Get Outdoors More

The trees and stones will teach you what you never learn from the masters.
—     Bernard of Clairvaux
.
On This Day In:
2021	Re-institute The Wall Between Church And State
	Once In My Life
2020	Early Knowledge
	Seen Any Messages Lately?
2019	I Don’t Think We’ll Be Serving Them Cake
2018	New And Old
2017	Ever
2016	At The Center
2015	True Value In Life
2014	A Potential To Be Concerned
2013	Fine No More
2012	Have You Checked Your Height Lately?
2011	Are You Convinced?

Read Full Post »

Looking For Solutions To Climate Change

It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.
—     William James
.
On This Day In:
2021	Our Identity Crisis Continues
	There’s No Hiding Place
2020	In Need Of Concerted Action
2019	Anything / Everything
2018	Touching A Nerve
	Good Fences Make Good Neighbors
	I Have Realities In My Past
2017	Did I See You In Chapter 13?
2016	As I Recall
2015	Less And More Irritation
2014	That Marvelous Feeling
2013	Exceptional
2012	A Wild And Crazy Believer
2011	A Lack Of Scarcity
	The Joy Of Prevention

Read Full Post »

Hope And Fear: Global Warming / Climate Change

The limit of your present understanding is not the limit of your possibilities.
—    Guy Finley
In these times – where social appearance is more important than spiritual substance – what has become our longing to change is really the unconscious desire to control not just the shape of our bodies (according to prevailing values) but to dominate our environment as well, regardless of the cost.
—    Guy Finley
.
On This Day In:
2021	I Should Have Started Earlier
	To Soothe Your Soul
2020	Let’s Make It So
2019	Today’s Question
2018	A Moment Of Union
2016	Symptoms
2016	Tossers
2015	Hunger
2014	Outside Dependence
2013	Doing Right
2012	A Short Course In Human Relations
	If Death Be My Future
	Strive
	Such A Fool
2011	I’m Working For A Living

Read Full Post »

This Dot – Our Home

Consider again that dot.  That’s here.  That’s home.  That’s us.  On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives.  The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar”, every “supreme leader”, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.  Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.  Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.  Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark.  In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life.  There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate.  Visit, yes.  Settle, not yet.  Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience.  There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world.  To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.
—    Carl Sagan
.
On This Day In:
2021	The Imposition Of Position
	Rainin’ Fire In The Sky
2020	Stand Up!
	Crowd Sourced Scouting Report
2019	Only One Direction
2018	Respect Is Long Gone
2017	Dream Of Dreamers
2016	Dear Automakers
2015	And Some Not So Brave Too
2014	In My Lifetime…
2013	Democracy
2012	Borrowed Expectations
2011	Not Necessarily True

Read Full Post »

One World (Our Only Place)…

Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.
―     J.K. Rowling
[While the world is currently (and rightly) obsessed by the war / humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, we should not “forget” the many other people all around the world who are suffering at the hands of “indifferent” (if not hostile) governments / societies and the global climate crisis which will effect humanity as much as any nuclear war might.
We have no shortage of minority haters here in the United States – from those subject to government indifference (the poor, the homeless and racial minorities), to anti-Semites, anti-Asians, and anti-Native Americans.  America has a LONG history of racist / nationalistic hatred which includes many who are now in more privileged classes (Irish, Italians, etc) and who seem to have forgotten their own not too distant past when they were the hated.
Outside of our own country there are Palestinians (and Christians) in the Middle East, the Uyghurs (Muslims) in China, Shiites in various Sunni countries and Sunni in various Shiite countries, non-Hindus in India, and the list goes on and on…  And, yes, I recognize this “short” list is biased to “just” the Northern Hemisphere…  I am reminded of the saying:  “Justice delayed is justice denied.“
And while we spend all this time, effort and attention on what are truly minor differences, the world is cooking.  The polar icecaps are receding and the northern tundras are thawing.  And, then there is COVID and global pandemics…
I am in no way making light of the war (and war crimes) happening in Ukraine, but time is running out on civilization as we know it.  We – the people of Earth – individuals and nations – need to wake up and take responsibility for the planet we are leaving to our children’s children.  Think globally;  act locally!  Do what you can personally where you live to spread tolerance, peace and hope and help elect representatives who will spur community / societal action to save the planet.  This is the ONLY place in the universe where we know humanity can live.    —    KMAB]
.
On This Day In:
2021	Move The Heart
	Join Hands
2020	He Broke Even
	Whoever / Whatever
2019	The Right Anger
	Another P&P Review
2018	Does Fatalism Equal Mental Health?
2017	Choice
2016	Growing Worlds
2015	Change The Tide
	Martyr, n.
2014	You, Too!
2013	Bitter Stand
2012	Lost For Words
2011	On Market Reactions…

