Standing O: Out of bed and breathing. I dropped the ball yesterday. I’m in the process of trying to figure out this Cooped Up Book Tour and it took up […]
Darwin’s View Blog
115 posts
Might I note that these times are remarkably in parallel to climate disruption? Dramatic change, and we’re all connected. That good, old web of nature. Did anyone read the article […]
Well! The girls are outside clucking and cackling to announce the laying of their eggs. When not laying, they scratch and dig about, entirely oblivious to the nightmare haunting us […]
Yes, it’s time to practice making sweet out of sour and finding positive in the negative. My mother is visiting us at Darwin’s View. We brought her up about two […]
This from my cousin. PLEASE stay home and safe. This tired midwife just coming off night call in the hospital. Online meeting this morning w stressed coworkers, trying to figure […]
How are people who work “the Gig” economy going to survive this situation? And then the people who work for businesses who don’t fall under the government bill being worked on, that […]
Rain, rain, Coronavirus. Cancelations. Likely pushing back date of my book. And: Nicky has a new bedroom. Here’s my play! On the floor. Pages of notes in order of story–past […]
I am really behind on publicity homework. I have to get my social media up and running for my book that is lined up to be published May 8. And […]
I learned a hard lesson last week. The cockerels are silent. Gone. I will be one of the story tellers at a Monadnock Conservancy event in Keene, NH March 26th. […]
Once again, I thought I had my act together and boom! Feathers fly. I found a happy home for the three boys. Here they are just before I began to […]
I was traveling last Friday and entirely forgot to post. And then, reentry mode. So I’ll post today three days late and a day early. Carl and I have begun […]
Yup, s/he’s hungry. . .. Beautiful cat.
Well! If his/her visits keep up, I’m going to have to name that bobcat and adopt him/her our own. S/he’s probably really hungry and cold and dreams of a nice chewy […]
Bobcat tracks on the driveway, circling the chicken area. Bracing, having lost four chickens to said bobcat. And without our clumsy, yet charming rooster Schtude as muse, how am I […]
This past Saturday, that followed a dark day on Friday: Guests from out of town and the stars and sun were aligned for a walk. Yahoo! But first, we had […]
I just got a poll asking if I think Hillary Clinton should run for president. I knew it was coming. I knew that the powers that be still think they […]
Below is the link to a New York Times article that I found interesting by Ezra Klein. “Why the Democrats Still have to Appeal to the Center, But Republicans Don’t.” […]
Another case of a picture is worth a thousand words. Photo by Carl
For those who are as obsessed as I currently am by the politics of the day, it’s a bracing time, isn’t it? Choices, choices and the system is based on […]
I think it might be time to hit a reset with these blog posts (again). On one hand, the twice weekly posts are a good habit to maintain. On the […]
Ooooooh, they are getting so old. And cocky. And aggressive. But they are beautiful. Might have found a home for them. Time will tell.
Along with the mystery of life, and on the tail end of the question about chickens and road crossing I must ask what happened to this week? I only just […]
I’m fighting off a cold. And have five roosters to rehome because Elmer and Diablo (renamed from Fonz) are fighting and, though I see no blood on any of the […]
I’m trying to process it. And note how parallel my own blithe actions and their consequences are to human actions in this world. It burns and our governments do little […]
Okay. Here’s a question: How long will it be before for the nightmare in the White House takes Mr. Ghosn under his wing? That was my first thought when I […]
Don’t get me started on the absurdity and warp-ed-ness of the holidays. . .. I woke up the day after Christmas and nudged Carl. “Guess what!?” He grunted. “It’s blow […]
Politics and handwringing! The holidays and travel! Writing a play! Publishing to dos! Worrying about the chickens and Nick! As ever, distraction rules. I practice meditation. It is a rare […]
Well! Have you noticed the sun factor these days? Rain, rain and now snow. I have a rough draft of a post but no time to write it. How can […]
Speaking of grief, here’s one by Michelle Goldberg. About fits my mood, thus, again, none of my own words: From The New York Times: Democracy Grief Is Real Seeing what […]
All the snow is gone, replaced by torrents of rain and slush. I spent the morning working on my play. Most satisfactory but now it’s noon and the rest of […]
A pescavore from age 16, I gave up fish in 20131 and have since been an octo-lacto vegetarian. . . . Not really. I eat oysters on occasion. Ironic as […]
You guessed it: a day for pictures. Do you see the problem with this picture? Carl saw it right away: the bubbler, meant to keep the water circulating and […]
As my body and soul adjust to the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday, also known as the assault of Hyper Commercialization on One’s Sense and Sensibility, a.k.a. […]
We head out today for Friendsgiving in Providence, and Thanksgiving in New York City, leaving house sitters to tend to the chickens, cat and house. We just got a call […]
