tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56816810284642827222024-03-05T03:15:46.091-05:00Cathartes EcoArtsArt. The Environment. And Everything In Between.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-62195894760661837612020-12-05T12:26:00.006-05:002020-12-05T12:29:40.541-05:00Bloodroot - a story for 2020 in image and word<h2 style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbB1rhgvV9P81ET1LvIlXOADstPwjCv5Xbmkd_hxjolX7oXNfwOXC5YD0-cBcR4MwACjQY0JaCqv05BtPCn3KSMcs5U1a8L_lqCKlXWca9JWvlfX7f2MiN7IMDAqggKM-jA6K4t4Wklxk/s1874/Bloodroot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1874" data-original-width="1500" height="415" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbB1rhgvV9P81ET1LvIlXOADstPwjCv5Xbmkd_hxjolX7oXNfwOXC5YD0-cBcR4MwACjQY0JaCqv05BtPCn3KSMcs5U1a8L_lqCKlXWca9JWvlfX7f2MiN7IMDAqggKM-jA6K4t4Wklxk/w332-h415/Bloodroot.jpg" width="332" /></a></div> </h2>
<p class="MsoNormal">I<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the way it pierces through<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">melting dusty pink to peapod green<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">leaf emerges embracing its bud<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">shielding from early spring chill<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">delicate grace <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">petals splaying open, quiet and soft<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">yin opening to yellow, soaking up the sun<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">leaves of snapping turtle skin <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">undulating matte splendor <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">feigning toughness, but succumbing to sunburn<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">how long the winter<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">cradled by Pachamama<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">awaiting the perfect moment<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">II<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">our winter has been long,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">not since October<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">our winter has been persisting<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">deepening since <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">since social media — learn to fix a broken pencil, and watch
a murder —<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>network internet —
connect with anyone, and lose connection —<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>neoliberal
economics — strive for efficiency, and lose your soul —<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>nuclear
destruction — win the battle, lose the war —<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>internal
combustion engine <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; text-indent: .5in;">— go faster, risk
everything, everyone —<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>colonialism
— explore, and ruin what you find —<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>imagined superiority — disillusion,
disconnection —<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; text-indent: .5in;">domination —a
fool’s errand.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">III<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">skin as thin as peach<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">flower ephemeral as a first crush<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">passing in the silence of night<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">giving way to the next<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">yet staying with you forever<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">forest duff grit<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">—perseverance—<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">generations linked together <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">built upon each<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">—other—<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">pushing up through the mulch pile<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">no regard for what stands in the
way<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">driving<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>step by
step<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">out of cool, dark
repose<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">not through garbage, but through fertilizer,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>fuel<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">IV<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">brought to our knees<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">all our weaknesses laid bare<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">injustice to the earth<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">each other <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">—brother and sister all<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">plant, animal, fungus, bacteria, mineral, wind, water,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>and spirit<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">bleeding from our roots<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">we cry out in communal agony<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“don’t let us return to normal!”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let us begin again,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">as in spring.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Towards the sun,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">towards a new day.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A better, more just, more beautiful, <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">more loving way.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">V<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">we rise<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-80042772964799624522018-03-09T10:29:00.000-05:002018-03-09T10:31:21.985-05:00The Making of a Vermont Fish & WIldlife's Dead Creek Visitor Center<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
On a Monday morning in April 2016, it was not the first time I turned
off of Route 17 onto the Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area's (WMA) main driveway. The last time that I was there was the previous Dead Creek Wildlife Day (or Dead Duck Day as we affectionately called it in my childhood home), which quite reliably fell on a cloudy, windy, and often
rainy October day. My dad, being an avid bird hunter and fine-carpenter for decades,
always set up a duck decoy carving station. There he taught kids, or anyone interested, how to
carve. Bringing all his carving tools and a pile of rough cut ducks -- heads unceremoniously in a pile all their own off to one side -- his station was always one of the most popular. Kids would stand at the table
for hours trying all the tools with wood chips slowly gathering at their feet. The occasional particularly industrious carvers would bring their carving-in-progress back year after year, each October bringing it a little closer to its potential
sea-faring glory.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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On this April morning, I showed up at Dead Creek for an entirely different
reason. It was my first day of work for Vermont Fish & Wildlife. I was
ironically classified as a Specialist, which within the Department often means that you are more of a generalist, having specialties in more than one area. Many of the specialists worked with both the wildlife teams and the fish teams. I also worked as a generalist that specialized in a few things. From April 2016-December 2017 I mowed lawns, chased geese, painted murals, talked to farmers, watched eagle nests, paddled Dead Creek, wrote, researched, lugged stuff around, worked on design and photo editing, and fell indignantly in the sticky Addison mud between our canoe and the shore. I
had somehow walked into job that perfectly matched my far reaching skills and experience, and my niche specialization. Since 2009, after college, I have
been an ecoartivist, meaning that sometimes I work in art galleries and
sometimes work on land conservation, but it always means that I work astraddle the
environmental conservation activist art "division."<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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So, what could Fish & Wildlife, a state-run department with the mission
“to protect and conserve our fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the
people of Vermont” want with me, someone who has put in considerable effort and time in the arts? As it turned out, I was just what they needed: someone with a specialization in the
creative fields of painting, design, graphic design, writing, and communication
as well as environmental science, conservation, and climate change. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For about three years prior to my first day working for the Department, Amy
Alfieri, Dead Creek WMA’s manager, and Ali Thomas, outreach’s Education Programs
Coordinator, with the help of some others, had been working on plans for a new visitor center. The idea was to create a home for information and education about the Department and the work that it does in Vermont.<br />
<br />
It was also
designed to be a free educational resource for tourists, school kids, scout troops,
and anyone else interested in Vermont’s wildlife. Being placed at Dead Creek,
the state’s most heavily managed water system and WMA, it also highlighted why
Dead Creek is so unique. After years of development and renovation to the mid-century
ranch house that would house the Center, the project just was not progressing
as rapidly as the Department liked. Amy and Ali are in change of multiple
projects each and wear many hats. Finishing this project, that did not have an
explicit deadline, was just moving too slowly.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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So, Amy took it upon herself to hire someone specifically to get the
center finished so that it could open to the public. Luckily for me, she chose
me to be the one to come in and help. That is what lead up to the first of many
beautiful morning drives to work at Dead Creek. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For those who do not know, Dead Creek lays in the flat Champlain valley
of Vermont, which runs down the Western side of the state. The valley used to
all be under water during the time of the Champlain Sea after the last ice age.
Later the ocean was cut off, through uplift, and now only Lake Champlain
remains, a long, thin, deep fresh water lake that makes the boundary of Vermont
and New York. When coming from the Green Mountains or the Eastern side of the
state, like I was that morning, you will pass the blinking light in Addison at
the corner of Route 17 and 22A. From here you will go West on 17, and after a
short way, will begin down a hill that gives you an expansive view over farm
fields that gracefully edge towards the mighty Lake Champlain. Over the thin strip
of this southern part of the Lake, the New York Adirondack Mountains stand in
all their glory. I think it is next to impossible to ever tire of this view. It
