The governor in my state, Virginia, has now issued a total stay at home order. We've gone from social distancing, travel advisements, and schools being shut down through the academic year to straight out "do not leave home unless absolutely necessary." The governor says to expect this through May. In one way the final order is good news. It's clarifying to have a leader who's not … [Read more...] about Coronavirus, Quarantine, and the Meaning of American Life
energy
Hurricane Harvey, We Yawn in Your Direction
And Irma, we don't really give a crap about you, either. Water, Water, Everywhere Twenty-seven TRILLION gallons of water dumped on Southeast Texas in six days? That's what the various reports say. And we say, "Big whoop!" Wild-Westy, pavement-obsessedy Houston essentially destroyed, molded, and steeped in a toxic stew from chemical plants gone kablooey while the persistent deluge … [Read more...] about Hurricane Harvey, We Yawn in Your Direction
Why I don’t Fly and Why You Shouldn’t Either
"Traveling makes men wiser, but less happy." Thus spake Thomas Jefferson, third American president, aka "most blessed of patriarchs," and the "American sphynx." I can hear you now. "Aw, what does that old guy know when there's Mayan ruins to see, the Himalayas to climb, cafes and intrigue in Bruges, and weekends that stay forever in Vegas?" But I confess, I'm with TJ, and not just … [Read more...] about Why I don’t Fly and Why You Shouldn’t Either
Where Peak Oil Goes To Die
*Photo by My Mom Is Wolves via Flickr. Over the course of the last eight years or so I've written hundreds of articles on energy and the environment for the online magazine I co-founded — Transition Voice — and for a subsequent personal website of mine, Lindsay's List, which was devoted to women, energy, and the environment, the latter essays from which I folded into this website, … [Read more...] about Where Peak Oil Goes To Die
Grow up!
A piece depicting the possibilities in vertical gardening. I'm one who values more low-tech solutions to the vertical gardening question, rather than the whiz-bag and energy-heavy solutions that look at this question through a more Buck Rogers futuristic approach. It's not that I don't appreciate what some tech-y solutions can do for us, especially as we transition. But ultimately I'm … [Read more...] about Grow up!
Goats on the green
NOTE: Writing about goat mowers will probably be among my most favorite essays for the chapbook that will accompany this show. That's because the link between industrial-scale fossil fuel use and an overtaxed economy and environment are so painfully felt. And it's surprising sometimes that the answers to these predicaments will come less in terms of newfangled technologies but rather are likely to … [Read more...] about Goats on the green