A few weeks ago I wrote a ditty on electric vehicles. Given our circumstances today—some of us, perhaps, waiting with baited breath for the next installment of Democracy at the […]
Is this just another crazy idea for a road trip? It uses the same logic (sic) that Carl and I used for our last cross-country trip: a book and a […]
We are back home at Darwin’s View, and I am looking out at a fog bank. The weather outside is frightful and it’s raining, not snowing. An excellent excuse to […]
As feared, the book titled The End of Animal Farming by Jacy Reese has me teetering toward veganism. Even as I settled into the train yesterday, and began to peruse […]
Remember this past (already!?) summer and our broody hens’ defiance of my law and determination not to have chicks? Toey’s two that we got from a friend of ours are […]
November? How did that happen? Time ticks. Life. Carl and I watched this the other day: Zach Bush’s Keynote speech at the Rodale Organic Pioneer Awards. If you want to […]
Carl swears he heard an adolescent rooster attempting to crow yesterday morning. We’ve heard it before. A ca-ca-doodle-cough-cough. Typically, it’s a rather shy and retiring attempt that’s cut off, perhaps, […]
As to the Friday energy articles, clearly they are off the rails and down the tubes. Rather like our government. Regarding all things energy, I’m at a loss for words […]
Isn’t it interesting how a book falls into your lap at just the right time? I bought Howard Mansfield’s book The Habit of Turning the World Upside Down over a year ago but […]
I started a post but it was bleak. Instead of working that out, I am off to pack for NYC. But this picture describes what I was attempting to say […]
The link below is to the flyer for the NHSaves event this Thursday in Jaffrey. I’m going to post more of them around today. And am left with that uncomfortable […]
Have you heard about what’s going on in California? Pacific Gas & Electric, in their infinite wisdom–or greed, depending on one’s perspective–deemed it important to cut off millions of people […]
Working on a deadline and so just pictures today! This morning at Darwin’s View: The Generations yesterday: Collette & the others at their toilette: The Adolescents. And the […]
Birth, then death, then rebirth. Is that how it goes? I find the dying process is a step-by-step spiral. We, sometimes, don’t take note of it until in retrospect and […]
Paws. Our marmalade Buddha. Nora. And the chicks become adolescents with hairdos.
No, I’m not talking about impeachment, though that’s in the works. I’m thinking about the demise of the earth. It’s a depressing question, is it inevitable? but one worth asking […]
The good news is that Splotches showed up again. I went out to meet and greet the chickens the other morning and noted that sweet hen out near the green […]
I’m a little heartbroken. Well. A lot heartbroken but that’s another story. This part of my heart concerns Splotches, one of our three Speckled Sussex hens. She was hatched in […]
Lately, there’s been a lot of focus on carbon and how to get it out of the atmosphere and back into the ground but there are other important cycles of […]
64.4F/18C. That’s the temperature of our swimming pond yesterday morning. I swam one breathless lap and leapt out, having learned two things: Hands down, that is the most refreshing, bracing, […]
People get confused about the difference between climate and weather. Let’s contemplate it, shall we? Today, I look out at the weather. It is perfect: blue skies. A light breeze. […]
For me, September 1 heralds the end of summer, a habit of feeling and mind leftover, I suppose, from my school days. I think of it as a transition from […]
I am entirely aware that I have lurched off the “energy” articles. I contemplate the hydrologic cycle and where it might take us . . . but hasn’t it been […]
My issue? I am entirely unconvinced that I moved up here to farm. Live off grid? Yes. Grow some degree of food? Yes. Eat happy eggs, thus become a crazy […]
I thought the OED never threw out words. That way we can always go back and reference them somehow. I am correct in that.1 However, that doesn’t mean you’ll find […]
I told Carl that I cannot get attached to the chicks. They are most likely boys. Sure, sure. We can return them from whence they came . . . which […]
I woke up and thought of guns. Ever on the look out for self-judgment and negativity, I consciously shifted my thoughts to baby bunnies, kittens and puppies, ducklings and, need […]
I thought I’d share this posting on plastic straws. It kind of shows how we can make a difference. Or maybe not? Choices. It’s all about choices. And convenience. And […]
We have a very happy hen on our hands. Two days ago, we returned to Darwin’s View from my annual family reunion, and I moved the broody hen, hissing and […]
I gave the impression in my last post that we’d be adopting chicks because chicks are in our future. Conveniently enough, the Cheshire County Fair happened last weekend. In anticipation […]
It’s Friday and I haven’t had time to write, never mind research, the next official energy post. I have had time to rough out a post that updates the chick situation. To […]
I only met Steve and his wife, Kelly, a few years ago. Steve was a childhood friend of Carl’s. Steve and Kelly live in Amsterdam but would come to Antrim, […]
For those who don’t know what the JCI is, it’s the Jaffrey Climate Initiative. A group of us began to meet back in December. Here’s the mission statement that we […]
