The Nature of Things

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was one of the first poets I learned to like as a child when I was just beginning to appreciate poetry. He was easy enough to understand unlike some other poets, and I liked how his poems progressed in a logical way. In my search for a poem to feature this week I came across this one that I vaguely remembered from those early years and immediately recognized that my search had ended. The Bridge by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow I stood on the bridge at midnight,  As the clocks were striking the hour, And the moon rose o'er the city, Behind the dark church-tower. I saw her bright reflection    In the waters under me, Like a golden goblet falling    And sinking into the sea. And far in the hazy distance    Of that lovely night in June, The blaze of the flaming furnace    Gleamed redder than the moon. Among the long, black rafters    The wavering shadows lay, And the current that came ...

  A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment : This little cutie is the Mountain Chickadee , a resident throughout much of western North America from Canada right down into Baja Mexico and it is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week . Much of its range overlaps with that of its close cousin, the Black-capped Chickadee . Its conservation status is currently of least concern although its population is decreasing. Climate change and loss of habitat pose the greatest threats to its continued survival. *~*~*~* A new study has found that bird declines are accelerating . *~*~*~* Livestock in many areas of Central Texas are protected from coyotes by dogs who live among the herds . *~*~*~* The oldest state park in the country is the Niagara State Park in western New York and it is about to get much bigger . *~*~*~* Most of us still have Neanderthal DNA as part of our genome and that actually highlights some interesting differences between them and modern human...

The Washington Post online is one of my favorite sources for the news of the day as well as for opinion about the news of the day. Moreover, the books section is a site that I turn to for reviews and recommendations. Thus it was with some consternation and sadness that I read ( in The New York Times ) that The Post's book section supplement is being scuppered. But it is not just the supplement that is being decimated. This week The Post has laid off one-third of its employees . As many will remember, The Washington Post was bought by Jeff Bezos in 2013. The paper was in trouble and Bezos " bought it to save it ." But that was a gentler time. The world and (perhaps) Jeff Bezos have changed since then. Bezos had already reduced the newsroom in recent years and now he has put an end to the book section that so many of his readers have relied on. As Marty Baron, The Post's former chief editor from the Watergate era was quoted as saying, " It is difficult to con...

What kind of defect in the personality must it take for a human to simply abandon an animal that has been a companion and has been dependent upon the human for its home, food, and care? I suspect that it might be the same kind of personality defect that we experience writ large on the national stage - a selfishness that only cares for one's own comfort and wishes. It's a defect that causes enormous suffering and thank goodness for those humans who do their best to alleviate such suffering. Locally, some humans who are most devoted in their care are those who work with Abandoned Animal Rescue . They make our community better for their presence and I salute them today. They are one of my favorite charities and, if you feel so inclined, I invite you to also become one of their supporters or to support similar charities wherever you may be located. Let us never become a member of that selfish tribe that can so easily abandon a living creature who is dependent upon them.  Here is th...

I find that quite often the political cartoonists are able to explain issues more explicitly and succinctly than the most eloquent pundits can. Here are some of the cartoons that I have collected recently that spoke to me of perhaps the most urgent issue facing the country today.

" My Spanish is the color of rust in a sugar boiler ." That line grabbed me as I was searching for a poem to feature this week. Spanish is very much a part of the culture where I live. One hears it spoken in the stores while shopping, in restaurants by the other patrons who are eating, in any place where people gather. I'm not Hispanic but it is something I find comforting and familiar. It is all a part of "Hispanitude" and it says "home" to me. I like it!  My Hispanitude by Darrel Alejandro Holnes I speak in the fold of the map—  creased between empire and salt.  Mother braided three names into my hair,  none of them white.  I carry a chair made of silence—  its legs, the Grito de Dolores,  its seat, a tongue bitten in school.  My voice is a garden  planted in the ruins  of a burned-down convent,  mint growing wild in the mouth of a well.  They said my Spanish was broken.  But what they heard was  Arabic echoing thro...