truly is a magical view, that is never the same day to day or even hour to
hour. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Under Amy’s guidance, I began working.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Writing Panels</span></b></u><br />
<br />
First thing that needed to be done was to
develop, research, write, and edit the text for the educational panels
that would be hung in the center. Amy and Ali had developed an outline for them so they knew what subjects would be covered and, to different extents, some of the finer points. Writing these was a long process, which involved me working for a while, then giving them over to my superiors for their edits, and then back to me and back to them, and then eventually out to the appropriate people in the Department for their input.<br />
<br />
Some of them include some particularly interesting facts about the development of environmental conservation in Vermont. For instance one of the panels tells the history of Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area. Dead Creek was originally a seasonal stream that flooded in the spring, and as it flowed to the Otter Creek and into Lake Champlain over the summer and autumn would dry up. Recognizing the area as a rich natural resource and seeing a possibility to maintain the wetlands all year-round, the Fish & Wildlife Department decided to build a series of dams and embankments to harness the water, and in their view at the time, create rich habitat for waterfowl.<br />
<br />
Wetlands are a wonderful resource to be sure, and local and migrating waterfowl flock to the wetland system to this day for its abundance of food and shelter. However, the move to alter this landscape so significantly is absolutely a signature of the times (1950s) and the contemporary views about land management and conservation.<br />
<br />
Another amazing thing that they did in the late 50s at Dead Creek was to establish a Canada Goose population. Prior to the development of the dams and embankments, making Dead Creek year-round series of streams and ponds, Canada Geese visited Vermont on their way south in the autumn and north in the spring, but they didn't nest and bread in Vermont. With an eye towards hunting opportunities, the Department decided that they wanted to introduce the birds to Vermont. So, they collected wild geese and brought them to Dead Creek, housing them in a fenced in area for a number of years until they produced young. The young were released and allowed to migrate like wild birds do. Like all Canada Geese, the young returned to where they were born to begin the next generation, therefore establishing a Vermont resident population. This kind of species introduction is something done only rarely, and usually with a biological justification, but in those days, not considered as harmful.<br />
<br />
Although almost all the panels had at least an outline when I arrived on the scene, the four climate change panels did not. These were left to me to design and write. I was thrilled to be tasked with this, given that I love talking to people about climate change, and I was excited to take a closer look at what was happening specifically to Vermont. One resource that I was overjoyed to find and use was the <a href="http://vtclimate.org/" target="_blank">Vermont Climate Assessment</a>. The VCA is similar in form to the <a href="https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/" target="_blank">National Climate Assessment</a>, which is also a great resource. The VCA explains some of the projections for Vermont like: "Vermont’s temperatures are projected to rise by another 2-3.6° F by 2050 and 5-5.4° F of warming by 2100 according to computer simulation models by the IPCC based on low to high global emissions of greenhouse gases (IPCC– Christensen et al. 2013)." The Assessment also explains some of what has already occurred based on data from the state like: "Average annual temperature in Vermont has increased by 1.3° F since 1960; 45% of this change is since 1990. Winters are warming twice as fast as summers. Warmer temperatures have caused later “first-fall freeze” and earlier “last-spring freeze”. Over the past 40 years, the freezing period has shortened by 4 days each 10 years and the growing season has lengthened by 3.7 days every 10 years." These numbers are really quite alarming, when you let them sink in for a minute. I think that the future projections are a wake up call, but actually not as show-stopping as what has already been recorded. When talking with people about climate change, one of the hardest hurtles to overcome is that the future and uncertainties are hard to really care about, however, proven changes in your own backyard have a much different kind of impact on the psyche. I think it is data like this that can have the largest impact<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Sourcing Photos for the Panels</span></u></b><br />
<br />
After many, many hours devoted to writing the panels, I switched gears to look for photos to embellish the panels, for surely they would be more interesting with some visuals! I began looking through the numerous Department photo files, which was interesting in its own right. Some historical images were neat to see, but over all, there were many images I wish I had but didn't yet. So the search widened. I contacted the Vermont Historical Society, the Smithsonian, and the Shelburne Museum, among others. And I reached out to some professional photographers as well and we ended up using some of their beautiful photographs as well! Everyone was very helpful even if they didn't have the photos I was looking for.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidFP2GH-5WRD2yH5xtbXcjEHDqYZefcsQHaWdLA9R42LQP76a-5PThj2743ZEpYgx_B-vfFFwfH6IuvNwAGgYaRYDkxQqA1JZGsywRH4iL9MMODZJBkUN-SKx2PD9EqBEtaEHt0-eCC5w/s1600/Land+Ethic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1479" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidFP2GH-5WRD2yH5xtbXcjEHDqYZefcsQHaWdLA9R42LQP76a-5PThj2743ZEpYgx_B-vfFFwfH6IuvNwAGgYaRYDkxQqA1JZGsywRH4iL9MMODZJBkUN-SKx2PD9EqBEtaEHt0-eCC5w/s400/Land+Ethic.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here you can see some of the great photos that were shared with us. A beautiful cedar waxwing, an image of John Muir and FDR in Yosemite, and Also Leopold.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Panel Graphic Design</span></b></u><br />
<u><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></b></u>
When it came to designing the panels I wanted to give them an appropriate feel for the subject matter. In the beginning I actually looked at some other people's natural history panel graphic design, and found that I didn't like a lot of them. I found many that were stagnant feeling and blocky, which didn't feel right for talking about the natural world. I wanted something that felt more alive, full of life like the waterways and animals of Vermont. So when I sat down to sketch the design of the four climate change panels the first thing I drew was an fluid curve, and the rest evolved out of that.<br />
<br />
Other details followed, like the treatment of the photos, the color scheme (which Ali had pre-determined when she picked out the color scheme for the new walls in the visitor center), and other details like the pull-out quotes.<br />
<br />
Because I had a lot of things to work on in this position, we determined that I would create the design for the climate change panels and then we would send that to a graphic designer to mock up the rest. We thought that might be faster than me doing them all start to finish.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEN3xQP4tIkSsDs6Y3WaPvdl1_CxJp3lp0Ugzc3px2N2TTrcOefrb0qR1SXNI3Bug3UONEsLxL-SUVu228UUKqwC8RAoKoSNEDeoZ8U3_D1NbkZz5EPhGnX9g9Kaqhv8R8mzLH5pOwipc/s1600/Climate+change+panel+theme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="1260" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEN3xQP4tIkSsDs6Y3WaPvdl1_CxJp3lp0Ugzc3px2N2TTrcOefrb0qR1SXNI3Bug3UONEsLxL-SUVu228UUKqwC8RAoKoSNEDeoZ8U3_D1NbkZz5EPhGnX9g9Kaqhv8R8mzLH5pOwipc/s640/Climate+change+panel+theme.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here are the final climate change panels.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<u><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></b></u><u><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Painting the Two Canvas Murals</span></b></u><br />
<u><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></b></u>
In the visitor center you will see at least two murals. There is one large one that spans the back of the wetland habitat diorama, and there is a smaller one next to it which is hte backdrop for the upland display. What a first-time visitor will probably not know is that the upland mural actually has three versions. Amy wanted it to be possible to change this mural so that it could display different habitats, different seasons, and highlight various animals that lived and were active from place to place. So, as a solution, we decided that one mural would be on the wall, and two others would be on canvas, which we would make possible to hang over the wall mural.<br />
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I began with the two canvas murals first, and to do that I enlisted the help of my dad and his workshop. After we made the stretchers I brought them back to my house where I had a fresh roll of canvas awaiting their arrival. The canvas was stretched and then primed.<br />
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Meanwhile Amy and I had worked on figuring out what the scenes for the four murals would be, working on highlighting unique elements of the landscape in each one.<br />
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When the gesso was dry, I could begin the long process of sketching and painting!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLk7xSZ1QorzhIG3l9nM6ilrgF7Sa0goyYuS9OwLrffQL_vGq3vT2n4mJSTk4f5TobZDner-kbKFkMWm05Hoj3svo2PxO9nUpg_dcrVqZJkxuc18OhXxI4pc8Q2YO9uD5wqktWTgwz3Yo/s1600/IMAG0145.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLk7xSZ1QorzhIG3l9nM6ilrgF7Sa0goyYuS9OwLrffQL_vGq3vT2n4mJSTk4f5TobZDner-kbKFkMWm05Hoj3svo2PxO9nUpg_dcrVqZJkxuc18OhXxI4pc8Q2YO9uD5wqktWTgwz3Yo/s400/IMAG0145.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is one of the design sketches for the fall beaver pond painting. The pink beaver never did make it into the final version...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi30FqTfzguK0ed39Vk1uigOeiB29xcAjjhwX2jd-NdNQSWBAPHuQbbP4YGy5XoehYUo804rEHHYqDqMtozz2LmiJzBsKmS49g8y-c9pRG5dloCXEwSnF7mCcxJYHCYOXqg4AOIAEHhPgo/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi30FqTfzguK0ed39Vk1uigOeiB29xcAjjhwX2jd-NdNQSWBAPHuQbbP4YGy5XoehYUo804rEHHYqDqMtozz2LmiJzBsKmS49g8y-c9pRG5dloCXEwSnF7mCcxJYHCYOXqg4AOIAEHhPgo/s400/1.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here are the two canvases, getting all gessoed up!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUACZd4SY732eHcbkX89sFxpef3TSCugOI1DHXlVCLF5zIFVuS3XMAXzgXY-Lsh3gyuTwyUH-b-98vKGjR4mSVa2CATyse_5UmDJiK8-qvCZ2DBb7LtmXGV8QMPNTVwNCggTkh_4DZWSM/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUACZd4SY732eHcbkX89sFxpef3TSCugOI1DHXlVCLF5zIFVuS3XMAXzgXY-Lsh3gyuTwyUH-b-98vKGjR4mSVa2CATyse_5UmDJiK8-qvCZ2DBb7LtmXGV8QMPNTVwNCggTkh_4DZWSM/s400/9.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is the base for the beaver pond, getting everything in place.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is the spring field painting getting worked on.</td></tr>