Read Full Post »

Climate Change Is Already Raising Sea Levels

The only thing that stops God from sending another flood is that the first one was useless.
—     Nicolas Chamfort
.
On This Day In:
2020	Speaking For Us
	Tears Don’t Wash Away
2019	Foundational Pillar Of Civilized Discourse
2018	Seven Minutes. Not Six, Not Eight
2017	Falling Forward One Step At A Time
2016	And Without Expectation
2015	Just Do It
	I Am A Runner
2014	Some Things I Learned (Mostly) In The Army:
2013	Who You Are
2012	Mine Stands
2011	Aversions

Read Full Post »

If You Do Nothing About Climate Change

It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important.  You have to do the right thing.  It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit.  But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing.  You may never know what results come from your action.  But if you do nothing, there will be no result.
—     Mahatma Gandhi
.
On This Day In:
2020	Each Over All
	Rollin’ Along
2019	And Integrity For Today’s Elected Republicans
2018	A Faulty Start, Too
	Honorable Resignation And Syria
2017	Beneath The Tree Of Wisdom
	The Republican Rape Of The American Middle Class
2016	Something Authentic Happened
2015	Back On The Bricks
	On, Rocinante!!
2014	Changing Frequently
2013	Trifles
2012	Simple, Ordinary And Wonderous
2011	Humane Writers

Read Full Post »

Sustainable Development

“We cannot ignore the effect of rapid development of the local economy on the loss of wildlife habitat,” Professor Zhang Li, a renowned expert on Asian elephant migration at Beijing Normal University, wrote on his Weibo page.  “Clear waters and green mountains are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver.  A healthy and complete ecosystem is the cornerstone of sustainable economic development.”
—     Charlie Campbell
From his article:  “China’s herd of wandering elephants may be climate-change migrants“
Appearing in:  Time Magazine;  dtd: 2-9 August 2021
.
On This Day In:
2020	#IncompetentDonald Is A Clear And Present Danger
	VOTE – “We The People” Can Save America
2019	Why #45 Is Fated To Endanger Our National Security
2018	Dehydrated
	Dehydrated II
2017	And Some Of Us Have Books
2016	I See No Proof
2015	Whither Tea Party?
2014	Nothing Is Known Absolutely
2013	Decoration Time
2012	The Beatitudes
2011	Good Fences Make Good Neighbors
2010	Back On The Asphalt
	No Sweep – Rangers Win Game 3 by 4 to 2
	Greek Myths For Kids

Read Full Post »

Creation Without Reservation

Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets, but humbler folk may circumvent this restriction if they know how. To plant a pine, for example, one need be neither god nor poet;  one need only own a shovel.
―     Aldo Leopold
.
On This Day In:
2020	Listening To The Trees
	Your Mind’s Made Up?
2019	In Silence
	Not Much Light Here
2018	A Gift
2017	Unless You Genuinely Are Small
2016	B1
2015	Five Things
2014	Have Faith
2013	Found In A Mine
2012	Two-Sided Coin
2011	Passionately Scorned Rules

Read Full Post »

I Fear It Is (For Us If Not The Planet)

It’s Too Late Baby
Favorite Line(s):
It used to be so easy,
Livin’ here with you
You were light and breezy,
And I knew just what to do
Now you look so unhappy
And I feel like a fool
.
On This Day In:
2020	#45 Never Shuts Up
	Walkin’ In The Rain With The One I Love
2019	Silly Pooh Bear
	Dominoes Or Jenga?
2018	Very Few
2017	Or The Candidate Who…
2016	The Happiest People
2015	Jumping Into The Dark
2014	I Would Be Sillier
2013	It Keeps Happening Anyway
2012	Take Time
2011	A Mother’s Lesson
2010	3rd Pair – Shoe Review (DOA and Final)

Read Full Post »

Dedicated To: Messrs. Rubio And Pompeo

Waist Deep In The Big Muddy
Favorite Line(s):
Well, I’m not going to point any moral
I’ll leave that for yourself
Maybe you’re still walking, you’re still talking
You’d like to keep your health
But every time I read the papers
Them old feeling come on
We’re waist deep in the Big Muddy
The big fool says to push on
.
On This Day In:
2020	What It Takes
	Every Sign Was A Northern Star
2019	Stuff Happens
	Whistleblower Complaint Regarding President Trump And Ukraine
2018	Looking Into Golf
	Goin’ Yard
2017	Improvise
2016	Got Leisure?
2015	It’s Been Hurtin’ For Quite A While Now
2014	Curious Talent
2013	Eureka
2012	Slow Me
2011	He Said What?!?
2010	Gritty
	3 and 3
	Just A Hunch
	Wall Street – Movie Review
	2nd Pair – Shoe Review (Aborted and Final)

