Says it all really

 

Poetry Sunday: Fear by Khalil Gibran

Here's a thought for the coming year - a reminder to us to be brave.

Fear

by Khalil Gibran

It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.

She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.

And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter
there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.

But there is no other way.
The river can not go back.

Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.

The river needs to take the risk
of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that’s where the river will know
it’s not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean.

This week in birds - #615

A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment: 

This little cutie is the Winter Wren, a bird that nests across much of southern Canada and the northeastern United States. Some of them spend their winters with us here in southeast Texas. It is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.

*~*~*~*

Is it possible to unite the disparate factions of the climate movement to defend the Earth? A group in France is trying to do just that.

*~*~*~*

A related question might be is it possible that birding could change the world? This new book tells how that might be done.

*~*~*~*

Were our ancient ancestors more likely to be predator or prey? Perhaps we have misunderstood much about how our species evolved.

*~*~*~*

Red wolves are an endangered species and it is important for us to help them avoid extinction. One way to do that is to help them safely cross roads.

*~*~*~*

Balm of Gilead was a fragrant, highly prized resin in the ancient Middle East. For fourteen years, scientists have been growing a tree akin to Judean balsam, source of the balm, from a 1000-year-old seed that was found in the Judean desert.

*~*~*~*

A SONAR camera has given proof that thousands of Chinook salmon have returned home to the Klamath River since a dam on the river was destroyed.

*~*~*~*

You could be forgiven for thinking that the Bald Eagle has been this country's "National Bird" all along, but you would be wrong. It is only since Christmas Eve when President Biden signed a bill making it so. 

*~*~*~*

Newly unearthed animal remains in Alaska have offered clues as to how wolves became domesticated and morphed into dogs.

*~*~*~*

Many in Auburn, Alabama are outraged that a local developer destroyed the nest of a beloved local pair of Bald Eagles.

*~*~*~*

The land that straddles the Finnish/Russian border is being "rewilded" and as part of that project, wild reindeer are being reintroduced to the area. No doubt Santa would approve!

*~*~*~*

Musk oxen are being pushed farther and farther north by the warming climate. Will these mammals that survived the Ice Age now be able to survive the heat?

*~*~*~*

These sea otters are important soldiers in the war against invasive green crabs along California's coast. 

*~*~*~*

Farmers in the Midwest are embracing the idea of planting strips of native plants on their farmland to help reduce soil erosion.

*~*~*~*

The Massaco people are an isolated group living in the Brazilian rainforest. They reject contact with the outside world but automatic cameras planted in the rainforest appear to show that they are thriving.

*~*~*~*

Perentie lizards, native to Australia, are one of the world's largest lizards. The Los Angeles zoo has announced that they have been able to hatch two baby perenties. When grown, they could be as much as eight feet long. 

*~*~*~*

The last member of another uncontacted indigenous group living in the Amazon died in 2022. What should now become of the land where he lived? 

*~*~*~*

A surprising danger to the continued existence of sloths is electric power lines. They climb onto the lines and are sometimes electrocuted as a result.

*~*~*~*

Humans are too often guilty of failing "see" or appreciate the plants around us. Experts call it "plant blindness" and it could cost us. 

*~*~*~*

Restoring oyster reefs helps not only the oysters but other residents of the reef and, ultimately, humans as well. 

*~*~*~*

Finally, here's to Flaco the owl, Moo Deng the hippo, and all the other celebrity animals that enlivened the news in 2024. What new celebrities will 2025 bring us?  

Poetry Sunday: Desiderata by Max Ehrman

I have featured Desiderata by Max Ehrman in this space before but that was more than ten years ago. It seems to me that this may be a good time to put it out there once again. Maybe this is just the counsel that we need here at the end of this fractious year:

    You are a child of the universe,

    no less than the trees and the stars;
    you have a right to be here.
    And whether or not it is clear to you,
    no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Desiderata

by Max Ehrman

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender

be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

This week in birds - #614

(Note to readers: If you are unable to access the links I provide, I suggest you query the internet about the topic to find a link available to you.)

A roundup of the week's news if birds and the environment: 

It's a bird that can be found walking on mudflats, shorelines, and sandbars and it was the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week last week. It is the inconspicuous but subtly attractive American Pipit.

*~*~*~*

And the Bird of the Week for this week is the fearsome American Goshawk.

