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Tag Archives: Nature
In the Company of Trees
In the Company of Trees is a little volume of photos and reflections on trees, a pleasant mixture of science and cultural writing peppered with arboreal quotes — though not, curiously, the classic “I think that I shall never see … Continue reading
The Hidden Life of Deer
There’s a buck mounted in my living room, but it’s not a head: it’s a large photograph of one standing at a stream in the woods, dawn light softly illuminating the morning mist. I find deer, second to horses, utterly … Continue reading
One Life at a Time, Please
One Life at a Time, Please© 1988 Ed Abbey204 pages Ed Abbey’s final few years were spent in obsessive work, as he knew he was dying and wanted to make provisions for his family. The Fool’s Progress and One Life … Continue reading
Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews
Tagged American Southwest, anarchism, Edward Abbey, essays, Nature, sports and outdoors, travel
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Alabama’s Amazon
Saving America’s Amazon: Our Most Biodiverse River System is Under Siege© 2020 Ben Raines200 pages The Mobile river delta is one of the most biologically diverse places on Earth, but few know and still fewer appreciate this: for thousands of … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews, science
Tagged Alabama, ecology, Nature, Politics-CivicInterest, science
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A Furious Sky
A Furious Sky: The Five Hundred Year History of America’s Hurricanes© 2020 Eric Jay Dolin415 pages A Furious Sky is a history of hurricanes in American history, opening with Columbus’ attempts to warn a rival governor of imminent danger and … Continue reading
Of Mars, Antarctica, and the human condition
Mars is a cold tease, an object of immediate interest to anyone who believes humanity needs to continue to venture outward. It’s neither so hostile or so far from us to preclude manned missions entirely, and it has its own resources that … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews, science
Tagged anthropology, Astronomy, evolution, geology, natural history, Nature, science
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The Old Man and the Boy
The Old Man and the Boy© 1957 Robert Ruark303 pages Of the various titles on my Classics Club Strikes back list, The Old Man and the Boy is something of an outlier; I’d venture to say that most people haven’t … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews
Tagged 1910s, 1920s, Classics Club Strikes Back, Nature, Of Boys and Men, outdoors, Robert Ruark, Southern Literature, sports and outdoors
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You are not so smart, and animals are not so dumb: a science twofer
Last week I read You Are Not So Smart, an often interesting if sometimes trivial review of how mental shortcuts get us in trouble. My reading of Suspicious Minds led into this, and they shared some common ground. The shortcuts … Continue reading
Selections from “Becoming Wild”
“Until now, culture has remained a largely hidden, unappreciated layer of wild lives. Yet for many species, culture is both crucial and fragile. Long before a population declines to numbers low enough to seem threatened with extinction, their special cultural … Continue reading
Resist Much, Obey Little
Resist Much, Obey Little: Remembering Ed Abbey© 1996 James Hepworth & Gregory McNamee254 pages To the States or any one of them, or any city of the States, Resist much, obey little,Once unquestioning obedience, once fully enslaved,Once fully enslaved, no … Continue reading
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