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<u><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></b></u><u><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Editing the Panels</span></b></u><br />
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As we worked with the graphic designer we nudged the panels closer and closer to perfection with each go-around. They of course started very basic and jumbled, but as we worked on getting the text to the right length for the dimensions of the panels and the photos placed appropriately , they started to come together. Then we began the finer details of visual proportion, coherency, and readability.<br />
<u><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></b></u><u><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Painting the Murals on the walls of the Visitor Center</span></b></u><br />
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As I finished painting the two canvas murals and was done with the heft of my part of the panels I began painting in the Visitor Center. There I created two murals, one for the wetland diorama, and one for the upland display. As we figured out what we would like to depict in the wetland mural, we also had to design the diorama. So I sketched the two together, for obvious reasons, and then helped along the way with the diorama company as they created a 3D version of Dead Creek. Also along the way I found us an realistic turtle replica and painted it, which the diorama people placed "under the water." Much later after the diorama arrived, I also made some baby voles out of sculpy to live in the nest to be forever guarded by their taxidermied mother.<br />
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The actual painting of the murals was fun, but of course I love paining and love painting big! I listened to a lot of music and a lot of podcasts, frequently pausing, taking a step back to view the piece and to listen to the creatures living in the attic or watch the weather roll from the New York mountains across the Champlain Valley floor.<br />
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One element of the wetland display (diorama, mural, one panel about habitats, and one about animal species) was to show a lot of the native life that lives in and around Dead Creek. With that in mind I wanted to incorporate specific plant and animal species in the mural. It would also have an accompanying identification card so that people could see what the species looked like. This involved talking to Amy about which plants she would like to highlight and then researching them. Painting like this is fun, it adds a whole other layer of complexity and intellectual engagement for me as the artist, but I hope also for the viewer, whether they know it consciously or only subconsciously that the plants are real and geographically accurate.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A couple of the sketches, pre-painting for the murals in the Visitor Center.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Starting to paint on the wall!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The diorama was installed!</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span>
<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><b><u>Beautiful Dead Animals</u></b></span><br />
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There were many other small things to do over the months of working on the Visitor Center. Over this time I went on a few trips that involved animal, yes real-live, but dead, animals. One afternoon I went to pick up the flicker that you can now see in the Visitor Center beautifully displayed as if it were just about to alight on a branch. The flicker was in someone's freezer for a few days before I got there. They had carefully picked it up out of their front lawn where it had run into their living room window and fallen to its death. A sad end for the beautiful bird, but it now sparks awe and wonder in many and hopefully encourages them to learn about and care for its brethren. I also picked up the mink one morning where a woman had picked it up off the road in front of her house where it had been hit by a car. Again, what a lamentable end for such a beauty. When we were just beginning the diorama, I drove down to the <a href="http://vtherpatlas.org/" target="_blank">Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas</a> to pick up a couple small turtles, one painted, and one snapping. We decided in the end not to use one of them in the diorama, but instead to save their shells and add them to the touch drawers for people to explore.<br />
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Later in the project I also went to pick up some of the finished taxidermy. What was once dead had been given a second life of sorts. All the taxidermy animals in the Visitor Center have been killed accidentally, like the bear cub that was also hit by a car. Because of this, although I understand the criticisms of "glorifying killing" by displaying dead animals, I think these have an important role to play in education. Kids and adults alike walk in and as if to a magnet are drawn to the beautiful animals. They look at them up close, and initiate conversations about them, open to learning more.<br />
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<u><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Painting Feet and Other Things</span></b></u><br />
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Amy came up to me one day and asked if I could paint some animal tracks around the visitor center. I thought it was a great idea, so began thinking about which animals to choose and where to put them. We wanted to highlight a variety of animals, so in the end I picked mammals with padded feet like a bobcat, and mammals with claws like a bear, and mammals with hoofed feet like a moose, and mammals with webbed feet like an otter, and birds with webbed feet like a goose, and birds without webbing like a raven, and even a frog. It was interesting researching tracks, and it was actually much more complicated than you may initially assume. It is common for tracking books or cards to show one foot print with its shape and size, but finding accurate stride patterns is much more infrequent. Not only that, but any animal -- species or individual -- will have varying strides depending on where they are walking and at what speed they are moving. I also painted the Fish & Wildlife logo on the door, and then, of course, a welcome sign!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRhc6TSjqYczatuhYol5sfthTfK88QNhIDDCyTny_qNk7LqqAybBm0vxATRpHI3A2V-UsC-knlLQtZFcGuwSdi3BQqj2dU8gpV0yB16OhWO910KJZMphlPLgpfhV6yPFoyMf7RBrkNKQE/s1600/Footprints_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="1080" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRhc6TSjqYczatuhYol5sfthTfK88QNhIDDCyTny_qNk7LqqAybBm0vxATRpHI3A2V-UsC-knlLQtZFcGuwSdi3BQqj2dU8gpV0yB16OhWO910KJZMphlPLgpfhV6yPFoyMf7RBrkNKQE/s400/Footprints_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red squirrel.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coyote, moose, and red squirrel.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black bear in the bathroom!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's been a ruffed grouse here...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUxK0rsdGjLOMP8SbosGmSsljKgT41bb-PJN_g9oyPI2jyG2CGQurrDURXmBpZQ3bezXDveLQhgPixDJGV37PPFu3ZVKa5-nrewcT3sCZJVidzRBVjRsOHYHAhADn45iXjFzq6VdEcSNA/s1600/Text_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="741" data-original-width="1500" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUxK0rsdGjLOMP8SbosGmSsljKgT41bb-PJN_g9oyPI2jyG2CGQurrDURXmBpZQ3bezXDveLQhgPixDJGV37PPFu3ZVKa5-nrewcT3sCZJVidzRBVjRsOHYHAhADn45iXjFzq6VdEcSNA/s400/Text_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The walls get titles.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEsxf3wFow9rUNCU6ULNiKP-58w2z1RfYry7Xz7PHKGsMk4JGsxJbEzza6kshnRZstfZJ4ShCki5icOuj9dtZDNxDlJ7xlyQYgoE0psQG4jqZt5_1X_K9PAwO8aYc8xYs4S_nGVZNOEkE/s1600/IMAG1566+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEsxf3wFow9rUNCU6ULNiKP-58w2z1RfYry7Xz7PHKGsMk4JGsxJbEzza6kshnRZstfZJ4ShCki5icOuj9dtZDNxDlJ7xlyQYgoE0psQG4jqZt5_1X_K9PAwO8aYc8xYs4S_nGVZNOEkE/s400/IMAG1566+%25282%2529.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Logo in progress.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3EAtHww9o-_OPxL2cg2t7PE2s6-l7yEpUzP2IIHpkZyee8hShkrJ_rPZdrB1yFmLRGI04aUwBkt3jRrmBJKmEh6HxMUCp5QSxT0dXiNU8Vt20N0M2KgP4opcgbZi_lCMYRaeLgSfjg9Q/s1600/Department+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3EAtHww9o-_OPxL2cg2t7PE2s6-l7yEpUzP2IIHpkZyee8hShkrJ_rPZdrB1yFmLRGI04aUwBkt3jRrmBJKmEh6HxMUCp5QSxT0dXiNU8Vt20N0M2KgP4opcgbZi_lCMYRaeLgSfjg9Q/s400/Department+logo.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished logo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggr5kOaUFadrZaDpVehZfJ6kmLrMchHoW64R2kL23GHjopCPiS5DCFK4LjYVmkGMaR-tFrwXkDauUr6jjcE32X43bE75XYEeW4U0YgjKf8xOBvWTwAcQFJ5QQhUHmmPvvkt5btMzHLbbg/s1600/IMAG1937.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggr5kOaUFadrZaDpVehZfJ6kmLrMchHoW64R2kL23GHjopCPiS5DCFK4LjYVmkGMaR-tFrwXkDauUr6jjcE32X43bE75XYEeW4U0YgjKf8xOBvWTwAcQFJ5QQhUHmmPvvkt5btMzHLbbg/s400/IMAG1937.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Both sides of the sandwich board before it got screwed together.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<u><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></b></u><b><u><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Two Identification Cards</span></u></b><br />
<b><u><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></u></b>
There were two identification cards that had to be made: one for the wetland diorama and mural, and one for the animal tracks. These were pretty straight forward to make, but fun to decide how to make them interesting and utilitarian at the same time.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiI1TfjX10KS7cCHwL8yePsECHv3dgpUwSB_hn8mpNtLITHUSrBkxuyAKaiggUSK9S28PhOF-I0pkjRdOTagmTujloNl4qsnDDyRGkg-VLEEHZIoYw8NXJc2yR-8GF6L8wWwpCPkWzkJ8/s1600/DC+diorama_NEW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1600" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiI1TfjX10KS7cCHwL8yePsECHv3dgpUwSB_hn8mpNtLITHUSrBkxuyAKaiggUSK9S28PhOF-I0pkjRdOTagmTujloNl4qsnDDyRGkg-VLEEHZIoYw8NXJc2yR-8GF6L8wWwpCPkWzkJ8/s400/DC+diorama_NEW.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Diorama identification card.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><u><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></u></b><b><u><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Work Days</span></u></b><br />
<b><u><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></u></b>
