. It's in the beautiful Calvary Center and the setting is perfect for the retelling of Homer's epic. So great.

"Red Skies at Night"

Bear with me here, people, this will get twisty:

But today my mind has been bent around some great ideas that were brought to me by various bloggers [thank you!] and I am now reeling (and in one case swooning) all over again.

First, I visited (r)Evolutionary (neofauvist) Art, where Cristian René started out talking about a beautiful sunset he saw last night. Here in Philly, we also had a spectacular evening sky, sorta "Red Skies at Night." He made a beautiful picture, and then quoted Byron. Here's the poem:

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods
from Childe Harold, Canto iv, Verse 178

THERE is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.

- Lord Byron

Which immediately made me think of my most favorite Byronic Hero - Mr. Edward Rochester. What a dream-boat, especially as played by Toby Stephens (in the BBC 2006 version). [sigh]

I just want you all to know that I am not alone in adoring Mr. Rochester. I guess, (from this article) Charlotte Bronte was a huge fan of Byron's and so created Mr. Rochester as an homage. It says, "Jane Eyre is no ordinary romance, and it seems in keeping with the novel's gothic atmosphere that its hero should be decidedly Byronic."

And after reading Pruned, again this morning, I think that a there's an added dimension to Jane's character, that I never really saw before, or at least couldn't put into words. But I just learned this new word today: Phytoremediation.

Phytoremediation is a general term used to describe various mechanisms by which living plants alter the chemical composition of the soil matrix in which they are growing. Essentially, it is the use of green plants to clean-up contaminated soils, sediments, or water. The word "phytoremediation" is from the Greek prefix phyto- meaning "plant" and the Latin root word remidium- meaning "to correct or remove an evil". In soil, the "evil" could be anthropogenic (man-made) contaminants such as organic solvents, heavy metals, pesticides, or radionuclides.

Jane is "planted," by chance in Thornfield, a cold, barren place, (the name says it all!) and brings warmth and love to Rochester. She draws out the poison, the evil, and allows Mr. Rochester to be free of the horrors of his past. [The plant's name is "pennycress," isn't that appropes for Jane Eyre??]

Still with me? Yeah, it's a stretch, but it's what's rolling around in my head today.

The End of the 'Burbs!?

The End of the Suburbs is nigh? Really?! That's great... for the environment, but are all those people going to move back into the city? and if they do, what'll happen to their McMansions? They'll be my NEIGHBORS?!

There's been a lot of writing about how, what with the mortgage foreclosures, and the credit crisis and all, suburban sprawl will end. One can only hope. It would take a monumental shift in culture and attitude, as the NYT points out, but it may be what happens, given the crunch that a huge number of regular people are facing.

The Atlantic Monthly, in its article, however, points out that once the exurbs are vacant, the land still has pipes under it and roads all over it. It's not like it can easily be "re-purposed" back into wilderness or farmland. Which is the whole argument against sprawl in the first place. Instead, the housing is likely to become modern-day tenement housing run by slumlords. Great.

It would have been nice if the people planning the exurbs had taken a look at former suburbs. And what ends up happening to parcels of land when individual families start living in a place. The Human Flower Project has a nice piece about small gardens in Cambridge, and how they vary. Some are used as parking spaces, some are actually used for green of various kinds.

I guess it's all a matter of perspective. I now live in what was once a suburb of Philadelphia, now well within the city limits. I favor dense "green" living and local farmland that produces food over sprawl and buying food from other countries. But not so long ago, my house was in the 'burbs, and my food came to the 'hood by train. I guess it's a matter of degrees... "food for thought!" :)

P.S. If you've read this far, and you live in or near Philly and/or care about science, there is a move afoot to try to get the candidates to attend a Presidential Debate on Science. The debate is scheduled for April 18 at The Franklin Institute. For more information, go here. Found this exciting news on the Bad Astronomy Blog.

Bird Sighting: Hermit Thrush

Well, who would've thunk, that here in Philly I'd see a pair of Hermit Thrushes in my back yard?! I saw them through the window and watched them eat berries of a vine. They are beautiful! And if you go to the Cornell Ornithology site, you can hear their song - which is amazing.

Back in the day, Robert J. Lurtsema, radio host for WFCR, Amherst, used to play a tape of bird songs early in the morning. [I could never understand how grown-ups would want to get out of bed listening to the soothing birds singing all morning, but whatevs.] Hearing those thrushes in the "Back 40" brings me back....

Al Gore in the News

Just read about Al Gore's latest honor. As you may have gathered, I think he's on the right track. That we need to do a better job with the environment - but we need to talk about it in terms that are manageable. That it WILL actually make a positive impact if each of us does our part to help the planet. I like that concept.