*~*~*~*

We rely on bottled mineral water being safe to drink but "forever chemicals" have been found in mineral water in several European countries.

*~*~*~*

It's long been known that modern humans interbred with Neanderthals. Scientists now think they have pinpointed when that happened. 

*~*~*~*

At least four million Common Murres have been killed by a marine heat wave in the Pacific Ocean that began ten years ago. Half the population of the birds has been wiped out and it shows no signs of recovering.

*~*~*~*

Studies of ancient DNA suggest that syphilis originated in the Americas.

*~*~*~*

Officials believe that "murder hornets" that were discovered in Washington State five years ago have now been eradicated from the U.S.

*~*~*~*

Hawaiian Crows (ʻAlalās) are being reintroduced to the wild where they had been extinct for at least two decades.

*~*~*~*

New research indicates that moths are able to hear sounds of distress made by plants. 

*~*~*~*

The Arctic tundra has long been a cooling mechanism for the planet but now it is helping to fuel the heating of Earth. It is emitting more carbon than it absorbs.

*~*~*~*

Monarch butterflies have long been imperiled but now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be adding the species to the list of "threatened species" which may provide some additional protection for them.

*~*~*~*

Dozens of previously unknown species, including a mouse that swims, have been discovered by an expedition to the Peruvian jungle. 

*~*~*~*

A male humpback whale has made a record journey of more than 13,000 kilometers from South America to Africa.

*~*~*~*

Why do crocodiles have scaly heads? Scientists think they know the answer.

*~*~*~*

As a teenager, I read The Last Days of Pompeii by Edward Bulwer-Lytton and ever since I've been fascinated by the story of that doomed city. Experts now think that Pliny's account of the eruption date was correct.

*~*~*~*

You won't often hear of scientists calling for a halt to research but some believe that this particular research could pose an "unprecedented risk" to life on Earth. 

*~*~*~*

Invasive Burmese pythons definitely pose an unprecedented risk to other life in the Everglades.

*~*~*~*

The Brazilian velvet ant certainly looks like an ant but it is, in fact, a wasp.

*~*~*~*

Japanese monkeys in a Tasmanian park will be sterilized and allowed to die out due to fears of inbreeding.

*~*~*~*

Customs officials are always on the lookout for exotic insects and sometimes they find them.

*~*~*~*

There is hope for the survival of the Mekong giant catfish, a critically endangered species.

*~*~*~*

The San Antonio Zoo is celebrating the birth of Tupi, the capybara. He is rather adorable, isn't he? 

Holiday break

The Nature of Things will be taking a break for the next few days as we have guests arriving to celebrate the holidays with us and I have to get ready for them. But, never fear, I shall return (as someone once said) with more book reviews, poetry, and roundups of news from Nature. Meanwhile, I hope you are enjoying a happy and peaceful holiday season.  

The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich: A review

Any time that I learn that Louise Erdrich has published a new book, I jump on it just as quickly as I can so when I heard about The Mighty Red I made sure to get access to it as soon as possible. It did not disappoint and was, in fact, everything one could wish for in an Erdrich book.

The novel is set in the town of Argus, North Dakota, alongside the Red River that flows north through Minnesota and into Canada following the border between Minnesota and North Dakota. It is an agricultural area and the main crop is sugar beets. 

Sugar beets are the basis of the economy. Most of the families of this area are involved in some way with their production - growing them, harvesting them, transporting them, and processing them. They depend upon sugar beets and their fortunes rise or fall based on the outcome of the year's crop. 

It is 2008/2009 but the author takes us back through the beginnings of sugar beet farming along the Red River. She shows us how the use of fertilizers and pesticides and growing the same crop over and over on the land has depleted the soil. By this point, only the use of genetically modified seeds and toxic chemicals keeps the fields producing. It is a time of recession and the economic downturn has hit the already struggling community hard. 

We experience the story mostly through the character of Crystal Frechette who is a hauler of sugar beets. She works twelve-hour shifts on the highway during which she has plenty of time to worry about her 18-year-old daughter Kismet. When Crystal's husband, Martin, absconds with the town's church renovation fund, she and Kismet are left to live with the consequences of his action.