Before the grand opening there was a lot of little things that needed doing, so Amy reached out to the Department and enticed volunteers with the promise of pizza. We had a good group that knocked out a lot of work. I helped direct and give advice as the day went along as well as worked on some of my own projects. We had people cleaning the lawn and trimming bushes. The game wardens helped set up the security cameras and related equipment. We had a couple people screw eye-hooks and tie tools down to the biological check station. We had someone help start the dividers for the touch drawers, while someone else started setting up the trapper's lodge. A couple people were making labels for everything with the Center's new laminater. Amy was master organizer with her list of to-dos, and tried to only minimally fret about the panels that were due to arrive by 10am, but kept not showing up. Eventually they did show up though, and it was the moment of truth to open the packages and see the babies in real life for the first time! I had put many hours into their creation and was excited to see how they turned out. Hanging them....level -- with each other, and on their own -- took some working, but by the time we hung the last ones, we had developed a pretty good system.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqvbxbqTxt38MCuW2ZL68rXvV96cGFB5Wd8HVBDxxB6zkIRU1dQoe8b_hgfaDDAjvfEP36KLGT-fn_RefHT-j9y4ceGCtZTLbheo2gYcC3bz8ijSO9O4FzPYrHVZzVdDapD1TiQ6uvEro/s1600/IMAG1896.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqvbxbqTxt38MCuW2ZL68rXvV96cGFB5Wd8HVBDxxB6zkIRU1dQoe8b_hgfaDDAjvfEP36KLGT-fn_RefHT-j9y4ceGCtZTLbheo2gYcC3bz8ijSO9O4FzPYrHVZzVdDapD1TiQ6uvEro/s400/IMAG1896.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Game wardens setting up security hardware. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpVG-izKK0QFpI0vno1JE352okYl-xPpG9jAcAq3YjVC7r0UAm7tf7vKHJaKplQ16tptDdH1lT8mRwcKOMZc9Ogr1smabquydFqK7o0rceFDkq7-2Sjg2AXw0EiqiodgrJ3ajjmNN117o/s1600/IMAG1898.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpVG-izKK0QFpI0vno1JE352okYl-xPpG9jAcAq3YjVC7r0UAm7tf7vKHJaKplQ16tptDdH1lT8mRwcKOMZc9Ogr1smabquydFqK7o0rceFDkq7-2Sjg2AXw0EiqiodgrJ3ajjmNN117o/s400/IMAG1898.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The trapper's lodge coming together!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOsqvAHHhevrnOJngWhJlLDJUYozJTgFkuau4pcwvw-dgXXx5iJmKdWK-NGb5zAMrnAszjfWpdKeaoOHYURUpDJ3VffHUXkBIPBwH6EcFonBcCbDYbZkuyP3eFFf142lpXTwb51eZc_bQ/s1600/IMAG1900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOsqvAHHhevrnOJngWhJlLDJUYozJTgFkuau4pcwvw-dgXXx5iJmKdWK-NGb5zAMrnAszjfWpdKeaoOHYURUpDJ3VffHUXkBIPBwH6EcFonBcCbDYbZkuyP3eFFf142lpXTwb51eZc_bQ/s400/IMAG1900.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making a biological check station.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNB_30eRKdm5FbxF9nnrQVzL0ZyAr6O4bQVpNfSa9rX6lX-kfMEXLiJhaHDMnmw40dCFtOwt0G7SBzHD3KJQbBNMNO16xGwSFPc1apMOlOmjNERACtQmLcKiETy_eNcuFQxnKROskvDw/s1600/IMAG1901.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNB_30eRKdm5FbxF9nnrQVzL0ZyAr6O4bQVpNfSa9rX6lX-kfMEXLiJhaHDMnmw40dCFtOwt0G7SBzHD3KJQbBNMNO16xGwSFPc1apMOlOmjNERACtQmLcKiETy_eNcuFQxnKROskvDw/s400/IMAG1901.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hanging the osprey.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZikb1G3VfYNc8pam_xf1INX-sR6S-tsrB-o5wKIEhI3PlqE5G7Fn5S5dnx_-6VQlHwRAKQHOre_peHB4l3fzN0j_SdrveU5cK_FYmrQGLHZ-XD7ykPMYewA2QrT9Sm6uclNTUNQhYgU/s1600/IMAG1902.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZikb1G3VfYNc8pam_xf1INX-sR6S-tsrB-o5wKIEhI3PlqE5G7Fn5S5dnx_-6VQlHwRAKQHOre_peHB4l3fzN0j_SdrveU5cK_FYmrQGLHZ-XD7ykPMYewA2QrT9Sm6uclNTUNQhYgU/s400/IMAG1902.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Working on the drawers.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiqzwQmLD8wEQHEqTHuslfjAH-TV9RGapM2hLrp4shy9lwKPov99djFwRYTBmsyfIf7qDQwGsS2d64qTJ5T680iAtvNV0qOI__XmZmrlwdmG16gO1k-If9bBbsj4U2rHMgKm3LxFcrgwA/s1600/IMAG1904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiqzwQmLD8wEQHEqTHuslfjAH-TV9RGapM2hLrp4shy9lwKPov99djFwRYTBmsyfIf7qDQwGsS2d64qTJ5T680iAtvNV0qOI__XmZmrlwdmG16gO1k-If9bBbsj4U2rHMgKm3LxFcrgwA/s400/IMAG1904.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sprucing up the lilac bushes.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidk3G_mpqRUpLu3np3Cmb0OgItkAyfIs31Wi8CubvKOpHTyCqKcPXJQKZE7I3GSn_qtAHE8D2BUe8HEPbcqbNzdf0mk60GJl43eA3kcNd9682bLHqhb8uxa1zi3n7Sc_JfKt6KxbqKhKU/s1600/IMAG1914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidk3G_mpqRUpLu3np3Cmb0OgItkAyfIs31Wi8CubvKOpHTyCqKcPXJQKZE7I3GSn_qtAHE8D2BUe8HEPbcqbNzdf0mk60GJl43eA3kcNd9682bLHqhb8uxa1zi3n7Sc_JfKt6KxbqKhKU/s400/IMAG1914.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Setting up the touch drawers with eggs and....poop!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><u><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></u></b><b><u><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Grand Opening</span></u></b><br />
<b><u><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></u></b>
In preparation for the grand opening there was a tent to be set up, chairs to be set up, coffee to be made, and other details attended to, including a thorough cleaning. I also designed a handout that gave an order of events and thank yous on one side, and a brief overview of the displays on the other.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim6jnZ7pIDRmCAYBOhkt-eTAqSVJt2idmTS6EK6_l5-pzWt2WgZw0nNaorbcqNGXv7iNdS4u0wjH93fEQaAHev6QJCfAKwCrPUR_uqE5X8IsCXs8h-hOKy8fA2Ud0hKoH3f3cIPV_I1yA/s1600/30871.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1114" data-original-width="1237" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim6jnZ7pIDRmCAYBOhkt-eTAqSVJt2idmTS6EK6_l5-pzWt2WgZw0nNaorbcqNGXv7iNdS4u0wjH93fEQaAHev6QJCfAKwCrPUR_uqE5X8IsCXs8h-hOKy8fA2Ud0hKoH3f3cIPV_I1yA/s400/30871.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proud to be finally watching the ribbon sutting. From left to right: Me, Amy, and Ali. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><u><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></u></b><u><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Sitting in the New Center</span></b></u><br />
<u><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></b></u>
After our September 28th opening, the Visitor Center was open six days a week until mid-November. Being new, the staffing of the Center was not quite fully formed, so a few employees, myself included, and one of our regular hunting instructor volunteers sat in the Center to be a resource and talk with visitors. I have held a number of public-facing positions in my career and enjoy speaking with the public and meeting new people. Sitting in this space was unique though, it attracted interesting people and sparked specific conversations.<br />
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I had hunters stop in and show me their day's harvest and I talked to a young couple with their new baby girl who, unbeknownst to her, would soon be getting her life-long hunting licence. I also talked to a woman who hated trapping, and a number of people that sneered as they said, "Ew, a fisher," or "Ew, a possum." I talked to a lot of people about our first "Emerging Issues" display, which highlights the Department's multi-year moose study which looks at moose mortality in connections with ticks and other factors. I was not surprised that so many people love moose and are sympathetic to their situation. Then there were countless people who came in and were viably overjoyed to tell me a story about some interaction they had with wildlife, be it a large mystery-bird, a fisher running behind their house, or a bear searching for a snack.<br />
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One of the commonest reasons people stopped in was the annual migration of birdwatchers hoping to get a good view of the thousands of snow geese that stop at Dead Creek on their southern migration each year. The snow geese is what is generally best known about Dead Creek, and it is not a mystery why. The refuge (part of the wildlife management area) is managed specifically for migrating waterfowl, and has attracted snow geese for decades. They used to come in numbers some 10,000-strong, but this year the numbers probably peaked at around 4,000, which is more typical now. I remember the first time I saw them; I was in grade school and remember the whole field was white with birds like looking down at clouds from a plane . This spectacle is what draws people from all across Vermont and beyond.<br />
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If for nothing else, the Visitor Center is a marvelous new place that sparks wildlife and conservation conversation and provides an invaluable place for education. As if these accomplishments were not enough, the Center will provide, and indeed already has begun to provide, other more specific educational opportunities. A scout troop visited even before its official opening, followed by school groups, elderly groups, conservation workers, and bird watchers. The Department offers a number of school-age-appropriate lessons that can be implemented out of the Center or in the near-by natural areas. Staff are on hand to give introductions to the area and conservation in Vermont.<br />
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<u><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></b></u>
<u><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Closing for the Winter and What Comes Next</span></b></u><br />
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The Visitor Center is new, and to a certain extent still a work in progress. It had to close for the winter (except by appointment) because the staffing was not fully figured out and it was unlikely that the visitor numbers would be as high as in warmer months. It is scheduled to open again in April though, which now is right around the corner! Go, check it out, enjoy, ask questions, and treat our Vermont land and waterscapes with love.<br />
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Here are just some photos of the final displays, you'll have to visit in person to see it all!<br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHp4pLQMMaePueYAUfYumE-xj9CzVSRV7G5oQ2fRI0wphmuUu9F2Qja43QBYoLkPEv2SSQpbKt5ib0cR7J8nk9n1gfCxTF_aMiG6X845HuHQ3dDn7gLuirz9Pd2YalN_1QAnXZm-nTDxo/s1600/Climate+change+panel+theme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="1260" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHp4pLQMMaePueYAUfYumE-xj9CzVSRV7G5oQ2fRI0wphmuUu9F2Qja43QBYoLkPEv2SSQpbKt5ib0cR7J8nk9n1gfCxTF_aMiG6X845HuHQ3dDn7gLuirz9Pd2YalN_1QAnXZm-nTDxo/s400/Climate+change+panel+theme.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Final climate change wall.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidK0gY82HQsAzuM8OHw7esnrnwYqDlVaHzag4ayL8qiengi_DC3AOhtoy5MOTvLHxuvAbwsv4NxDNqXlfdZEkpzrUegf1jtN5oTaiIt4Ptg55ethXJ58i7TZ7rR_5f-QLZWMpcYg7Xt4U/s1600/Footprints_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="664" data-original-width="1200" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidK0gY82HQsAzuM8OHw7esnrnwYqDlVaHzag4ayL8qiengi_DC3AOhtoy5MOTvLHxuvAbwsv4NxDNqXlfdZEkpzrUegf1jtN5oTaiIt4Ptg55ethXJ58i7TZ7rR_5f-QLZWMpcYg7Xt4U/s400/Footprints_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQE9o4IPyNXz9-rgmRYgMJHu3cEFAB_WLyvbXIgkbx4IFtCXjW0Ur5e76k-eJg7mn4L-0YDTulUEl6De8-QjgaM8Pb5rBeoJp9Q-Qk6ogDqlKHyoYrQKHlvESZULCNo8gFQW9y_ddmxIY/s1600/IMAG1916.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQE9o4IPyNXz9-rgmRYgMJHu3cEFAB_WLyvbXIgkbx4IFtCXjW0Ur5e76k-eJg7mn4L-0YDTulUEl6De8-QjgaM8Pb5rBeoJp9Q-Qk6ogDqlKHyoYrQKHlvESZULCNo8gFQW9y_ddmxIY/s400/IMAG1916.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Right side of this cabinet is the emerging issues display about Vermont's moose.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj230C3WdI5FsB3GE22utRw-ZSJjfDLrO1mpEzaK_8exAg2Ja5F6Vj6IDRhx0lIOZ2yjnIRlwkpEyL9-7DJmnwz7kIEthGPCMJEJgq-EuJjd9McVWhGdBZZN-fi4VVXdlz4rNI1No5BBlU/s1600/IMAG1917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj230C3WdI5FsB3GE22utRw-ZSJjfDLrO1mpEzaK_8exAg2Ja5F6Vj6IDRhx0lIOZ2yjnIRlwkpEyL9-7DJmnwz7kIEthGPCMJEJgq-EuJjd9McVWhGdBZZN-fi4VVXdlz4rNI1No5BBlU/s400/IMAG1917.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Biological check station and game warden display.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii5SZYd0V9NVEgBPTuA_9JGbYrlTatEpueY1HmlqHbayx1g2lwuUke-mJgLu008fk4vXrXFQmCIIZAwahZiu4AsmyvWPqcpvsyGECQsLC-Weiwr3MKWXWmDdYO33mis5apC0T5FlY1_eg/s1600/IMAG1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii5SZYd0V9NVEgBPTuA_9JGbYrlTatEpueY1HmlqHbayx1g2lwuUke-mJgLu008fk4vXrXFQmCIIZAwahZiu4AsmyvWPqcpvsyGECQsLC-Weiwr3MKWXWmDdYO33mis5apC0T5FlY1_eg/s400/IMAG1920.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dedication wall to the great Robert Fuller. </td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-41032150590778913192016-12-02T10:45:00.001-05:002016-12-02T10:46:54.667-05:00Protect the Sacred<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7T7C7zuToeYVTfV6DrLHLZH2bX47wWHP3vIW70MM1ToldysM1PjaCqHfWaa3wBrU2GS5t1CQfF4k1XuKaHKZP_v10r2UlAVqKDSaL5I9T_nKCgl1cIGSPYX0GxLyM46Mz5_MiMCvttF0/s1600/Protect+the+Sacred.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7T7C7zuToeYVTfV6DrLHLZH2bX47wWHP3vIW70MM1ToldysM1PjaCqHfWaa3wBrU2GS5t1CQfF4k1XuKaHKZP_v10r2UlAVqKDSaL5I9T_nKCgl1cIGSPYX0GxLyM46Mz5_MiMCvttF0/s640/Protect+the+Sacred.jpg" width="496" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u><br /></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u>Protect the Sacred</u><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Stand up for your beliefs, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Stand for the downtrodden, the forgotten<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Stand for those without a voice, those we cannot hear<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Stand for the animals and plants, for the soil and water, rocks and air<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Stand strong and purposeful<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Root your feet and do not give way, with the elegance and courage of the
