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QotD: Adventure
Aug. 31st, 2018 04:18 pmAdventure is worthwhile.
~~Aristotle
~~Aristotle
QotD: Necessary Wilderness
Apr. 17th, 2017 03:04 pmThousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity.
- John Muir
- John Muir
Tags:
Above There Is The Mountain
And at its foot, the summer refuge---
sanctuary in town and yards under spreading
boughs of evergreens
Beneath the mountain’s wild, they find
their forage: shrubs, wild plants and the feast
of dropped fruit spread about the ground
Those with antlers come alone
Those without bring offspring---fawns
following last year’s babes nearly grown
Late summer afternoons, they descend
like evening shadows slipping down the slopes
and fanning out within the town
By night they feed; by moon they play
How swift they are, even the smallest ones
with stripes and spots
Under moonlight, they suckle then break
for cover---like wind itself---practicing escape
Neither are claws imaginary;
real and raw are the marks
which groove some yearlings’ flanks
Quiet coming, quieter still in going,
all gather again at first light, a full herd
of phantoms ready to depart
before the sun soars above the trees
At town’s edge, the solitary bucks
begin to bound---sharp hooves pounding
respect into pliant earth
Near forest, they pause, heads high,
nostrils flaring to test the morning breeze
Hidden high beneath the mountain’s brushy
crown: a flash of eye shine gold green,
the presence sensed but rarely seen
-Peter Hensel
QotD: Security and Regrets
Aug. 28th, 2015 01:55 amThe only real security is ...
the ability to build your own fires
and find your own peace ...
What we most regret
are not the errors we make,
but the things we didn't do.
--Audrey Sutherland
QotD: How tough we aren't
Aug. 30th, 2013 09:07 amThe environment we're used to is designed to sustain us. We live like fish in an aquarium. Food comes mysteriously down, oxygen bubbles up. We are the domestic pets of a human zoo we call civilization. Then we go into nature, where we are least among equals with all other creatures. There we are put to the test. Most of us sleep through the test. We get in and out and never know what might have been demanded. Such an experience can make us even more vulnerable, for we come away with the illusion of growing hardy, salty, knowledgeable: Been there, done that.
--Laurence Gonzales in Deep Survival, page 133.
--Laurence Gonzales in Deep Survival, page 133.
Wolves Reproducing around Oregon
Jul. 30th, 2013 12:53 pmThis is great news in my book. I was out at the Imnaha river in spring and there is one of the first packs reported to have pups. I saw no sign of them. Now it sounds like most of the known Oregon packs have pups this year, even the newly discovered pack. Wild carnivores on the rise! We now have 53 wolves in Oregon. The ranchers hate it of course, but hopefully we can reach some equilibrium between livestock and canines that everyone can tolerate. I wonder if there might be some way to keep wild canines at bay that is as elegant as moving lights to keep away lions. Of course it's hard to protect your bovines when they're wandering far and wide...like those cows all along the Yampa. Need a wolf network up there too, keep the ranchers in line.
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/Wolves/index.asp
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/Wolves/wolf_program_updates.asp
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/Wolves/index.asp
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/Wolves/wolf_program_updates.asp
Poem by Wendell Berry for Earth Day
Apr. 22nd, 2013 06:34 pmThe Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
QotD: Abbey on Wilderness (again)
Mar. 17th, 2013 09:21 amWe need wilderness
whether or not we ever set foot in it.
We need a refuge
even though we may never need to go there....
We need the possibility of escape
as surely as we need hope.
--Edward Abbey
And in case you care, wilderness in Utah and Wyoming just won a reprieve from development. Oil and gas developers want to extract from public lands there, and were thwarted one more time in court.
At the time this appeal began, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management had already issued thousands of leases for energy development in the states with contested leases, including nearly 17,000 leases in Wyoming and more than 4,100 leases in Utah. The oil and gas industry had only developed 33 percent of its leases in Wyoming and 22 percent of its leases in Utah, leaving millions of acres open to energy development where the Interior Department has already issued leases.
whether or not we ever set foot in it.
We need a refuge
even though we may never need to go there....
We need the possibility of escape
as surely as we need hope.
--Edward Abbey
And in case you care, wilderness in Utah and Wyoming just won a reprieve from development. Oil and gas developers want to extract from public lands there, and were thwarted one more time in court.
At the time this appeal began, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management had already issued thousands of leases for energy development in the states with contested leases, including nearly 17,000 leases in Wyoming and more than 4,100 leases in Utah. The oil and gas industry had only developed 33 percent of its leases in Wyoming and 22 percent of its leases in Utah, leaving millions of acres open to energy development where the Interior Department has already issued leases.