Kismet has transformed from a goth who had endured the derision of her peers and is now marrying Gary Geist who is set to inherit not one but two farms. Gary suffers from the trauma and fear resulting from a tragic accident and is ruled by his own need for redemption, while Kismet just yearns for escape. Their marriage forms the centerpiece of the novel.

Along with these characters, we also meet: Hugo, a homeschooled boy who is infatuated with Kismet; Eric, Gary's loyal friend; Winnie and Diz, Gary's parents who have their own marital struggles as well as the tension of trying to keep the farm going; and Jeniver, Crystal's lawyer, who possesses a sharp tongue to go with her brilliance. Each of these characters' stories help to fill out the portrait of a community going through changes and facing challenges.

As with so much of Erdrich's writing, the land itself is another character. The harsh climate and fertile soil of the Red River Valley helps to shape the lives of those who live there. The valley's cycle of flood and drought and of planting and harvest are metaphors for the challenges faced by its residents.

Erdrich employs multiple narrators to tell the story of people living through interwoven timelines that are a reflection of the meandering path of the river itself. By the end, she has given us a masterful story that reveals the tapestry of those lives and their environmental impact on the land they occupy. 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 
 

Poetry Sunday: November 6 by Chelan Harkin

This week's featured poem was written by the poet as she watched returns from  November 5's election. I came across it this past week and it spoke to me. When I found it, it did not actually have a title and so I've given it a temporary one. The poet herself may wish to give it a different name. It seems to be the call to arms that we need for "now is not the time to be afraid of the dark."

November 6

by Chelan Harkin

It’s when the earth shakes
And foundations crumble
That our light is called
To rise up.

It’s when everything falls away
And shakes us to the core
And awakens all
Of our hidden ghosts
That we dig deeper to find
Once inaccessible strength.

It’s in times when division is fierce
That we must reach for each other
And hold each other much
Much tighter.

Do not fall away now.
This is the time to rise.
Your light is being summoned.
Your integrity is being tested
That it may stand more tall.

When everything collapses
We must find within us
That which is indomitable.

Rise, and find the strength in your heart.
Rise, and find the strength in each other

Burn through your devastation,
Make it your fuel.

Bring forth your light.
Now is not the time
To be afraid of the dark.

This week in birds - #613

 A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment:

I first met the Greater Roadrunner at the Princess Movie Theater of my youth where the cartoon between the Saturday double feature regularly starred the roadrunner outwitting the dastardly but dimwitted coyote. Many years later I finally met the bird itself in a field in Texas. It did not disappoint. The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week is currently extending its range from Mexico and the southwestern states into the states farther east. 

*~*~*~*

Is our planet finally doomed to be drowned in a sea of plastic? The world's countries seem unable to come to an agreement on curbing plastic pollution. The greatest stumbling block to reaching such an agreement is Saudi Arabia.  

*~*~*~*

Meanwhile, the extreme marine heat wave that hit California's coasts ten years ago may, in fact, have been a glimpse of the future.  

*~*~*~*

And in a world that is heating up, the permafrost may not be permanent.

*~*~*~*

In Canada, the woodland caribou population is threatened by human activities, but an Indigenous group in Quebec is working to protect them and to ensure that they survive into the future.

*~*~*~*

How did the bond between dogs and humans come about? Scientists are finding answers to that question in ancient DNA.

*~*~*~*

The Hawaiian crow, the Alala, went extinct in the wild decades ago, but now five of the birds have been released on Maui as part of the ongoing attempt to reestablish the bird in its native habitat. It is a second chance for these brainy birds.

*~*~*~*

A rare attack by a polar bear in Canada ended with the bear dead and the man who tried to prevent the attack on his wife in the hospital. A neighbor came to the rescue of the man and his wife and shot the bear. It is believed that the aberrant behavior of the bear may have been provoked by changes to the climate.

*~*~*~*

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has been protected from drilling for the last four years but with the coming change of administrations in Washington that protection may not continue. 

*~*~*~*

In Scotland, the bumblebee population has made a dramatic recovery thanks to a rewilding project.

*~*~*~*

An ancient forest in Tasmania teems with an astonishing variety of wildlife.

*~*~*~*

The latest fashion trend among orcas in the Puget Sound is dead salmon hats.

*~*~*~*

Pufferfish are cute and toxic and, just perhaps, Nature's greatest artist.

*~*~*~*

Did hunting by early Americans help lead to the extinction of megafauna?