bison<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Soar in the skies with your dreams<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Fly above the small-minded<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Fly above fear and violence, with your hopes and dreams to guide you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Alight where you can see across the wide wonderful Earth<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Where you can see the love that flows through it all<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Soar so high that justice and your mind are clear, where your heart is
pure<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Where you are one with the great spirit<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Fly through the air with the power and keen eye of the eagle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Flow like water through life<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Never to be defeated<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Possibly held up, but never destroyed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Flow with your goal in mind and never forget<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nourish life with your very essence<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Course over that which is filthy and cleanse it with your clarity<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Strengthen the weak like ripples, and break down hate like a tidal wave<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Be as water is, both creator and destroyer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Give birth to life, and help those that have passed to begin again<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Bloom as a flower does<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Let your petals unfurl towards the sun<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Grow as tall as you can<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Open yourself to the world with brilliance and clarity of purpose<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Bring bright beauty, grace, and joy wherever you go<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Be as the flowers are, and remember that life is ephemeral<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One day, let yourself fall away, sweet and peacefully<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Knowing that you are leaving this place richer than how you found it for your being</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Protect the sacred in all that you do </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In all that you are</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">For you are it as well</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And it, you</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-11742378585380314622016-04-10T21:54:00.001-04:002016-04-10T21:54:11.977-04:00We just keep growing.Part humor and part seriousness, I came across this at the Montpelier High School the other day.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-70700516106286189622016-04-05T16:56:00.001-04:002016-04-05T16:57:20.460-04:00Call it as it is.<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Something I have been thinking about and has come up with more frequency recently</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> is the importance or shunning of negative emotions such as anger, pain, and sadness in the context of our environmental situation. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is a notion proposed and supported by many that as a society, and even individually, we should not linger on the unpleasant aspects of environmental destruction. I have been told that I shouldn't make my work sad or "depressing" because people already feel helpless about the plight of the natural world. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"People don't want to feel sad and helpless." </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"There is so much negativity in the world already."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This opinion has come up in the context of art for adult audiences and children of all ages. Although I think there are certain situations where you may not want your audience to feel negative emotions around the state of the world, they are few. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Excluding the very young and projects with a fundamental focus of celebration and hope, I do not see the benefit of excluding sadness from the discussion about environmental issues and our situation. We, as a species, as certain cultures, have caused incredible harm on our planet and the other living beings we share it with, let alone what we have done to each other. One might argue that through technological advances, </span><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">our society has improved the lives of humanity over our species' existence however, the overall impact we have had on the stability and strength of Earth's ecosystems has been disruptive and degrading. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our human population has shot up at an astounding rate and within our current framework, improvements in our standard of living requires more and more resources. We have polluted our lands and waters, stripped land of forests and mountains, spilled toxic waste into sensitive ecosystems, systematically killed species for "our safety" and trophies, and other's by mistake, we have altered the very make-up of our atmosphere, and have initiated the sixth mass extinction. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We live in the Anthropocene, which really says it all. We are as powerful as a geologic force.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">For humanity, we have done amazing things. We have created beautiful art, loved each other, mastered incredibly complicated intellectual subjects, and discovered so much it boggles the mind, but for the rest of life, we have, and continue to through human-caused climate change, d</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ecimate our one and only home</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. And this, is incredibly sad. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If one allows themselves to really let the fullness of this sink in and meditate on its implication for a while, t is painful and difficult, and can easily leave them with a feeling of helplessness.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When we do stop to think about all this, and feel the heavy truth, it can be very hard. If you let it, it can bring you to tears. I think it should, and I think we should let it.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Far too often people are afraid of feeling the pain and sadness to actually let themselves feel it, or even anything at all. They numb themselves with distractions and apathy, throwing their hands up renouncing their ability to improve our situation. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This numbing and refusal to allow ourselves to really, fully sit in the depth of sadness that is our situation, is just as dangerous as continuing to burn fossil fuels at present-day rates. If we do not allow ourselves to feel fully, how could we, why would we, ever make the difficult changes to our society to solve our problems?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In The Greatest Danger -- The Deadening of the Heart and Mind chapter from <u>Coming Back to Life</u> a book by Joanna Macy and Molly Brown, the authors speak about refusing to feel the sadness and anger about our world's situation and the repercussions from that numbing. Below are a few passages I particularly appreciate:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"We may try to protect ourselves from feeling pain for the world, but that very effort costs us a great deal. We pay a high price in diminished awareness, understanding and authenticity. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Repression takes a mammoth toll on our energy and dulls our perceptions of the world around us. It is not a local anesthetic. If we won't feel pain, we won't feel much else either -- loves and losses are less intense, the sky less vivid, pleasures muted. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"The instinct for self-preservation, recognized as the most powerful drive in the biological realm, is essential to the preservation of our species and the ongoingness of life. In the ancient Hindu chakra system, this drive is identified with the base chakra or <i>muladhara. </i>It represents and feeds our instinctual nature, source of our claim on life itself. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"To be afraid to look at and respond to that which threatens all life constitutes a blocking of the <i>muladhara, </i>cutting off primal intelligence and energies essential to survival. This chakra not only represents a last line of defense in the protection of life, but it also feeds the erotic currents of our days and years. Opening the base chakra __ and thereby our full will to live __ means opening ourselves to the repressed tears and rage of our pain for the world.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Silencing our deepest responses to the condition of our world not only fosters a sense of futility, but also mires us in it. Each act of denial, conscious or unconscious, is an abdication of our power to respond. It relegates us to the role of victim, before we even see what we can and want to do.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Our pain for the world, including the fear, anger, and sorrow we feel on behalf of life on Earth is not only pervasive. It is natural and healthy. It is dysfunctional only to the extent that it is misunderstood and repressed."