Readers' Comments

in newspapers are, I find, generally not readable. Even when the essay writer is a scholar/scientist, seemingly ordinary people feel free to argue against facts. Only because I know the writer did I read some of the comment in response to David Haskell's "The Seasons Aren't What They Used to Be" published in the New York Times.

Not all of them, mind you, because a few readers troll so freely and so illogically that I grow itchy to beat a fast exit. For example, "Expatico" wrote this:

Haskell asks, "Why do we not act?" Because, Mr. Haskell, we like our cars, our central heating, our big-box stores, refrigeration, electricity, airplane travel, modern medicine, television and iPhones much more than the prospect of returning to subsistence farming. Because the promise of "green energy," which I've been hearing about for four decades, remains but a figment of the Left's religious imagination. Because "sustainable agriculture" would only produce a fraction of what "fossil-fuel enhanced" agriculture can generate, thanks to fertilizers, pesticides and labor-saving machinery, so hundreds of millions of people, if not billions, would starve to death. Because human beings, whether in India or China, are hard-wired to acquire more, not less, and will happily mouth environmental platitudes while buying yet another big-screen television. Because, Mr. Haskell, nobody wants to go back to pre-Industrial civilization. 

Do you?

I confess that I am a bit cheeky or snarky myself, but honestly -- I can't help wondering why some folks even read the papers. Is it simply to express anger? Or make a smart retort? Or get their names/pseudonyms in print?

I suppose Expatico would question even the expertise of this 16-year-old and her Australian Shepherd, whom she has trained:

Lake Cheston ABCedarian: Y

Y IS FOR YOUNG

Lake Cheston is always young, renewing itself and being renewed, even in winter. Witness the clubmoss (a member of a 400-million species) crowding the inner banks of the overflow near the dam. Today, in a little light, the "spore-bearing clubs" stood upright, glowing as if to say, "Bring it on, Winter! Here we come!"

with thanks to David Haskell,
who often teaches me what I see

Here Are Two Answers

Many people ask, "Why do you blog?"

Here is today's two-part answer.

First, writer and poet James Still said, "Discover something new every day."

Second, friend David Haskell spoke with Diane Rehm about his book The Forest Unseen.  Listen carefully to what he says about the apps built into each of us.

Consider this: I walk to wonder, I photograph to discover, and I write to uncover.

Work Well Done

When I moved to Sewanee, I thought a skipper piloted a boat or bounced down the sidewalk.  Only about four years ago did I hear the word in connection with the little butterflies (family Hesperiidae) found so frequently on summer flowers.

Then a couple of years ago, I started photographing Lepidoptera, but while I learned the names of all the butterflies I snapped, I mastered only the Common Checkered and Duskywing skippers.  There are so many of them, and they are so small. 

Just recently, two Sewanee students (with the advice and counsel of their professor David Haskell), published Guide to Sewanee's Butterflies, a delightful, well-researched, and beautifully illustrated book.  Already, it has become one of my favorite guides.  Today, photographing again in Lydia's garden, I spotted a brilliant skipper on a flower of complementary color.  I managed two shots before it darted off.  At home, I opened the book online and immediately found my insect (I think): a Zabulon Skipper.

Thanks again to work well done, I am navigating my way into a new stream.