Modern science and technology have given us the engineering techniques to maesure, analyze, and take apart the immediate neighborhood, including the neighbors. but this knwoledge adds not much to our understanding of thigns. ‘Knowledge is power,’ said Francis Bacon, reat great-grandfather of the nuclear age. Power, exactly- hat’s been the point of the game all along. But power does not lead to wisdom, even less to understanding. Sympathy, love, phsycal contact-touching- are better means to so fine an end. -51

This passage reminded me of our Whitman reading from the first day of class. Regardless of who is an “expert”, or how much we know of something scientifically, there is still a sense of awe that cannot be replaced by facts, data sets, experiments within a lab. Wisdom can be sent to you in numerous capacities, from sources that may not be accepted as those that usually gant people knowledge and understanding. Sometimes we need to look within to connect with something or to best grasp a concept, rather than look to the greater scientific communit for something that has been agreed upon and tested using variables and hypothesis.

To each their own.

The leaves we see piled along curbs or packed into bags in the winter are not so great for the environment. The freely piled leaves get into the sewage system and can cause algae and affect water quality, and those in bags end up in landfills. These articles suggest leaving leaves on lawns is beneficial for soil regeneration, food for animals during the winter months, and fertilization that occurs from leaf breakdown. Instead of raking and piling leaves they suggest “leave the leaves”, mulch the leaves, and/or compost them.

http://www.wfsb.com/story/30459245/uconn-laboratory-manager-explains-importance-of-not-raking-leaves
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2015/11/08/1-leaf-removal-isnt-good-for-environment.html

“In a pleasant spring morning all men’s sins are forgiven. Such a day is a truce to vice. While such a sun holds out to burn, the vilest sinner may return. Through our own recovered innocence we discern the innocence of our neighbors. You may have known your neighbor yesterday for a thief, a drunkard, or a sensualist, and merely pitied or despised him, and despaired of the world; but the sun shines bright and warm this first spring morning, recreating the world, and you meet him at some serene work, and see how it is exhausted and debauched veins expand with still joy and bless the new day, feel the spring influence with the innocence of infancy, and all his faults are forgotten” (Thoreau 341).

This impression of spring expressed by Thoreau struck me. Everything does seem new and innocent in the spring, and he extends this to man.

“In the spring the wish to wander is partly composed of an unnamable irritation, born of long inactivity; in the fall the impulse is more pure, more inexplicable, and more urgent.” (Dillard 249).

This impression of spring, as well as fall, expressed by Dillard also stood out to me. She has observed that the bustle of and wish to wander in spring and fall are of a different nature.

“What can you think of a bird that crashes into glass and creeps headfirst down the trunk of a pine?” (50 Watching the Birds)

I understand the point he was trying to make here but still, the point of crashing into glass is a problem created by humans. This just makes me think of all we have learned and seen with birds hitting glass, especially around campus.

“For a lifetime or two, or maybe three, I think I’ll settle for the sedate career, serene and soaring, of the humble turkey buzzard…And contemplate this world we love from a silent and considerable height” (55 Watching the Birds).

This paints a tempting picture, if reincarnation were real. The idea of being able to observe the world from the highest of heights and to know what’s going on below but being able to choose to not be involved, that sounds like a dream.

“In the spring the wish to wander is partly composed of an unnamable irritation, born of long inactivity; in the fall the impulse is more pure, more inexplicable, and more urgent” (249 Northing).

I think this is beautifully said and very accurate. In spring there is a sense of restlessness, mainly to do with no longer having to be cooped up, but in the fall, there is a sense of urgency, perhaps even danger, that drives the restlessness.

Earlier in the semester, I posted an article about charges for plastic bags in Britain. A 5 pence charge was introduced on plastic bags for most groceries and other purchased items, and there was concern over potential bag rage from people being annoyed at any inconvenience. ( http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/07/world/europe/plastic-bag-charge-england.html?ref=earth )

I recently stumbled across a related article about the impacts from such charges being implemented. In the first year after Scotland introduced a 5 pence charge for plastic bags, the number of plastic bags handed out decreased by 80%! This is the equivalent of about 650 million carriers, so that is an awesome decrease in usage! I was initially wary of how people might respond to such charges, but I am now filled with hope. I hope that this practice and this trend continues to expand, decreasing pollution and encouraging practical environmental resource conservation.

This massive reduction in plastic bags equates to 4000 tons of materials and 2500 tons of carbon dioxide saved in the past year. The charges that have been collected have gone to raise 6.7 million pounds for good causes. These key figured from the article illustrate the great scale of success in this endeavor to charge for plastic bags. Small changes on a grand scale can make a huge change. I hope to see Lafayette encourage more reusable materials, like bags at the school store, coffee cups, or food containers in the future!

Here is the article! http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-34575364

Today Maggie and I were walking up the hill from the media workshop when I saw something I see about once a year on campus. I saw it and exclaimed “Look a monkey brain!”. Maggie had never heard of “Monkey Brains” and had never seen one before; I had come to know these large, lumpy, green fruits by that name as a child. We spent our way up talking about them and trying to find some broken ones to look into. However, while we were talking I realized every time I find one of these at school and call it a “Monkey Brain”, no one has any idea what I mean. So today I learned the official name of this strange thing–the Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera). Be on the lookout for these cool, curious fruits in our Lafayette backyard!

For some more information on the Osage Orange:
http://www.augustaga.gov/1624/Osage-Orange

Stumbled across this article earlier today, and I saw the similarities to the Nature Wars book regarding how in America many species saw strong comebacks until recent history, when we as humans have once again had a strong negative impact in the health of species we share our land with. What I found particularly of note is that while in Nature Wars Sterba seems to have many reasons for why populations have struggled to find an easy balancing point, in this article from The Guardian, it is made clear that scientists mostly do not know why this antelope population died so quickly.

I also found it a sad reminder of our potential impact on nature. All the pictures from the article show antelopes in fields for miles with absolutely no sign of human life: houses, roads, power lines, even wells and farms. Yet, as the scientists hypothesized what could have been responsible for the die off, they believed that a bacteria was rampant and only could ravage the antelope at higher atmospheric temperatures, certainly through human intervention with the earth’s climate. An interesting read.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/nov/03/half-of-worlds-rare-antelope-population-died-within-weeks