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So yes, shedding the veils of illusion and looking at our very difficult situation with courage and honesty is incredibly hard. It is hard to be honest with ourselves sometimes. It is hard to open ourselves up to the the feeling of helplessness, guilt, and despair. Yes, that is hard, but no one said we lived in an easy time. No one said righting our wrongs and solving our complicated challenges would come smoothly and naturally, but that should not hold us back. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Call it as it is, and lets get on with it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-- Nelson Mandela</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life" </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">--Muhammad Ali</span></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-49905533715321391982016-03-30T09:49:00.003-04:002016-03-30T09:49:31.574-04:00Climate Optimism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Al Gore, former U.S. Vice President and long time climate activist, made his first Ted Talk ten years ago. Also in 2006, Gore released his book, and the very influential documentary <i>An Inconvenient Truth</i>. Far from being his first work on the global climate crisis, <i>An Inconvenient Truth</i> served as a prominent punctuation in Gore's 40+ year career working to raise awareness about, and find solutions to anthropocentric climate change. You remember the terrifying movie, right?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I remember when I first saw <i>An Inconvenient Truth</i>. Already studying climate change in the middle of falling down the rabbit hole of discovery and finding my career path within the field, the documentary solidified my conviction. It also made me quite deeply sad. It is a scary movie, if you let the information sink in.The truth is all that needed to be said. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A decade later, Al Gore returned to the Ted stage with a slightly different tone. In February, 2016 Gore gave a talk titled "The case for optimism on climate change." Similar to talks he has given in the past, Gore, who has moved from politics into the business field, covers the tragedies that climate change incites, bringing the viewer up to date with events over the past ten years and giving an overview of the lengthy list of things that climate change is and will affect in our natural environment and human society. In the second half of his most recent talk however, Gore takes a turn and talks about why we should be optimistic about our situation and our future. He talks about the changes to industry, and innovations in technology that will help us break our reliance on fossil fuels. With a stable hold of reality and our dire situation, Gore still has an optimistic view and reminds us that there is reason for hope and continued targeted climate action. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is a good message in this talk. Climate change is terrifying, dangerous, and sad. What human's have done to the planet and ourselves is justifiable cause for some deep soul searching, as well as financial investment towards finding a better way of living on Earth. We could allow climate change to be the end of us. We could stick our heads in the sand and wait it out. However, if we allow it, climate change can be our largest spark of inspiration and ingenuity. If we allow it, climate change can be the one issue that we all unite around, know that it affects us all indiscriminately. It is not a partisan or national issue, despite some's effort to frame it as such, it is a universal issue. It is also an issue that has rallied people around the world at formal events and small gatherings, in board rooms and science labs, in places of worship and at city hall. Climate change could be our end, but as Gore points out, there are many signs that humanity is not complacent enough to let it. </span></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-60529445219710161132016-03-24T15:48:00.001-04:002016-03-24T15:48:51.417-04:00Two Young Musicians for a Future in Balance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A beautiful, strong voice far beyond her years, Takiya Blaney speaks for a revolution to improve our relationship with Mother Earth. Ta'Kaiya is from the First Nation tribe of Tla A'min in British Colombia, Canada. She has been active over the past four years as an activist, speaker, and musician. She has won a number of awards for her leadership and inspiring message as an environmental advocate and for honoring her culture and upholding the traditions of the First Nation peoples. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here is an example of her message as well as one of her songs at the end. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This video has better sound for her voice, which is magically haunting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/twMWE5z_xUU/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/twMWE5z_xUU?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.takaiyablaney.com/" target="_blank">To learn more about Ta'Kaiya Blaney</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This young man has also been active for a number of years spreading a similar message. Xiuhtezcatl Martinez ask us all, especially the young people of his generation, to revolutionize our way of life to create a better future. He visions a future where humans are good stewards of the planet where we have clean healthy thriving ecosystems. He ask for climate action from individuals as well as decision makers like the United Nations General Assembly on Climate Change.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here he is in 2015, at age 15 speaking at the </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/27gtZ1oV4kw/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/27gtZ1oV4kw?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Xiuhtezcatl is also a talented musician and along with his little brother, Itzcuauhtl, perform their original hip hop music for a better future and relationship with the Earth. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Another of their songs, at Bioneers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And here he is, as a younger boy, speaking about how climate change is already affecting his home in Colorado. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The pine beetles have wreaked havoc on western North America. Climate change has been a significant part of encouraging this destruction. This is a little more about that, from my project <i>We are all in this together.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mountain pine beetles (<i>Dendroctonus ponderosae</i>) are native to western
North America, covering a swath of land from Mexico to British Columbia. With a
black exoskeleton, pine beetles only measure about half a centimeter long. Pine
beetle’s first three life stages, egg, larva and pupa occur under the bark of a
pine tree. During the last life stage, as an adult, they can be seen flying
around in the air. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When a female pine beetle burrows
into a new tree to lay her eggs, she exposes the tree to blue stain fungus.
This fungus inhibits the tree’s natural defense mechanism against more beetles,
as well as its ability to transport water and nutrients within the tree. When a
tree is infected, pine beetle larva and blue stain fungus spread throughout the
tree, eventually inhibiting the tree’s ability to take up water. Eventually the
pine tree will die of thirst. From the time the fungus is introduced, it may
only take a few weeks for a tree to be incapable of taking up water. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A native to North America,
pine beetles are not new to their ecosystems and when conditions are right they
infest a new tree, killing it, but continuing its own life cycle. With climate
change large areas of pine beetle’s native habitat are warming, experiencing
milder winters and hotter summers. This shift in weather affects both pine
trees and pine beetles. Unusually warm seasons can stress a tree and make it
less robust at fighting off parasites. On the other hand, warmer weather is
beneficial for pine beetles, allowing them to reproduce with a higher success
rate and giving them more time and opportunity to inhabit more trees. Pine
beetles have in fact doubled their reproductive rate. They used to go through
one life cycle in a year and can now complete two full cycles each year. In
recent years the absence of cold snaps has allowed beetle populations to
explode, causing an epidemic in forests dominated by or wholly made up of pine
trees. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This explosion of pine beetle
populations has resulted in allowing the beetles to expand into more northern
territory. As the beetles moved north,
they caused a mass dying off of forests throughout 19 US states, British
Columbia and Alberta. Destruction to the forests is on the order of 10 times
worse than previously recorded. Around 80 million acres of pines have been
decimated and left dead. These tracks of dead trees have repercussions on all
other species in the area, including humans. Stands of dead trees cater to
raging forest fires. Dead trees are also not as good at holding soil to prevent
erosion, slowing water flow and absorbing snow melt into the earth. These
forests, which are usually a carbon sink when their trees are healthy, may easily,
become a carbon source by releasing stored CO<sub>2</sub> and furthering global
warming.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzT2gaBAQJCGlgcgFhkeL7JvyPG1_CMGsQdeYE-5dtt1_MT9eotA3e4TrCUimbgmqntHSajplCvvbp497mToRCb4KmJhnNqonxMuj8n3TKt125RRfL2AJxS1t7IwYPbCJkiZNQsl1bKiM/s1600/pine+beetle+smaller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzT2gaBAQJCGlgcgFhkeL7JvyPG1_CMGsQdeYE-5dtt1_MT9eotA3e4TrCUimbgmqntHSajplCvvbp497mToRCb4KmJhnNqonxMuj8n3TKt125RRfL2AJxS1t7IwYPbCJkiZNQsl1bKiM/s400/pine+beetle+smaller.jpg" width="296" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thank you Ta'Kaiya and Xiuhtezcatl,</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-66736741634330515922016-03-17T15:55:00.001-04:002016-03-17T15:55:34.006-04:00The Sound of Climate Change<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is just a re-post from https://vimeo.com/127083533. Check out the great video, like is on the bottom.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In 2013, the composition “A Song of Our Warming Planet” transformed 133 years of global temperature measurements into a haunting melody for the cello. Following its release, A Song of Our Warming Planet was featured by The New York Times, Slate, the Weather Channel, National Public Radio, io9, The Huffington Post and many others on its way to becoming a viral sensation and reaching audiences around the globe.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now the co-creators, University of Minnesota undergraduate Daniel Crawford and geography professor Scott St. George, are back with a new composition that uses music to highlight the places where climate is changing most rapidly.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Based on surface temperature analysis from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the composition "Planetary Bands, Warming World" uses music to create a visceral encounter with more than a century’s worth of weather data collected across the northern half of the planet. (The specific dataset used as the foundation of the composition was the Combined Land-Surface Air and Sea-Surface Water Temperature Anomalies Zonal annual means.