Essays
Philosophical and Political
Improving on Silence
There’s an expression I’ve always liked: “Don’t speak unless you can improve on the silence.” Wise words but rarely honored. Even I, quiet by nature, have a hard time abiding by them in situations where talking seems called for and where I could not often claim to be...
Plant Sentience
Since my meditation on plant mind a couple of days ago I have been rereading The Hidden Life of Trees, a book I’d first read a half dozen years ago when it was published but wanted to refresh my mind about as I have become more intrigued with the notion of plant...
A Grand Mystery
I don’t fear falling into anthropomorphism when I think as I did yesterday. The label is used erroneously far more often than not, it seems to me. I will cheerfully call it anthropomorphism when I read on my almond milk container these words: “Shake me up. After...
Presence
We walked again this morning but less ambitiously than yesterday: a mile or so out, a long sit on a well-placed lava chunk, and then back. Twig seems as much drawn to tranquil being-there as I; she shows no signs of impatience however long we sit. The longer we stayed...
After the Fire – Continued
It was cool days and cold nights when we arrived two days ago, but that has been replaced with hot days and cool nights. So, Twig and I used the morning to take an ambling walk around what is called Cave Loop, probably three miles or so. Most of the trails will be...
After the Fire – Lava Beds National Monument
And these very conditions mean that some forests will not come back, and more landscapes will turn to arid and semiarid grassland. Each year more of what’s left will burn. A few days ago, I studied a U.S. drought map and the entire West was in some degree of drought...