The Jaffrey Climate Initiative has a table at River Fest tomorrow. I’m spending the day prepping for that. Energy, Permaculture and Food (waste) are the chosen topics for discussion. Free […]
Have you ever had a hot flash? It’s usually a woman thing, the body heats up to an intense flash point. Whew! It’s hot! You are drenched in sweat, and […]
A rainbow, according to the Merriam Webster online dictionary, “is an arc or circle that exhibits in concentric bands the colors of the spectrum and that is formed opposite the sun […]
I’ve always joked about my tendency to bury plants and my subsequent inertia in regard to watering them. But I got a lesson yesterday. I’d just finished pursuing the most […]
I am in the midst of writing a play. I’ve never done that before; kind of like brain surgery. And so focussing on researching about energy has lost its attraction. […]
I forgot to post yesterday. I even had an alarm set on my phone to remind me. It buzzed. I turned it off but didn’t connect the alarm to the […]
Energy 109: The Renewable See-Saw and How To Go Forward Sun. Wind. Water. It’s all so old-fashioned and natural. But, as ever, in our 21st century, Anthropocene age, things don’t […]
Maybe it was because I had made it clear that a short cut lawn seems wasteful–what use is boring, old grass, after all? Unless it is very tall grass, surrounding […]
Just a postscript on the nuclear energy post. Addresses the no regrets issue. Or maybe it doesn’t. In any case, it brings to mind the book The World Without Us by […]
This February and March I set up shop in our greenhouse. I bought seeding mix. I gathered our variety of seedling containers, flats and trays. And brought out the four […]
The following really does have to do with things energy. It has already been a fabulous day here at Darwin’s View. To begin: my morning latte. After two days of […]
Our four resident frogs are enjoying the lap pond’s 66.4 temperature. More my style would be a balmy 82 degrees but that’s not going to happen any time soon due […]
Let’s say those people who believe we have a climate crisis on our hands agree to disagree with those who don’t. And that those who don’t agree—or don’t care—agree to […]
I fell off the blogosphere last week. Myriad excuses but it all comes down to this: I lost heart. It’s overwhelming, trying to be positive in the face of so […]
Roy Hopkins writes in his book Transition Handbook, that digging out the tar sands—from whence comes much of our fracked gas—is “akin to arriving at the pub to find that […]
Carl and I spent Memorial Day in the garden, moving rocks, digging, planting, connecting to the land. Sometimes, it’s too painful to remember and yet, even without intentionally going about […]
Ever hear of Liberty Utilities’ Granite Bridge pipeline project? It’s remarkably similar to all the other pipelines that have been proposed that web across the United States. It is promoted […]
What do I love about New York City? No black flies. I’m scratching the welts received during a bout of gardening a couple of days ago but fear no more—at […]
Fossil fuels helped to create this country.1 Coal, gas and oil enabled mind-boggling growth and progress, and improved the quality of life, (if not always the health), of humans, (if […]
Different things to different people, for Carl and me, “off grid” means living in a normal house with flush toilets and showers but no dishwasher. The difference is, we get […]
Fossil fuels or renewables? Is energy access a right or a privilege? Is it a service or a commodity? Is the sourcing, development and distribution of energy a social justice […]
What’s so interesting about these troubled times is how ignorable the whole “we are totally screwed” concept is in our daily lives. I write a post about OMG-we-have-got-to-do-something-immediately—and then go […]
The grid is an edgy basket to put all your eggs into, though we do, thanks to our ever burgeoning, bigger-is-better attitude and economy. We, Americans, need our power when […]
Sometimes, when overwhelmed by the energy that swirls about, the hyperactive doing, the sense of not enough time, I think of the Laws of Thermodynamics. I wonder if that’s why […]
Do you know how energy works in the U.S. of A.? A lot of people at all levels of society don’t. That is a problem. How can we deal […]
Are these energy articles worth our while? I’m not sure. Rather, it will be a case of the blind leading the blind because I don’t know “energy” any more than […]
Apparently, we are in trouble: Icebergs melting. Waters rising. Species dying. The last five years, the hottest ever recorded.1 These are facts, not conspiracies, and I see the hand-wringing of […]
Bicycles. This is an interesting article on bicycles that might solve a number of problems in a small town like Jaffrey, or a bigger one like Providence. Maybe only in […]
This is an interesting read on the cognitive dissonance we all live with. I might add that there is a lot of construction and buying of big, expensive buildings on […]
I’m trying to get a foothold back into the blogosphere, and have been for months. Dozens of attempts fill up a document folder titled “Possible Posts”, and each beginning has […]
What used to be my Darwin’s View 2012-2014 blog is now a 211- page book. It took a lot longer than I thought it would. Deletions and additions, pages of […]