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Crawford composed the piece featuring performance by students Julian Maddox, Jason Shu, Alastair Witherspoon and Nygel Witherspoon from the University of Minnesota’s School of Music.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As Crawford explains in the video, “Each instrument represents a specific part of the Northern Hemisphere. The cello matches the temperature of the equatorial zone. The viola tracks the mid latitudes. The two violins separately follow temperatures in the high latitudes and in the arctic.” The pitch of each note is tuned to the average annual temperature in each region, so low notes represent cold years and high notes represent warm years.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Crawford and St. George decided to focus on northern latitudes to highlight the exceptional rate of change in the Arctic. St. George says the duo plans to write music representing the southern half of the planet, too, but haven’t done so yet.</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.9px;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Through music, the composition bridges the divide between logic and emotion, St. George says. “We often think of the sciences and the arts as completely separate — almost like opposites, but using music to share these data is just as scientifically valid as plotting lines on a graph,” he says. “Listening to the violin climb almost the entire range of the instrument is incredibly effective at illustrating the magnitude of change — particularly in the Arctic which has warmed more than any other part of the planet.”</span></span><br />
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View <a href="https://vimeo.com/127083533">The video</a>!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-33570343731694582882016-03-15T15:24:00.001-04:002016-03-17T16:36:56.221-04:00My Baby<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">What if I never
had a baby.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">If I never had a
baby, I would never be pregnant<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">Never feel that
joining of me and another. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">Never feel that
kick from the inside.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">I might never fall
that deeply in love at first sight, or even before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">If I never had a
baby, she would never have her first steps. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">She would never
make a twisted face when she first tastes a lemon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">She would never
howl in the darkness of midnight <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">or
fall bare-bottomed in the summer grass.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">If I never had a
baby, she would never buy a computer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">She wouldn’t work
at her first job and save up to buy her first car. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">My baby would
never fly in a plane and travel to other countries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">She would never cut
down a tree to build her home or buy oil to heat it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">She would never
leave the lights on or step on an ant. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">If I never had a
baby, she would never be an annual birth statistic <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">or
add to our population. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">She would never
consume resources or have a footprint.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">She would never
have to struggle and suffer in a future of climate change.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">My baby would
never endanger the wilderness and take the lives of others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">If I never have a
baby, I would be a little sad, but try to be a little more proud.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">If I never had a
baby, it would benefit all living things,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;">even
if I know she would be beautiful.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "adobe garamond pro" , serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Jwv2xs15U0W6ZCM9l5Xm7aYPeeSuqJ_r0Htqbt_RAbeNPmjLSCT2FOZVSUQm86MG4lM4KeL-k7_jq3ZKU-W9146S6XeGBNZVrYAF4OE9iHcreNvOdRwgPtNWzhskjPTxIoHxaurqAF0/s1600/all-time-world-population.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Jwv2xs15U0W6ZCM9l5Xm7aYPeeSuqJ_r0Htqbt_RAbeNPmjLSCT2FOZVSUQm86MG4lM4KeL-k7_jq3ZKU-W9146S6XeGBNZVrYAF4OE9iHcreNvOdRwgPtNWzhskjPTxIoHxaurqAF0/s400/all-time-world-population.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-13651465972040098872015-04-05T13:23:00.003-04:002015-04-05T13:26:04.799-04:00Pangolin Clothing Company<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: georgia, times, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">Justin Allen is a friend of mine who lives in Western Massachusetts. He has started a clothing company that raises awareness about endangered species as well as helps contribute to their conservation. Justin and his co-founder, Craig Velozo, are building their company and starting to work with other artists as well, to design more work and help protect some of our most endangered animals. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG9Nid7trxdhsJ3FM1fxKEc035WarAu2lizrd1BdnKLnFcbF5eseYM_TtLc_8DuXyMouKpZHoyvku6l3xT1AjMJhNSJRO0kG2xXPTLWg72zrsHcJEpYIW7J8ISu0N5JOwK-zZB8FgDhmw/s1600/pangolin+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG9Nid7trxdhsJ3FM1fxKEc035WarAu2lizrd1BdnKLnFcbF5eseYM_TtLc_8DuXyMouKpZHoyvku6l3xT1AjMJhNSJRO0kG2xXPTLWg72zrsHcJEpYIW7J8ISu0N5JOwK-zZB8FgDhmw/s1600/pangolin+3.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some Pangolin models getting their wild on!</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia, times, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, times, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">Currently they have a small collection of designs, which are consciously made and sourced. They buy their shirts from American Apparel, ensuring the socially-just production of their products. Each of the shirts cost a mere $25 and they donate at the <i>minimum of 50% of their profits to conservation</i> of the animals they highlight. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, times, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZVkwh7qpMpsyDqlVa9adi6t9-LIrxh4sa54QOGPrXls5vmSB1L7Z__yljRX_eN2GbxgSL5SpLPlg74Y0jYdtzz0giDxDMjdqUBBmn2vR7AUgEwhRX5E-zIBtdK_cwTx1pTJG2c-Adnn0/s1600/pangolin+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZVkwh7qpMpsyDqlVa9adi6t9-LIrxh4sa54QOGPrXls5vmSB1L7Z__yljRX_eN2GbxgSL5SpLPlg74Y0jYdtzz0giDxDMjdqUBBmn2vR7AUgEwhRX5E-zIBtdK_cwTx1pTJG2c-Adnn0/s1600/pangolin+2.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A happy Pangolin T-shirt owner</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 32px; line-height: 22.5px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, times, 'times new roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">In their own words: "</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, times, 'times new roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">Founded in July 2014 by Justin Allen and Craig Velozo, Pangolin launched with a few simple goals in mind: Create unique clothing that stands on its own, provide support and protection to endangered animals, and raise awareness about what’s being done to help."</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, times, 'times new roman', serif;"><span style="color: #363636; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></span></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOTg5MjVJ_Z7YtPU_NC1cdbA4dBYe87h8X1j-aqBb7UHwf2MmJOWvd6zO7EFR5ORFJeis_BKaZYZWkL1ZmVCQrCeebsQUaj_08UrRXGpLDw_jdN02d0BDi7rTqGHl0bUdHJVD3VijGf0c/s1600/pangolin+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOTg5MjVJ_Z7YtPU_NC1cdbA4dBYe87h8X1j-aqBb7UHwf2MmJOWvd6zO7EFR5ORFJeis_BKaZYZWkL1ZmVCQrCeebsQUaj_08UrRXGpLDw_jdN02d0BDi7rTqGHl0bUdHJVD3VijGf0c/s1600/pangolin+1.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red panda design from Pangolin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 15px;"><br /><span style="line-height: 22.5px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Check it out and support them here: http://www.pangolinclothingcompany.com</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-49588335375806054502015-03-13T09:35:00.000-04:002015-03-13T09:36:46.939-04:00A Blessing<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A really is a joy to spend hours with a good novel, but I often find my-self reading non-fiction. I love non-fiction and especially something related to science, the environment or art....of course! (I am quite predictable I suppose.) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One of my favorite authors of all time is Edward Abbey, an author that writes in both genres eloquently, boldly and amusingly. He speaks truths without apology, describes human natures poignantly, and is able to describe the grand beauty of nature with his words. An advocate for the environment and freedom, he describes the power and importance of nature with the raw grit and honesty that most people shy away from</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At the moment I am reading The Fool's Progress, which is a semi-autobiographical novel by Abbey. This is the first time I have read Abbey in a few years, and it is good to be back with him. Reading his words again inspired me to share a few lines from this environmental artist, in his own right. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The following is a quote which illustrates Abbey's perspective on life beautifully. A blessing to you all from Abbey (and me):</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">May your trails be crooked, </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">winding, lonesome, dangerous, </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">leading to the most amazing view. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">May your mountains </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">rise into and above </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">the clouds.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">May your rivers flow without end, </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">meandering through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells, </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">past temples and castles and poets' towers </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">into a dark primeval forest where tigers belch and monkeys howl, </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">through miasmal and mysterious swamps </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">and down into a desert of red rock, blue mesas, domes and pinnacles </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">and grottos of endless stone, </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">and down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">where bars of sunlight blaze on profiled cliffs, </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">where deer walk across the white sand beaches, </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">where storms come and go as lightning clangs upon the high crags, </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">where something strange </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">and more beautiful and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you — beyond that next turning of the canyon walls.