Upon doing a little research at my favorite Patron Saint site, I found out that St Francis of Assisi (one of my faves) and Kateri are both patron saints for Environmentalists.

I love this image of Kateri by my favorite icon painter, Robert Lentz. She was from New York State, Mohawk Iroquois Nation, adopted by the Turtle Clan - the symbols are all there - the birch trees, the background color (feels like the inside of a forest to me), and the turtle. Apparently,

in her right hand she bears one of the most important symbols of her culture, the tree of peace. By the mid-15th century, blood feuds had almost destroyed her people. A holy man named Dekanawidah appeared, preaching peace and reconciliation. He taught that all people were brothers and sisters and that differences were better resolved by discussion than war. Through his influence, the five Iroquois tribes formed a unified government and stopped fighting among themselves. The symbol of this vision was a huge tree under which all peoples could find peace. When more people would come, the branches of the tree would simply grow longer. An eagle lived at the top of the tree and warned the people whenever peace was threatened. The tree, like all the earth, rode on the back of a giant turtle’s back. *

Keep up the great work, Al!

* Excerpts from Jones, Terry H., "Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha" Patron Saints Index, from Trinity Stores' website all rights reserved.

John the Baptist

This is the kind of image of John the Baptist I like much better. It's done in a Mexican "retablo" style. It's much less fussy than the last image I posted, and the imagery is all there. You can see the banks of the River Jordan, John's animal skin clothing, his shaggy beard. All that's missing are the locusts and a honeycomb.

My cousin, Anthony, told me that the style of cross he holds, a long, thin reed-like cross, shows that John was martyred. He was beheaded for Herodias (a.k.a. Salome) - that's another story for another time[Mark 6:14 - 29].

John is pointing away from himself and the water, towards heaven. He says, "I baptize with Water, but the one who comes after me will baptize with the Spirit" [Matthew 3:11] which comes down from heaven, in the form of a bird, when John baptizes Jesus [Matthew 3:16].

I love that John led a simple life. That he relied on the land. I like that he comforted people by washing away their sins. I like that his was "a cry heard in the wilderness." I have felt, at various times in my life, that I needed to hear that cry, or that I needed to be led out of the wilderness. And whenever that feeling comes up, I try to find an image of John the Baptist to make me feel better.

He is considered the "precursor" to Jesus. He is a bridge in many ways: between the Old and New Testaments - the old and new prophets, for some, between the disciples and us, between Jesus' family and the rest of the world. The story goes that he was born 6 months before Jesus. [Luke 1 26 - 38 *] John's feast day is on June 24th, and apparently it was celebrated in the same way as Christmas day is in the Church.

The whole liturgy of the day, repeatedly enriched by the additions of several popes, was in suggestiveness and beauty on a part with the liturgy of Christmas. So sacred was St. John's day deemed that two rival armies, meeting face to face on 23 June, by common accord put off the battle until the morrow of the feast (Battle of Fontenay, 841). "Joy, which is the characteristic of the day, radiated from the sacred precincts. The lovely summer nights, at St. John's tide, gave free scope to popular display of lively faith among various nationalities. Scared [sic] had the last rays of the setting sun died away when, all the world over, immense columns of flame arose from every mountain-top, and in an instant, every town, and village, and hamlet was lighted up" (Guéranger). The custom of the "St. John's fires", whatever its origin, has, in certain regions, endured unto this day. Citation

Now, as I posted about before, one of the things that fascinates me about the Church and the Liturgical Calendar, is its use of the agrarian calendar, how it incorporated local people or deities into Saints, and scheduled saints' days for important days in the Solar calendar (like Christmas, Candlemas, Easter, Plain Time, Michaelmas,All Souls Day/Halloween). "St John's fires" are likely an adoption of the fires associated with Mid-Summer celebrations which involved fires burning all night, dancing and feasting. Citation

The similarity between the Winter and Summer Solstice dates and Jesus' and John's birthdays is not a coincidence. There are no real markers in the Bible to tell us when either would have been born, only that John was 6 months before Jesus (if you take the angels' word for it in the Annunciation * story).

John says, "As I decrease, he will increase." like the Sun, whose light decreases every day from Summer Solstice (June 21 or so) to Winter Solstice (December 21st or so). From Jesus' birthday, Light increases. Nice. I will probably talk even more about this in coming posts, but this is one of the things that fascinates me about religion and spirituality. It's like water which will always find its own level, and seep into our lives. The old religions didn't disappear, they just morphed. The cycle of Nature is still important, and visible.

I use the Church calendar to help remember the natural cycle of life, which makes my spirituality (or my religion, whichever you prefer) more relevant for me.