*~*~*~*

The keepers at a bird park in England kept waiting for their "female" King Penguin to lay an egg, but it turns out Maggie the penguin is actually Magnus. 

Midnight and Blue by Ian Rankin: A review

One of my favorite writers of mysteries for many years has been Ian Rankin. By now, his main character, Inspector John Rebus, feels like an old friend. A rather disreputable but never dull old friend. This is the twenty-fifth Rebus mystery and I've read them all. I'm happy to say that the quality of the writing has not flagged.

Midnight and Blue finds the now former Inspector Rebus in prison, HMP Saughton in Edinburgh. He is serving his sentence alongside gang leader Daryl Christie, who "runs" Trinity Hall where Rebus is housed. Christie has vowed to protect Rebus because he is grateful for his role in the death of Morris Gerald ("Big Ger") Cafferty who long-time readers of the series remember as Rebus' nemesis.

When we meet Rebus this time, he has already spent three months mingling with the general prison population at Saughton and getting to know them. Then, one of his fellow prisoners, a minor thief named Jackie Simpson, is murdered in his cell and the former DCI has a new mystery to solve.

DS Christine Esson and her new partner DI Jason Mulgrew are assigned to investigate the murder, but, for some reason, DI Malcolm Fox, formerly part of the Professional Standards unit but now in Organized Crime, also seems quite interested in the case. We learn that Simpson was one of Fox's snitches, although he doesn't inform the investigating team of that fact. 

While Rebus has been in prison, his former partner DI Siobhan Clarke has visited him regularly. She's now partnered with DS Cameron Colson, a particularly gloomy and irritating character who must be a trial to Clarke's patience. The two of them are currently charged with investigating the disappearance of 14-year-old Jasmine Andrews who left school one day and never made it home. When Fox discovers information that is relevant to the case of the missing girl, in typical Fox fashion, he fails to share it with Clarke or Colson. 

This is a story with many twists and turns, a trademark of the Rebus mystery series.  Even after all these years, Ian Rankin still manages to make the plot of each novel feel fresh and entertaining. And surprising. Every time I thought I had things figured out, some new detail threw me for a loop. It is the mark of this very good writer of mysteries to keep astonishing us with the creativity of his storylines. Long may he continue!

My rating: 4 of 5 stars 

 
 

Poetry Sunday: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Yes, I know I have featured this poem here before, but it is a particular favorite of mine, so you'll have to forgive me for featuring it again. It is, of course, one of Robert Frost's most famous and beloved poems. The message it imparts is familiar to anyone who has ever had to make a hard choice. In other words, everyone. Don't we all wonder what would have happened if we had chosen differently - if we had taken that other road?

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

This week in birds - #612

(Note to readers: If you are unable to access any of the links below, I encourage you search Google on the subject and find a link that is available to you.)

A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment: 

This is a Plain Chachalaca that I photographed on a visit to the Rio Grande Valley a few years ago. The Chachalaca is primarily a resident of Eastern Mexico and Central America but it does stray north into southernmost Texas where I saw it. It is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.

*~*~*~*

Bird flu is abroad in the land once again, with several cases having been reported in California.

*~*~*~*

If countries do not curb production of plastic, the world may not be able to handle the volume of plastic waste within ten years.

*~*~*~*

Scientists are studying the flight of hummingbirds in order to help them design robots for drone warfare. That just seems wrong. 

*~*~*~*

Ancient footprints discovered in Kenya indicate that two of our related species probably shared the same habitat and may have interacted. 

*~*~*~*

Whale sharks are the largest fish found on our planet but their size does not protect them from predation by killer whales.

*~*~*~*

Wisdom, a Laysan Albatross, is the oldest known banded bird in the wild, aged at least 74 years. She has a new mate and has returned to her nest and laid an egg which the mate is now incubating. 

*~*~*~*

Drones and artificial intelligence have helped researchers discover more Nazca lines in the Peruvian desert. The discoveries have doubled the number of known geoglyphs in the area.

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In the 1960s, the Bald Eagle was driven perilously close to extinction in the country where it is the "national bird." But, with a little help from its friends, it has come all the way back.

*~*~*~*

In Massachusetts, where wetlands were once turned into cranberry bogs, there is a move afoot to restore the wetlands. 

