Category: Ecology
Two Radio Spots
I recently made a trip to Indiana, as is my wont in the summertime. While I’m up there I always try to stir up some trouble. Some of my attempts are more successful than others. International Flag-Burning Day was a bust, for example. But there is evidence that some of my other provocations were more […]
Read More → Two Radio SpotsA Pagan Community Statement on the Planetary Ecosystem
Today is International Mother Earth Day. Yes, that’s the official name as designated by the United Nations. And isn’t that a more interesting, more compelling, juicier name? I wonder if it will ever catch on in these United States. I’ve heard it’s the largest secular holiday in the world, but many of us experience the […]
Read More → A Pagan Community Statement on the Planetary EcosystemTen Years of b.rox
Ten years ago today I started writing here at b.rox. I didn’t give much thought to the content of that first post, in terms of setting the tone for the future. I just wrote about what was on my mind at the moment. I’m fascinated by cycles, including the cycle of seasons. In retrospect, however, […]
Read More → Ten Years of b.roxTree Blessing
Nov. 16, 2013: I officiated a civic tree-blessing ceremony on the bayou. We had a real-live fire dancer and Big Chief David Montana led us in singing “Indian Red.” Still can’t believe this really happened. It seems remarkable that someone like me, without any relevant credential, would be invited to do something like this. Many […]
Read More → Tree BlessingEpistle to the Ecotopians
I don’t often do this, but here are some words written by someone else. I guess I should add a few words of my own. I read Ecotopia in the late 80s. Written by Ernest Callenbach, it’s an imaginative novel that speculates on what would happen if the west coast of the United States seceded […]
Read More → Epistle to the EcotopiansEnergy Usage, One Year Later
We’ve been in our new home for 24 months now. Around this time last year, we got our twelfth bill from Entergy at the new place. That meant a year’s worth of accumulated energy consumption data. This was a handy baseline, coming just days before we insulated underneath the house with closed-cell spray foam. So […]
Read More → Energy Usage, One Year LaterBig Fix
We take a break from our regularly scheduled odyssey to promote the following worthy item. This Friday, the New Orleans Film Festival is hosting the American premiere of the documentary film, The Big Fix, which details the massive government cover-up which has taken place in the wake of the BP oil spill. There will be […]
Read More → Big FixSmokey Haze
I’d heard there was a marsh fire out east, but we didn’t smell anything until Monday morning. By the time I left for work, I was surprised to see the streets of Mid-City were shrouded in gray smokey haze. It was bad enough that I wore a bandana over my face as I rode to […]
Read More → Smokey HazeFreecycling Glass
A couple months ago I expounded on the difficulties of glass recycling. A friend on Facebook suggested selling bottles on Etsy or eBay as craft supplies. That sounded like too much trouble, but it got me thinking. Once I’d accumulated a bin full of marginally interesting empties, I posted to Freecycle New Orleans. Xy was […]
Read More → Freecycling Glass“The Oil is Not Gone, and Neither Are We”
This just in from Cherri Foytlin, who will be on the Social Media, Social Justice panel at Rising Tide 6 (register now): “thanks to all who attended – please read and share the link” The day before yesterday, on August 4, 2011, one year after the President of our United States stood on national television […]
Read More → “The Oil is Not Gone, and Neither Are We”Wounded Tree
The wounded tree that stands at the end of Bayou St. John is even more wounded now. What happened here? Bark is scattered all around the base of the tree. The biggest shards are immediately evident, but smaller pieces make a complete circle. For as long as I can remember, the side of this tree […]
Read More → Wounded TreeGlass
I’ve been hoarding glass bottles for a while now. Maybe a year. Not everything — just the big ones. Plenty of beer bottles have ended up in the trash. In fact, plenty of wine bottle got trashed too. But there’s something about a liquor bottle. It tends to hang around longer. I build up a […]
Read More → GlassMorganza
It’s been terribly dry here in Southeast Louisiana for a long time. In the midst of this drought, it’s hard to believe that the Mississippi River is riding at historically high levels. All that water is barreling down toward New Orleans. The US Army Corps of Engineers is opening the Bonnet Carré Spillway right now […]
Read More → MorganzaMother Love
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there — including my mom, my mother-in-law, my baby-mama, and of course the Great Mother: Mama Earth. I love you all. Forgive us, mothers, for we know not what we do.
Read More → Mother LoveGiant Tiger Moths Mating
This was going down on our deck last night. Michael said we should play some Barry White for them — or the soundtrack from Godzilla vs. Mothra. Now there’s a mashup I’d like to hear.
Read More → Giant Tiger Moths MatingScience Fails
It’s the anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon/Macondo/BP blowout disaster catastrophe oil spill. I don’t know how much coverage it gets outside the Gulf Coast, but oil is still percolating up in marshes here, and it’s very discouraging. Generally I have supported science and the scientific worldview, but this debacle has shown how science is just […]
Read More → Science FailsRevelation 11:18
The time has come … for destroying those who destroy the earth. Revelation 11:18 (New International Version, ©1984)
Read More → Revelation 11:18Cross Reference
Two headlines from today’s news caught my eye. Each is bad enough on its own, but taken together they are exponentially more infuriating. BP to Challenge Government Estimates of Oil Spilled “During the disaster, BP did whatever it could to avoid revealing the true flow rate of the spill,” Mr. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, said […]
Read More → Cross ReferenceEnergy Usage
I mentioned last January that we got stuck with a big ($500) utility bill that month. There was no question in my mind that our energy consumption was off the chain because of a record-breaking three-day cold snap. Now that I’ve got a year’s worth of utility bills, this is even more evident. Here’s a […]
Read More → Energy UsageDark Green Religion
Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future by Bron Taylor My rating: 5 of 5 stars Here’s a rarity — an academic book that is also a page-turner, at least for me. I couldn’t put it down. This is a broad survey of an emergent global phenomenon which might be called earth worship […]
Read More → Dark Green Religion