The War of 2021

Francis Scott Key began his 1814 poem to America with “Oh say can you see by the dawn’s early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming, …”             How many of us knew of the perilous threat looming over our democracy when dawn arrived on that January day set aside … More The War of 2021

Swimming Without Walls

Published a short story, my first fiction piece, in the Spring 2017 issue of Razor Literary Magazine, a literary magazine exploring the creative process with support from The Mellon Foundation and the Digital Humanities program at Gustavus Adolphus College. Enjoy! Swimming laps, hitting one wall, then the other, back and forth repeatedly, reminded me of … More Swimming Without Walls

Talking to kids about climate change

NASA’s Climate Kids Scholastic’s “Communicate with your kids about climate change” Yale Climate Connections: Parenting in an age of climate change Think Progress: How to talk to a 5-year-old about climate change NOAA Climate Stewards Education Project 5 Pro Tips for Talking to Kids About Climate Change (Without Freaking Them Out) Rainforest Alliance Climate Educator … More Talking to kids about climate change

Compost.

If you need a good reason to compost your food waste, Kenneth Weiss provides it an article he wrote for Science magazine in May (Vancouver’s Green Dream, Science 20 May 2016, Vol. 352, Issue 6288, pp. 918-921, DOI: 10.1126/science.352.6288.918).  Weiss describes Vancouver’s efforts to combat climate change, among other environmental initiatives, by capturing methane generated in … More Compost.

To do science…

Recently came across this quote from T.S. Eliot’s 1942 poem, Little Gidding, and thought it a wonderful description of the scientific endeavor. “We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time.” —T.S. Eliot

Hungry Birds

Walking around the Apex Reservoir this afternoon I noticed a lone Double-crested cormorant paddling along. I kept an eye on him as I figured he’d soon be diving, and I was curious how far he’d go underwater. Sure enough he submerged, and I looked ahead five, ten yards to catch where he came up. I … More Hungry Birds

ABC Asteroid XYZ

In “Asteroids Good and Bad” we touched on NASA’s plans to detect asteroids as well as to eventually land on one and “redirect” a piece of it into orbit around the Moon. Why the interest in these space rocks? Asteroids have pounded Earth for billions of years, and they’re not done with their mission, as … More ABC Asteroid XYZ