Spoiled /spɔɪld/ 1. destroyed, damaged, or no longer able to be used 2. someone…who is allowed to do or have anything they want, usually with the result that they behave badly and do not show respect.
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Black Canyon of the Gunnison
A beautiful and terrifying place. I’m not particularly afraid of heights – although, as I get older, my self-confidence with balance is faltering and my relationship with mobility workouts is intensifying – but this place was not without risk. My brother drove, and this is no knock to his driving, but not having control of the vehicle as we serpentined down the switchback road or along the cliff’s edge, closer than I would have cared to drive, it is hard not to feel a bit uneasy.
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The Tree and the Chipmunk
As the demands of summer have presented themselves, I am becoming rather aware at how infrequent my posts are being written and published – not particularly great for readership. Finding the time and willpower to write while on vacation is not something I’ve yet conquered. We recently flew out to Colorado and Utah and saw so many amazing sites, including Arches National Park, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and went to the Aspen area to hike around Maroon Bells, each of which demands its own post, which I will attempt over the coming days. Today, however, I want to talk about chipmunks.
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The Screwiest of Worms
There is so much to be worried about under Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Agriculture that it’s hard to pick which fear to unlock first. Years ago there was a show called “Monsters Inside Me” and I was obsessed. I learned that there is no greater fear than the botfly (for me) and I’ve been terrified of it since. That being said, there are far greater threats than the botfly, so I’m not saying it is a rational fear. But, unlike the botfly, the screwworm uses mammalian hosts to feed their larvae (maggots), while pupating in the soil.
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A Power [Plant] Party
A couple of weekends ago my friend hosted a power point party. In case you’ve not heard of this, this is where everyone puts together a power point on any topic they wish to discuss and presents it at the party. It sounds like work, and it sort of is, but it is also a lot of fun. I won’t detail all of the power points that were presented that day, but there was everything from how beavers are little ecosystem engineers, saving wetlands and forests to musing over what makes something a door or a window to using one’s own acid-fueled dreams to demonstrate the energy and water cost of AI by depicting said dreams as simple AI comics. That last one was both a comedy of comical comics as well as a sad realization to what we are doing to the environment for a few lolz.
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Do Fish Deserve Care?
There are times when I have found myself in a conversation with someone and I begin to feel like the proverbial lunatic. The person so detached from a reality in which everyone else has agreed to participate. At some point, I took the red pill. Or maybe I took the blue one. Who knows. In these conversations, the bottom line for the other person (or people) is always about humanity.
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Two Pollinators
Last week, the world around me began to bloom. Mother nature pulled out her paint pallet and began to dab the Eastern U.S. in a thousand different colors we haven’t seen in months.
We aren’t the only ones who are waking up to see the new world. With every bud and blossom that emerges, so does another critter. To drink and feast on the sugars and chomp on the detritus in a dizzy display.
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Transitive Healing in Nature
I’m not sure how to change, but winter is always tough for me, partly because I refuse to go outside unless I have to. The walls and windows are a comfortable barrier between me and the outdoors, keeping me warm and snuggly inside. Unfortunately, warm and snuggly does not necessarily equate a complete, harmonious state of mental wellbeing.
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Misty Mornings
I’ve no idea why, but fog is one of my favourite weather events. There was always an abundance of fog in Germany where we lived, but seeing it in the heavily populated area of Maryland is rare.
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A Winter Hug
A chill emerges.
The air freezes
Then the Earth disappears.
The ground becomes stone.
Companions stand bare and silent
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