In 1976, naturalist T. H. Watkins published, John Muir’s America. He must have felt that he knew Muir’s soul so well that he composed three imaginary conversations with the venerable old mountain man. The first dialogue began on the veranda of Muir’s home in Martinez, Ca. The two men discussed many ecological topics as they … [Read more…]
In addition to the typical turkey dinner, with all of the fixin’s, Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to pause, reflect and give thanks for the unspeakably perfect gift of life. Without this, nothing else makes any biological sense. Thomas Edison regarded himself as an agnostic, however he did concede that the universe was too amazingly … [Read more…]
My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! The Child is father of the Man; And I could wish my days to be Bound … [Read more…]
An old English proverb suggests: “It’s an ill wind that blows nobody good†The recent fires throughout Napa and Sonoma Counties qualify as Ill Winds. It is common practice for California Dept. of Forestry officials to name fires by their place of origin. Ergo, the fire that destroyed over 3,500 Santa Rosa homes and businesses … [Read more…]
Excerpt: Biodesign Out For A Walk. “He’s freakin’ nuts if he thinks I am going to sleep up there!†Although I think the student who muttered these words was half kidding, I was in good company. 130 years ago, John Muir was often regarded as a tramp, bum, social misfit and perhaps most demeaning, “a … [Read more…]
Sometimes it is aggravating when IT “reads†my posts and sends me links and ads that “they†think I will like (or buy). However, this was not the case when, after I posted the blog involving Darwin, Mozart and Sunny Choi. Quite mysteriously, a YouTube video of Yeol Eum Son’s performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto … [Read more…]
It is a rare human being (especially male) who is not vexed by being shown that his logic is faulty. Charles Darwin did not belong to that group and reportedly became furious when Alfred Wallace pointed out that his Theory of Evolution did not explain the origin of exceptional human talents involving music, mathematics and … [Read more…]
In the spring of 1986, the Biodesign class from St. Helena High School traveled to Mendocino, Ca. to explore the world-famous pygmy forest. They had also been invited to participate in a pottery workshop led by Sasha Makovkin, renowned potter, naturalist and philosopher, whose studio was among the dwarf trees. As he transformed amorphous lumps … [Read more…]
Although, as a little boy, I attended Sunday school at the little white church in Oakville, Ca., my spiritual search was low-key at best until I was 31 and Lettie asked her fateful question: “Is memorizing all the parts of a fetal pig really important?†(Biodesign Out For A Walk, chap. 1. “Genesis: Lettie’s Question.â€) … [Read more…]
“One day’s exposure to mountains is better than a cartload of books.†– John Muir “Red exhaustion rips at your throat and salt sweat spills off your forehead and mats your eyelids and brows… The long distant runner is paid by the snap of a white thread across his chest. You are paid by the … [Read more…]