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It turns out one can learn quite a lot from dinosaur poop. Well, if you are a paleontologist you can.

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This is the fossilized skull of an amphibian that lived more than 230 million years ago on the land of the Eastern Shoshone tribe. The tribe gave it a name in their language. It is the Ninumbeehan dookoodukah.

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What a good idea this is! Across the country, cemeteries are rewilding, becoming homes for native plants, wildflowers, and animals.

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Finally, here are photos of the week in wildlife.

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all my faithful readers, one of the things I am most thankful for is you! 

Poetry Sunday: Tired by Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes was an American poet and social activist of the twentieth century. He was a leader of the Harlem Renaissance and an innovator of a literary art form called "jazz poetry." Here is a very short poem of his that looks unflinchingly at the state of his world and, in its own way, is a succinct call to action to change things. Somehow it seems quite fitting for our time as well. (And, yes, I think I know those worms that are "eating at the rind.") 

Tired

by Langston Hughes

I am so tired of waiting,
Aren't you,
For the world to become good
And beautiful and kind?
Let us take a knife
And cut the world in two-
And see what worms are eating
At the rind.

This week in birds - #611

A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment: 

The ever-present and ever-curious Carolina Wren, one of my favorite backyard birds.

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President Biden visited the Brazilian rainforest on Sunday to emphasize the importance of taking action on climate change.

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A "harbinger of doom"? A third oarfish has washed up on a beach in California.

*~*~*~*

Climate talks continue among the world's nations but the rich and poor are finding it hard to agree. Azerbaijan, the host of the talks, is getting a backlash over its support of fossil fuels. 

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Sadly, the effort to save the endangered Northern Spotted Owl in the Pacific Northwest involves the killing of their more successful competitors, the Barred Owl.

*~*~*~*

Around Los Angeles, mountain lions are learning to coexist with their human neighbors - mostly by avoiding them.

*~*~*~*

Atmospheric river storms are getting bigger because of climate change and are wreaking havoc along the West Coast.

*~*~*~*

A frozen 35,000-year-old saber-toothed kitten has been found in Siberian, giving scientists a chance to study the differences between it and modern baby lions.

*~*~*~*

Giraffes, the tallest of land animals, are soon to be added to the list of endangered species.

*~*~*~*

In Washington, the Yakama Nation is helping to restore the Pacific lamprey.

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Also in Washington, gophers are becoming ecological heroes.

*~*~*~*

EagleCams have become very popular with Nature lovers in recent years. A new one in Minnesota follows the lives of this pair, seen at their snow-covered nest.  

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Following the removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, salmon have returned to the area.

*~*~*~*

The American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week is this lovely resident of the tundra and grasslands, the Lapland Longspur. 

*~*~*~*

Here is an appreciation of the Kookaburra.

*~*~*~*

The nation's northernmost town is in the dark now and won't see the sun again until January 22.

*~*~*~*

How to protect vulnerable Monarch butterflies, seen here congregating on their wintering grounds in Mexico, remains a difficult question.

*~*~*~*

New research has uncovered 4,000-year-old canals on the Yucatan peninsula that were in use even before the Maya occupied the area. 

*~*~*~*

Margaret Renkl ponders what we can do, individually and collectively, to help save what is left of Nature.

The Chippies are back!

I looked out my office window on this bright cloudless autumn day and what did I see at my front yard bird feeder?

Chipping Sparrows!

Several were on the feeder and on the ground under the feeder.

Chipping Sparrows are among my favorite winter visitors and are a clear indication that winter is indeed coming.

One of the first species of birds that I learned to identify was back to help usher in the change of seasons, having fled the cold and snow of the north that make survival tougher for small birds like sparrows. 

Winter may not be very wintry here close to the Gulf Coast but as long as the Chippies keep coming back each year I'll know that such a season - the Chipping Sparrow season - does indeed exist!

I stole these...

...but they pretty much sum up my thinking.

 ...and...

Yeah, right!

Playground by Richard Powers: A review

I must confess up front that I had a very hard time with this book. I read it during and just after this month's election and I was distracted, finding it hard to think about anything other than the election and the enormous blunder that the voters in this country have just made. So, I can't say I really gave the book the attention that it deserved and now find it hard to comment on what I read. But I'll give a try.

