Bear with us

Environment No Responses »
Jul 132010

Young bear out looking for food; turning over rocks and casting his nose wherever he can in search of calories.

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Wherever The Winds Blow Improv

Music No Responses »
Feb 112009

Here’s a brand new improvisation with me playing mandolin (with about 3 months of sporadic practice) and the great Jimi Pearson on guitar—made up on the spot and recorded direct to a SanDisk flash mp3 player.

Side note: It’s simply amazing what today’s $50 music players can do. Although the file was recorded through the player’s built-in mic at 16Khz the sound is well articulated and has a nice flat frequency response. One click to record this level of quality with an inexpensive mp3 player that makes zero noise and has no moving parts other than a scroll wheel? I’m in!

 



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Truckma

Environment, Opinion, People No Responses »
Jan 262009

Well, there’s karma and then there’s truckma. Some poor guy got run over by a monster truck in Wisconsin over the weekend. Turns out he’s been a promoter of monster truck events for over 15 years. While I’m sad the guy lost his life, it rather vividly demonstrates that we tend to attract our particular brand of karma by what we do—for a living, for recreation, for diversion, for thinking (or not).

Link to AP article.

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Dead People Balking

Environment, Opinion 2 Responses »
Feb 242007

Running and writing for a blog that deals head on with you and your connection to some of the top issues facing humanity and all life on Earth is tantamount to standing on a street corner 24/7 handing out “Repent Now!” flyers to people as they pass by. Most of the flyers get tossed without a read. Normal people seldom bother to look up, stop, say hello, ask a question, or exhibit interest that could somehow derail their headlong rush to wherever.

Some are curious enough to cast a sidelong glance at the billboard I’m wearing or stop to consider the content of the flyer before moving on. Others are hard as stone and keep their attention focused on the sidewalk. They’ve seen it all. Right.

If you’re one of those people just passing by, I’m the foam-flecked, bearded guy with flame in his eyes and passion in his voice, urging you to mend your environmental ways. But unlike most street corner evangelists, I’m on EVERY street corner.

Ignore the messenger if you will, but you ignore the message at your peril.

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Whatever you're doing, it's not enough.

Environment, Opinion 2 Responses »
Jan 192007

Ever feel you’re fighting a losing battle on the environment? Welcome to the club. “We” are definitely the underdogs. But please don’t stop trying or spreading the word.

I eat almost no animal products. I don’t drive a car to work every day, I work on my computers from home. I wear extra layers of clothing instead of reaching for the thermostat. I sometimes wear Ugg boots indoors. I recycle as much as possible. I compost all organic matter. I’m doing my part, but it’s still not enough.

I have two neighbors who live entirely off the grid and have for over 30 years. That’s no electricity, period. They do burn wood to stay warm, but their house is well built out of Montana-grown logs. Their water comes from a free-flowing stream which they and others in our community protect and manage vigorously, especially during the winter when a hard freeze can divert the stream out of its banks.

But it’s still not enough.

Their position is rare in post-modern America. Homesteaders living off the grid and disavowing the conveniences of today except for a phone and a pickup truck. He runs a pack guide service in the Bitterroot National Forest. He lives a 19th century lifestyle along with his wife. If he were somehow elected president, it would quickly become a bloodbath in suburban and urban America.

This guy doesn’t negotiate. He takes action. He’d kill all of us in the ‘burbs for being so…selfish and stupid. His indignation is righteous and sincere. His contention: Talk is cheap when it comes to the environment, people are all scammers and bullshitters who ultimately don’t give a shit about anyone but themselves. And most people can’t handle nature. (Of this, he’s seen plenty of softies crying for the comforts of home while camped somewhere in the vast wilderness he calls his backyard.)

I think he’s spot on, but it’s still not enough.

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Bundled Up and Toasty at -20F

Energy, Environment, Opinion No Responses »
Dec 072005

It was damn cold last night. So cold that ice formed on the window frames of our house, inside. So cold that horizontal icicles began forming wherever outside air managed to seep in around the doors. Have you ever seen horizontal icicles outside of “The Day After Tomorrow”? No? You must live in the temperate zone and don’t watch epic disaster movies. (I know, you’re too busy surviving disasters…)

Has your butt ever fallen asleep because you in front of your computer too long without taking a break? Hey it happens. Even during the warmer months of the year, the exquisitely luxuriant and sedentary life of a writer is conducive to causing cold extremities because the calorie-consuming business activity is mostly mental. In other words, my feet, hands and even my nose gets cold while sitting at the computer all day. As I sit typing this morning I have two shirts on, a fleece pair of pants, and Uggs on my feet.

Sometimes no article of clothing seems to be enough, which means sometimes the best thing to do is go outside to warm up! One of my favorite breaks is taking Mr. Chu for a sled run down to the mailbox and walking back up. It’s 1/2 mile to the mailbox, and 1/2 mile back, so this usually warms me up inside, not to mention giving Dogman the opportunity for a romp. Plus, it makes the house feel like a hothouse when we get back inside.

Thankfully we burn wood (free except for labor) and not oil or electricity to keep warm. It would cost a fortune to heat our house any other way. I tried a couple of older stoves and found them tough to deal with; lots of ash, low burn temperatures, lots of maintenance, and lots of wood. But a few years back I bought a stove with a catalytic secondary combustion technology from Woodstock Soapstone Company. They are very expensive units, but they are the Ferrari of woodburners. And they get the burn mileage of a hybrid. They’re incredibly efficient. I can go literally months without having to clean out the residual ash, and the vent stack stays nice and clean through most of the winter. And the clearest sign that it’s a great stove is in watching smoke come out of the stack. As in not very much smoke at all.

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