Lazy Weekend Thoughts

Blue Ridge Country Magazine

One of the things I look forward to in the snail mail realm is "Blue Ridge Country Magazine". I discovered the magazine about the same time I discovered the real thing and I have had a subscription almost since the very first issue I read. Since I started reading this mag I have stumbled across Fred First's images on occasion, but, what keeps me reading is the writing of...

Elizabeth Hunter

Elizabeth Hunter's column "From The Farm" in each issue is always the first thing I look for. In the years since I first discovered the magazine and subscribed I have come to appreciate her insights on mountain living and nature. Her column in this issue is part travelogue and part science/ecology lesson with a touch of Earth Day conservationism thrown in. As she takes us through Natural Bridge State Park in Kentucky she explains the "mixed mesophytic forest" ecology and it's resemblance to the same type of forest in China. She talks of the research being done in China to try to find a way to stop the hemlock woolly adelgid, a problem facing the whole of the Appalachians.

Since her trip took her through much of Kentucky, she even gets in some thoughts on the problems of the coal companies and their mountain top removal methods of destroying a way of life and the living species that once resided there. If you haven't had a chance to check either the magazine or Elizabeth Hunter's writing do yourself a favor and take a look...

Some issues of the magazine contain a extra gift or two when Elizabeth has a feature article to go along with the column.

Ron Rash

I first started noticing Ron Rash whenever I run across him a few years back when Garrison featured one of his poems in his daily "Writer's Almanac". Since that day I have added a couple of Ron's volumes to my library, one poetry and one novel so far. So it was with interest I read his closing comments in this months Blue Ridge Country Magazine. As a bit of autobiography it was an interesting read. The columns title, "The Mountains My Hopes", leads directly to the closing paragraph...

My hope is that the mountains my family has called home for more than 250 years, and much more than that for the small portion of Cherokee in me, will not be destroyed by coal companies, lax environmental laws and overzealous developers, who too often seem intent on destroying the rural landscape and natural beauty that attracts people to the region in the first place. No one can expect the southern Appalachian region to remain in some changeless vacuum, but how much change and at what cost are questions the region must ask itself.

I find I share the hopes expressed by Ron Rash for the mountains he grew up in, the mountains I have come to love.

• Ron Rash at storySouth

The Nation Magazine

My morning email brought me an announcement from "The Nation" magazine that they have a special Earth Day edition out. One of the feature articles is " Adapt or Die" by Mark Hertsgaard. In it he compares the flooding in Bangladesh with what has happened in New Orleans. The comparisons are not good for this country. The final paragraph is what really hit me between the eyes...

At this point we must accept that the battle to prevent global warming is over; now, the race to survive it has begun. This race will continue for the rest of our lives, testing human ingenuity, institutions and values as never before. Losses are inevitable, but the situation is not hopeless. We know much of what needs to be done, and we have considerable resources at our disposal. There is rough weather ahead, but if we keep our heads and stick together, we may find ways of living through the storm.

Source: Adapt or Die

Fragments From Floyd

Anyone who has read this blog knows I blame Fred First for the inspiration to follow his lead and try my hand at writing on a regular basis. I am still stumbling along looking for that voice I think I have and the words I want to say. A short while ago I had one of those stream of conscience moments where you just let the words flow. What came out was a "review" or as Tom Montag likes to say "an appreciation" of Fred's "Slow Road Home". The reason for the introduction here is Fred had a really good post up the other day for Earth Day and I wanted to link to it...

Earth Day 2007 - How many More

I'll be bold and assume that thirty seven years of planet-watching earns me one stand in the bully pulpit. From this one citizen's perspective, four things must happen. Making the rubber meet the road is quite another matter, and these are complex issues we must be talking about in Floyd's meeting places, churches, and organizations.

1. We must take individual responsibility for being carefully conscious of our family and community "environmental footprint" and reduce it.
2. We must insist that efficiency and conservation by industry and commerce play a much stronger role than they have thus far in CO2 abatement.
3. We must not become complacent by thinking that our individual conservation or lifestyle changes alone will fully solve the larger problem.
4. We must find a just way to prevent those who produce the least greenhouse gases from suffering the most.

No matter what we do in the short run, climate change impacts on humanity are likely to be large in the coming century, even here in remote Floyd County. Coping with this unprecedented degree of change will require a whole new way of thinking about our relationship with the planet and each other. Let's renew our commitment to these goals this Earth Day, and move quickly toward an Earth Decade.

Sitemeter

You know it's a funny thing about the sitemeter stats. I must be saying something here on occasion that touches at least a few people. I don't have a lot of site visits, but it appears I have a few returning visitors. Some of the locations ring a bell from the comments that have been made over the past year. Some though I have yet to meet. So here's a great big Texas Howdy to all with thanks for your stopping by. If you really want to make my day...Tell me what it is that brings you by...

Well, I've spent way to much time playing this morning and the wife is giving me dirty looks so I better run.
Y'all have a great weekend, get out enjoy spring...See you all on the other side.