The setting of the book is the French Polynesian island of Makatea. It is a tiny atoll in the middle of the Pacific and at the time that the book's action takes place its people are considering a life-changing proposal for their island home. We experience the story through the eyes of four people on the island.

First is Evie Beaulieu who, as a twelve-year-old, tested one of the world's first aqualungs under the eyes of her father in their backyard swimming pool. It was the start of her love affair with the ocean and she now spends her life submerging herself into the depths of that ocean to study the ecology and the creatures there.

Second are friends Rafi Young and Todd Keane. As teenagers the two attended an elite Chicago high school where they bonded over playing board games. Rafi went on to be mesmerized by the world of literature while Todd became an entrepreneur whose work will lead to a major breakthrough in artificial intelligence.  

Finally, there is Ina Aroita who grew up on naval bases across the Pacific and for whom art was her way of seeing and dealing with the world.

Makatea was once a main source of phosphorous which helped to fertilize crops and feed the world. Now it has been chosen for a new project that will send floating, autonomous cities out onto the open sea. But before that can happen, the island's citizens must vote on whether they will allow their home to used in this way. If they refuse to greenlight the project then the seasteaders will have to come up with another plan.

Richard Powers' descriptions of Makatea and its people are awe-inducing and made it really hard to put the book down. The result was that I zipped right through the 389 page tome. His writing is beautiful as he explores themes of technology and its impact on the environment and how it all influences humanity. After reading The Overstory, a rare five-star read for me, and Bewilderment, a four-star read, I was expecting quite a lot from Powers' latest book. I was not disappointed.

Poetry Sunday: My November Guest by Robert Frost

November is, in fact, one of my favorite months of the year, possibly because it contains my favorite holiday of the year, Thanksgiving. But also there is something about the weather of November. Summer's heat is finally gone from the Gulf Coast and on most days it is quite pleasant to be outside. I enjoy the misty moisty days of November. It is pleasant to sit on my patio and watch as new birds show up in the backyard almost every day. The birds that were "gone away" from Frost's Northeast are now our winter visitors; my "November guests," are arriving.

My November Guest

by Robert Frost

My sorrow, when she’s here with me,
  Thinks these dark days of autumn rain

Are beautiful as days can be;
She loves the bare, the withered tree;
     She walks the sodden pasture lane.

Her pleasure will not let me stay.
     She talks and I am fain to list:
She’s glad the birds are gone away,
She’s glad her simple worsted grey
     Is silver now with clinging mist.

The desolate, deserted trees,
     The faded earth, the heavy sky,
The beauties she so truly sees,
She thinks I have no eye for these,
     And vexes me for reason why.

Not yesterday I learned to know
     The love of bare November days
Before the coming of the snow,
But it were vain to tell her so,
And they are better for her praise.  

This week in birds - #610

 A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment:

Dark-eyed Junco photographed at the Chihuahua Nature Center in Alpine, Texas a few years ago. I haven't seen one here yet this autumn but they should be arriving soon.

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(Note to readers: If you are unable to access any of the links I've provided, I suggest you do a search on the subject and connect to a link to which you do have access.) 

*~*~*~*

The Leonid meteor shower will be at its peak this weekend. The light of a near-full Supermoon, the Beaver Moon, may interfere with viewers on Earth being able to see it. 

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Global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels are on track to set a new record this year.

*~*~*~*

A group of leading climate policy experts says that future climate summits should only be held in countries that show support for climate action.

*~*~*~*

But do those summits actually have any effect? A new report indicates that a major climate goal is farther out of reach than ever.

*~*~*~*

The president-elect of this country has selected the governor of North Dakota, a man whose ties to the fossil fuel industry run deep, to be the Secretary of the Interior. Environmental groups are appalled.

*~*~*~*

Moreover, a former Republican representative from New York has been named to be director of the Environmental Protection Agency, but, based on the man's record, it seems quite unlikely that he's being asked to "protect" the environment. Indeed the plan seems to be to gut climate rules.

*~*~*~*

This country is in a drought and it would take a major rainfall to reverse the conditions.

*~*~*~*

Retired National Institute of Health research chimpanzees will be moved to a sanctuary in Louisiana. And in more retired chimpanzee news, animals that had been featured in films, music videos, and commercials are learning to live among their own kind at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

*~*~*~*

The universe is expanding but to what ultimate end? Cosmologists want to know.