Read Full Post »

Buying Time In A Fixed Game

Many who oppose climate policy would undoubtedly take issue with the notion that climate should be addressed in all elements of our economy and society.  For years, that rejection was rooted in a denial of climate science.  But in recent years, as public understanding of climate change has grown, that position has become increasingly untenable, and opponents of climate action have offered their own vision of climatization.  In a 2019 op-ed, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, for example, acknowledged that flooding would increase in the state and cited predictions that the “30-year mortgage will die out” in some parts of Florida because of climate risks.  He proposed adapting, to “buy time.”  That same year, then U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo celebrated new trade routes that would open in the normally frozen sea as a result of climate change.  “This is America’s moment to stand up as an Arctic nation,” he said, describing the region as “an arena of global power and competition.”  In these visions, climate change is taken for granted — and we are all left to play a game of survival of the fittest.
—    Justin Worland
From his article:  “Force Of Nature“
Sub-titled:  “The Pandemic Remade Every Corner of Society.  Now It’s the Climate’s Turn“
Appearing in: Time Magazine;  Dtd:  15 April 2021
.
On This Day In:
2020	What It Takes
	Every Sign Was A Northern Star
2019	Stuff Happens
	Whistleblower Complaint Regarding President Trump And Ukraine
2018	Looking Into Golf
	Goin’ Yard
2017	Improvise
2016	Got Leisure?
2015	It’s Been Hurtin’ For Quite A While Now
2014	Curious Talent
2013	Eureka
2012	Slow Me
2011	He Said What?!?
2010	Gritty
	3 and 3
	Just A Hunch
	Wall Street – Movie Review
	2nd Pair – Shoe Review (Aborted and Final)

Read Full Post »

And It Will Be Here Last

Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living.  The world owes you nothing.  It was here first.
—     Mark Twain
[Whether we leave it habitable or not is a different question…    —    KMAB]
.
On This Day In:
2020	Necessary And Desirable
	Who Made The Rules?
2019	The Far Side
2018	Hold On
	Day 11: Just Plain Tired
2017	Why Don’t You Tell Us What You Really Think?
2016	Discontent
2015	Do You Know Me?
	Appetite For Life Update
2014	Tough Journalism
2013	Things I’ve Learned
2012	Abstainer, n.
2011	Rain, Rain, Rain
	Test Your Strength
2009	End the mistakes…

Read Full Post »

And Due To Be More Fluid

History is subject to geology.  Every day the sea encroaches somewhere upon the land, or the land upon the sea;  cities disappear under the water, and sunken cathedrals ring their melancholy bells.  Mountains rise and fall in the rhythm of emergence and erosion;  rivers swell and flood, or dry up, or change their course; valleys become deserts, and isthmuses become straits.  To the geologic eye all the surface of the earth is a fluid form, and man moves upon it as insecurely as Peter walking on the waves to Christ.
—     Will and Ariel Durant
From their book:  “The Lessons Of History“
.
On This Day In:
2020	A Humbling Learning Process
	They Are All Good
2019	Another Thought On #45’s Poor Education
2018	As Long As You Survive Each Experience
	WordPress to Facebook Test…
	Day 7: Oh, Yeah!
2017	A Good Habit
2016	The Minds Of Trumpism
2015	Expressing Nonsense
2014	A Real Fight
2013	Unravelling
2012	I Resolve
2011	Practice, Practice, Practice
2009	Phoenix Trip (July ’09)

Read Full Post »

None Live Apart

I am interested in the way that we look at a given landscape and take possession of it in our blood and brain.  None of us lives apart from the land entirely;  such an isolation is unimaginable.  If we are to realize and maintain our humanity, we must come to a moral comprehension of earth and air as it is perceived in the long turn of seasons and of years.
—     Navarre Scott Momaday
.
On This Day In:
2020	In The Moment
2019	I Will Try Again
	Original Chips
2018	Still Blogging
2017	Reliable Vision
2016	Still Walking
2015	Steps
2014	To Be Greatly Good
2013	Limited Capacity
2012	Two Ear Ticklers
	Justification
2011	To Avail The Nation

Read Full Post »