Quote of the Day: A Venturesome Minority
Dec. 22nd, 2012 03:43 pmA venturesome minority
will always be eager to set off on their own,
and no obstacles should be placed in their path;
let them take risks, for godsake,
let them get lost, sunburnt, stranded, drowned,
eaten by bears, buried alive under avalanches -
that is the right and privilege of any free American.
--Edward Abbey
will always be eager to set off on their own,
and no obstacles should be placed in their path;
let them take risks, for godsake,
let them get lost, sunburnt, stranded, drowned,
eaten by bears, buried alive under avalanches -
that is the right and privilege of any free American.
--Edward Abbey
Tags:
- america,
- death,
- freedom,
- quotes,
- recreation,
- rights,
- risk,
- suicide,
- wilderness
Rowing the Rogue
Aug. 14th, 2012 11:15 pmWe're leaving tomorrow and I'm to row a raft again. How did everybody find out that I can row? I guess I better read the guidebook about the river. I'm mostly packed and ready to do the pre-trip garden harvest and cooler pack in the morning. The temperature is going to be in the 100's. I have a big hat from Africa, a long sleeved shirt and an umbrella for shade. I have a lot of water freezing in the two house freezers. The meat (for a taco meal and a curry) is precooked and frozen solid. I went to the big local beer store (John's) and picked a sampling of beers, mostly IPA's but also a couple of porters and stouts. Will brought a German lager. Hopefully it won't be too hot to drink beer. Is that possible?
Back in the world of technology
Jun. 6th, 2012 09:19 amBoy was it nice to be out there for a while. No electricity, no flush toilets, no internet. Just fast cold water, snowy peaks, giant ponderosas, steep grasslands, birds of prey and sand beaches out there. But I'm back in town. I'm sick, too, but on the mend finally today. Somebody brought a cold to share on the trip, and most of us got it. I spent yesterday in bed. I started weeding through the ~350 emails, most of which are irrelevant. I will get back on that project today. In between starting to unpack from the trip, organize in my new home, study for boards, and get well.
QotD: Wilderness
Mar. 31st, 2012 10:46 amIf you know wilderness
in the way that you know love,
you would be unwilling to let it go...
This is the story of our past
and it will be the story of our future.
--Terry Tempest Williams
in the way that you know love,
you would be unwilling to let it go...
This is the story of our past
and it will be the story of our future.
--Terry Tempest Williams
QotD: Ignorance Begets Confidence
Jan. 27th, 2012 12:09 pmIgnorance more frequently begets confidence than knowledge.
--Charles Darwin
Imagine being lost in the wilderness with a group of 10. Who is the most confident about which way you should go? Always an interesting test.)
(Didn't mean to but both knowledge and confidence tags just created. Not sure I will ever stop creating new tags, sorry. Follow a parallel tag to track the idea farther back. This journal is a form of mind map.)
--Charles Darwin
Imagine being lost in the wilderness with a group of 10. Who is the most confident about which way you should go? Always an interesting test.)
(Didn't mean to but both knowledge and confidence tags just created. Not sure I will ever stop creating new tags, sorry. Follow a parallel tag to track the idea farther back. This journal is a form of mind map.)
Tags:
A recently introduced bill--H.R. 1581--would eliminate protection for wilderness study areas and Forest Service roadless areas and allow industry to develop and extract resources from them. We need to do something other than this. We need to create broad migration zones along all riparian areas and connecting them, in order to allow species to survive during this time of climate change. This approach will facilitate our longterm survival in a way that short term extractive industry cannot, and should be built into law. Also, we need to end corporate personhood, such that when we do decide to allow our lands to be used for some purpose, the developer/extractor must be responsible for the end product...instead of raping the land for profit and then dumping the devastation back on the public for rehabilitation. But that's what I think. If you care about wilderness, go to the sierra club link and have your say.
http://sierraclub.typepad.com/michaelbrune/2011/09/wildlands-are-your-lands.html
http://sierraclub.typepad.com/michaelbrune/2011/09/wildlands-are-your-lands.html
The Peace of Wild Things
by Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
by Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Trip Report: Klickitat
Aug. 22nd, 2010 09:23 pmI was just on a lovely glistening rushing river, the Klickitat in south central Washington. It is a 75 mile long river that drains the east side of the Cascades, running across a plateau at the foot of Mount Adams. We ran 35 miles of it in four easy days. Putin: old gage just below Yakama Reservation. Takeout: shuttle driver's house in Klickitat. Whitewater: too easy to be a destination for today's up and coming boaters, this is a classic playful river run for those who simply love rivers, and wilderness. Obviously the fishermen know about it, though according the the locals it is much harder to catch a steelhead or a chinook salmon here than it used to be. My companions: D and K. D is a retired chemical engineer and beginning Buddhist. He's the one with the GPS and a list of river landmarks including possible camps from his google earth explorations. K is an accountant who I know from boating back in NC. Pictures taken by D are here.
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