Tag Archives: environmentalism
FREE RANGE: FOOD, NATURE, PLACE, AND MORE
Conflict on the half-shell in mellow Marin
“… most ranchers and farmers in the West care as much for the health of their land, air, and water as any member of the Sierra Club.” (Mark Dowie) This was the second September in a row in which we … Continue reading
Posted in Place
Tagged Cowgirl Creamery, environmentalism, Marin County, Mark Dowie, national parks, nature, oysters, Point Reyes National Seashore
1 Comment
Re-wilding the monocultural self
While reading the recently published Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World, by Emma Marris, I found myself simultaneously cheering and exclaiming with a steely squint: Hey! Real conservationists can’t think this! You’re just giving ammunition for them to … Continue reading
Posted in Nature
Tagged agribusiness, climate change, environmentalism, farming, Madroño Ranch, nature, nineteenth century
3 Comments
A furry flurry of fully furrowed brows: my beef with Freeman Dyson, part II
My previous post revealed the furry fury of the fully furrowed Kohout brow, especially when a flurry of furry brows furrow in unison. I’m a Kohout by marriage, not birth, and therefore, perhaps, I do not wield the full power … Continue reading
Posted in Nature
Tagged Dorian Gray, Ellen Davis, environmentalism, Freeman Dyson, religion, Roger Shattuck, science
2 Comments
Hall of mirrors: the lost art of conversation
Last week I found myself in a conversation with someone who doesn’t believe in AGW and has written a soon-to-be-published book explaining his position. AGW—which I had to look up—is short for anthropogenic global warming, or global warming caused by … Continue reading
Posted in More
Tagged climate change, conversation, environmentalism, Glenn Beck, Grist.org, The New Yorker
2 Comments
Cleaning out the mental refrigerator: Niebuhr, McKibben, and Band-Aids
I’ve been surveying the multitude of leftovers in the refrigerator of my mind. When was the last time this thing was cleaned out? Jeez. Prodded into further examination of my last post by subsequent emails, conversations, and readings, I’ve concluded … Continue reading
Posted in Nature
Tagged 350.org, Aspen, Bill McKibben, climate change, environmentalism, Jessica Hobby Catto, multinationals, oil spill, Reinhold Niebuhr
2 Comments
Double vision: prophets, tribalism, eugenics, and the environment
As I dog-paddle through the sea of books threatening to drown not just me but the overwhelmed shores of my bedside table, I found these sentences: “For those who draw near and offer themselves before God, satisfaction of hunger is … Continue reading
Posted in Nature
Tagged agribusiness, Austin, Bible, Ellen Davis, environmentalism, Orion, prophets, Texas Hill Country, Theodore Roosevelt, Wendell Berry
2 Comments
Mapping the geography of hope: our place in the wilderness
Last week, during a visit to San Francisco that also took us to the nearby Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Martin and I spent a day exploring the Point Reyes National Seashore with his childhood friends Brad and Hans. Before setting … Continue reading
A mother’s legacy
The first sparks for the idea of Madroño Ranch: A Center for Writing and the Environment were kindled about a year ago in conversations with my mother, Jessica Hobby Catto. She has listened carefully and thoughtfully to my sometimes wildly … Continue reading