I joined a wide ranging philosophy discussion last night. The topic for the evening was the ethical implications of the covid-19 plague. One of our participants remarked that in his experience a majority of his fellow acquaintances rarely paused to consider ethical matters. Most of us live unmindfully, engaging circumstances to maximize our pleasure,…
Another day of self quarantine. The constraints are practical as well as psychological. I share with every American the growing sensation of rebellion. Overarching all — certainty that our leaders are confused, disingenuous, indolent, and most demoralizing, — bereft of good taste. Good taste. I refer to the sensibility of judgment wherein one “knows”…
The New York Times reported this morning that major corporations have announced that they are phasing out the “Hero Pay,” the $2.00 to $3.00 per hour raise offered to employees volunteering to work during the covid-19 stay-at-home orders. The NYT referenced a Los Angeles Times article which you may read in full CLICK HERE I…
I visited the Fox River this morning. After several days of prolonged heavy rain, the river overflowing its banks, roared over the dam, a maelstrom of froth and brown waves. The sound was indescribable. Like you I prefer to think of Nature as benevolent, hospitable, leaning in my direction with good will. Another image…
A friend sent me this graphic picturing the various modes that culture takes. We use the term ‘culture’ in many ways. The diverse uses indicates how important this aspect of our lives in fact happens to be. Here are a few examples of culture that come to mind from my own experience. Certainly you…
A few days ago, while preparing to sit down for the evening meal, I had thoughts about culture. What is culture, and how is culture created? Culture is not an aspect of Nature. We never expect to come upon culture in the wild. We find instinct prolific. Animals instinctively fight or flee when feeling…
Nature silently calls to us, always. Refreshment of mind is offered, a reorientation of spirit without charge, ours if we attend to the world of growing things, and animals that live around us, birds flying and singing, or the mouse living in a decaying stump. These living things are our contemporaries, yet their generations…
Yesterday, there was a good deal of rain. I took a walk into Braeburn Marsh. The marshland floor was wet; the decomposition of wood fragments of the fallen giant cottonwoods was a visible example of the carbon cycle. Sunlight, to sugar by photosynthesis, to the cellulose wood fiber over time, becoming a 50 foot…
Yesterday we went for a walk in the woods, that is I and my son, with two grandchildren a boy of 6 and a girl of 5. The close proximity to life was thrilling, a reminder of how exceptional it is to observe, to be present when new life is emerging, expressing its efflorescence. …
Another Sunday, the country is haunted by the coronavirus. States have been encouraged to “open up” in hopes that the virus, mirage-like will disappear with the advent of normal activity. I read in the New York Times Morning Briefing that some climate deniers and conservatives are saying the death toll numbers by the coronavirus…