*~*~*~*

And back here on Earth, 2024 is set to be the hottest year on record.

*~*~*~*

Plankton, the backbone of the oceanic ecosystem, are struggling to survive in Earth's warming seas.

*~*~*~*

The right-wing president of Argentina is considering pulling his country out of the Paris climate agreement.

*~*~*~*

The wary and elusive LeConte's Sparrow is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week. It is a bird of wet prairies and grasslands in Canada and upper midwestern states and migrates short distances to (mostly) the south-central United States for winter.

*~*~*~*

The Mekong giant salmon carp had been feared to be extinct since no one had seen it since 2005, but, happily, it turns out that rumors of its extinction were premature.

*~*~*~*

This is Hutan, a 17-year-old siamang gibbon housed at ZooTampa in Florida and she is holding her baby who was born on October 27. Siamang gibbons are endangered and any new baby is cause for celebration.

*~*~*~*

And this Emperor Penguin has gone where (apparently) no Emperor had gone before. It turned up on a beach near the coastal town of Denmark, Australia, more than 2000 miles form its normal habitat.

*~*~*~*

Hurricane Helene devastated forests in North Carolina.

*~*~*~*

You might not expect to find bees and their keepers in New York City but you would be wrong. Apparently they live quite happily among the high-rises there.

*~*~*~*

Did Voyager 2 witness an unusual solar event as it zipped past Uranus forty years ago?

*~*~*~*

Why is Australia still permitting logging in parks that are meant to become a koala preserve? 

*~*~*~*

A creature from the deep ocean has finally been identified twenty-five years after its discovery as a sea slug.

*~*~*~*

Are you in need of a "Panic Abatement Plan" after the recent election? Margaret Renkl has advice.

Guide Me Home by Attica Locke: A review

This is the third and apparently final entry in Attica Locke's "Highway 59" series. The action takes place in East Texas (Lufkin) and Houston, areas that I'm somewhat familiar with, having lived here for many years. Locke obviously knows the area well also and her descriptions of places and people are right on.

The main character in the novels is Texas Ranger Darren Mathews. In this instance, Darren is facing early retirement and a potential indictment for actions he has taken. On the plus side, he has finally met a woman that he loves and is planning on remaking his life with her in his beloved farmhouse. But then his peace is shattered by a visit from his estranged mother.

His mother is a cleaner at a sorority house at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches. She tells Darren that one of the members of the sorority - the only Black member - is missing. Darren is not sure he can trust his mother's story but he feels compelled to investigate. However, when he talks to the sorority members they all insist that the Black member, Sera, is not missing at all.

As Darren investigates and learns more about Sera's family and her hometown, things do not add up. Even though he gets no backup from local law enforcement or the Rangers, he is convinced that his mother, whom he has never trusted, may in fact be on to something and that an innocent young woman's life may depend on him getting this right. All he wants is finally to live in peace but he'll find no peace if it turns out that Sera is actually in danger and he did nothing.

Locke skillfully weaves East Texas history and politics into her story and it all rings true. She also gives us the fuller story of Darren's background and his years of growing up with the uncles who raised him which more fully explains his fraught relationship with his mother. 

While this book could potentially be read as a standalone, I don't recommend it. To get the full effect you really need to read the series from the beginning: Bluebird, Bluebird and Heaven, My Home. You'll be glad you did. 
 

Poetry Sunday: Invitation by Mary Oliver

I came across this Mary Oliver poem last week and it reminded me that the goldfinches should be arriving soon. We usually get them around the first of December, sometimes a little earlier. I look forward to their arrival and I will always find time in my "busy and important days" to watch them just as Mary Oliver would have, for "it is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in a broken world..." And it is always a serious thing while alive to be appreciative of all the beauty that Nature provides to soothe our weary and dispirited souls.

Invitation

by Mary Oliver

Oh do you have time
to linger
for just a little while
out of your busy

and very important day
for the goldfinches
that have gathered
in a field of thistles

for a musical battle,
to see who can sing
the highest note,
or the lowest,

or the most expressive of mirth,
or the most tender?
Their strong, blunt beaks
drink the air

as they strive
melodiously
not for your sake
and not for mine

and not for the sake of winning
but for sheer delight and gratitude –
believe us, they say,
it is a serious thing

just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you,

do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.

It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
You must change your life.