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-<i>Desert Solitaire</i>, Edward Abbey</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-22418341487264311532014-10-20T12:32:00.004-04:002014-10-20T12:33:47.064-04:00Tricia Zimic<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.triciazimic.com/Artist.asp?ArtistID=36403&Akey=XPRY2J6X">I</a>n delicate palettes and dynamic compositions, Tricia Zimic juxtaposes native wildlife with cityscapes to address how human society affects the natural environment. Zimic works in as a re-forester and make some of her art based on things she sees and experiences in the field. She works in porcelain sculpture as well as in oil paint. She researches the conservation status of her subject matter and then explores interesting ways of portraying them and their story. She shows a bobcat in the city, a salamander next to its beer can home, the battle between native and invasive species, and haunting images of toxic landscapes where our very survival is questioned. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"To me, these pieces are as fragile as the true animals and remain a record of what we have with us today but may lose tomorrow." -Tricia Zimic</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcVEjZHQK_qneSktacWmCB7-Pw1X37zcUAA-0XAYtxT_GzSaIUl7lUMIWK0oTEYt60N-LbQvjSs87M4jHwlOkp7W-Njf5DY2WXE0S4hzDgFBxkhCsh-b1H1f7bDKi_AgYHABnLXdne-Zo/s1600/zimic1.jpg" height="400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="380" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Garden of Earthly Delights: As it is</b><br />
A triptych: As it was, As it is, and As it will be</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_h2M-SFKGDY7xmYGRDLnk7EXGGdjaqeURfJvO_IF3IhENQcZYwms4XCIigTP8yB0213903KSaqr1FeCPvqaujhwFqKh7R6xQd6UTg3Gndn4sgahrqiO1WBi7bNBNtgtEjLO5ffPjYEY/s1600/zimic2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_h2M-SFKGDY7xmYGRDLnk7EXGGdjaqeURfJvO_IF3IhENQcZYwms4XCIigTP8yB0213903KSaqr1FeCPvqaujhwFqKh7R6xQd6UTg3Gndn4sgahrqiO1WBi7bNBNtgtEjLO5ffPjYEY/s1600/zimic2.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zimic with <b>The Garden of Earthly Delights</b><br />
In the description of this piece:<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br />"<span style="outline: none medium; text-align: -webkit-left;">Years ago Chief Seattle said to his tribesmen ‘What is man without beasts? If all beasts were gone, men would die from loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to beasts soon happens to man.'"</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghGKNOt8YLhSRZCTgKN5X_-yZt7IHA36njxBvJdNcKWcZCKN8TtxxaLJflhqCBcgvZuX6El5CakZLUZjQozpIubxU7ypA3OZL2VZmfrFK7fc303NO8ys4xk_GdFMTU0f44qzR9Pbo8X90/s1600/zimic3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghGKNOt8YLhSRZCTgKN5X_-yZt7IHA36njxBvJdNcKWcZCKN8TtxxaLJflhqCBcgvZuX6El5CakZLUZjQozpIubxU7ypA3OZL2VZmfrFK7fc303NO8ys4xk_GdFMTU0f44qzR9Pbo8X90/s1600/zimic3.jpg" height="318" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Uprising</b>Addressing the contentious debate over the presence of wolves in and around human development. Here the wolves are taking back their territory that we have taken from them.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAkKuM5KmZSEb2qG6Qwl_if897lmovnPhyphenhyphenogzHboXjtNqbHY_NeBtU8htSg_ZtwrkmI_LizcJDsMkIidUf82V6nFrmM_VZv9QiTVEt0rwiliUdZVB_5gVtU4cY09P8ySgHYWR76M2bjzw/s1600/zimic4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAkKuM5KmZSEb2qG6Qwl_if897lmovnPhyphenhyphenogzHboXjtNqbHY_NeBtU8htSg_ZtwrkmI_LizcJDsMkIidUf82V6nFrmM_VZv9QiTVEt0rwiliUdZVB_5gVtU4cY09P8ySgHYWR76M2bjzw/s1600/zimic4.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zimic working on a sculpture.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRC9bh-685S-8gWCR0IVDyh2_ZYxoP6cCS1mOJ_kyu3Kq-0xHxuDBWKT_BdvEJKTmbvOYwyRcB8AuKhMMONOSW8S9ziLz7tFTt7Ap1EaKoFp7AC8lZqB9YBxykEtdra9hyphenhyphenk12yTcUh8l0/s1600/zimic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRC9bh-685S-8gWCR0IVDyh2_ZYxoP6cCS1mOJ_kyu3Kq-0xHxuDBWKT_BdvEJKTmbvOYwyRcB8AuKhMMONOSW8S9ziLz7tFTt7Ap1EaKoFp7AC8lZqB9YBxykEtdra9hyphenhyphenk12yTcUh8l0/s1600/zimic.jpg" height="200" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Flight or Fight</b><br />
Depicting a fight between native species of New Jersey and alien invasives from Europe.</td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-30700946373744211622014-09-22T14:50:00.003-04:002014-09-22T14:51:34.565-04:00The day the people showed up.Yesterday morning I hit snooze on my alarm and rolled over in bed, just to have a few more minutes under the comfy warm covers. When I opened my eyes again I jumped out of bed and into action. I had stayed in too long, but I got dressed I went right to the kitchen to make some coffee and fed the dog. Then I packed a small bag with some snacks, a jacket, my camera, one of my paintings and a fist full of business cards. Then I went to the guest room door and gave it a little knock. My traveling companion was up, but had also slept in. Even with our delays, we were out in the car and pulling out of the driveway by 7:30 AM, only 30 minutes later than anticipated.<br />
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After a three hour drive, made shorter by great conversation, we realized that we had missed our turn off and found ourselves slightly too far east. With a little quick thinking and only a few neighborhood streets we were back on our way towards the George Washington Bridge. From there we worked our way south along the western edge of Yonkers down to Manhattan.<br />
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The first thing to strike me as we approached our destination were an exceptional amount of New York City resident runners out and about, porting their fit bodies in the warm and hazy September morning. The local fitness fans were not the only people out on the streets on September 21, 2014. We, like so many others, had come to the city to take part in the People's Climate March. We joked with each other that couldn't find parking because so many marchers had inundated the city.<br />
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We walked onto Central Park West on 89th Street behind the end of the designated march site. For about an hour we walked down and then up Central Park West looking at the marches organizing themselves. They held signs, wore costumes, sang, and milled around taking in the scene. The atmosphere was light. Everyone's excitement and positivity was apparent by the smiles and feeling on comradery that wafted from the crowd. Dreaded hippies, i-phone toting hipsters, Vietnam era weed legalizers, cat-loving grandmothers, youth activists, socialists, monks, drag queens, anti-fracking advocates, meditaters, bike lovers, and even a few dogs came out and a united voice to ask the heads of states who will be converging on the UN headquarters tomorrow for meaningful climate action. At one point I realized how many NYPD officers were lining the streets on either side of the organizers, and for a second I wondered if there was a chance of this ending in violence. I only let the thought cross my mind and then let it go, mustering faith that no one that I could see looked like they wanted anything more than an honest and heartfelt plea for a better future.<br />
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Waiting in line people chatted among themselves, danced and sang to the breakout of song from the trumpets, and shared snacks of apple slices and leaves of kale. The feeling of common good, desire for bettering the world, and love of all approaches to get there held everyone together with the common vision of a beautiful and healthy future. This is what really defined the day for me, it was really amazing to witness and be a part of. The police and city staff were right there with us, smiling and chatting or chuckling at the marchers' enthusiasm.<br />
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It certainly felt like a lot of people had turned out, but there is really no way of judging when you are in the middle of it all. When we heard that they were estimating over 310,000 people came and that we had filled up about 4 miles of Manhattan streets, we were overjoyed. We were, we all were, making history. We had taken a day out of our busy lives to come together to focus on something that is bigger than us all individually, to focus on the most important and far-reaching issue of our lifetimes. <br />
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By about 4:30 PM we had gotten to the end of the march. We had taken about five hours to walk from Central Park West and 83rd Street down to 11th Ave and 34th Street where the march ended. Although the end was slightly anti-climactic, we jumped and gave each other an air high five to commemorate our walk through the Big Apple.<br />
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Thank you to everyone who showed up yesterday to make history, and to all those who were with us in spirit around the world. It was a day to remember and be proud of.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Wqb8fBov8DrAeZvo8tcB6Tjr0U8rOh0umtQ_lkn3L7OGjQSYTXBQXkyRc_4kAnZwgH_9_D-W3s2THtHNrisIc2cDUxf9lMNpyxpHFIRIo9lyOlVSXIL76t3NwETg9kEGdrLep7LTFw4/s1600/050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Wqb8fBov8DrAeZvo8tcB6Tjr0U8rOh0umtQ_lkn3L7OGjQSYTXBQXkyRc_4kAnZwgH_9_D-W3s2THtHNrisIc2cDUxf9lMNpyxpHFIRIo9lyOlVSXIL76t3NwETg9kEGdrLep7LTFw4/s1600/050.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There were people supporting all forms of energy, just as long as there is no greenhouse gases involved.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSzd2L1GUQDsZPFNuMfoXAO2YcGDuIhOszk2elasQc8npB16mTcxad-SINFcfv8CMyqVthTy3XVQGaUojQakxTn9PjKF_8o2PuTTJ_wF6AEI45SWHQv7yjJpQ02J2JSdrS08BCGECjeng/s1600/008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSzd2L1GUQDsZPFNuMfoXAO2YcGDuIhOszk2elasQc8npB16mTcxad-SINFcfv8CMyqVthTy3XVQGaUojQakxTn9PjKF_8o2PuTTJ_wF6AEI45SWHQv7yjJpQ02J2JSdrS08BCGECjeng/s1600/008.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nAFf9F1nNsTbcrqyZ-kRFva5UpwNTAwS0H16tS5MGOSD-wATpUUvsuVJVvDSg5HMTYjz3fDZKQbfDMqzVzeqRCtc8l0r6mA3EF_kken7BDYzSAiWYBH32MyD2eKC0948kmICLeR_E4k/s1600/043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nAFf9F1nNsTbcrqyZ-kRFva5UpwNTAwS0H16tS5MGOSD-wATpUUvsuVJVvDSg5HMTYjz3fDZKQbfDMqzVzeqRCtc8l0r6mA3EF_kken7BDYzSAiWYBH32MyD2eKC0948kmICLeR_E4k/s1600/043.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't miss the irony here. This scull was a part of a Bread & Puppet performance and represented the death machine of fossil fuels. In the background is a poster for a dinosaur exhibit at the Natural History Museum. Up on the top of the building's facade stand significant men of science, wondering about all this... </td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkaMD2vd9Ca7R44T7cQYbtOTEU6WBkWAXsR4Q4-IgFhGRV_y70Ory60WurTEmsmAwq_7jhi4VQQqWWYSCgCO2CPdH0K-oMCR7j5CIyYx0H1tIyEX8sGAFVlIlvbfHT7V-RNRCWgv_aI7s/s1600/055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkaMD2vd9Ca7R44T7cQYbtOTEU6WBkWAXsR4Q4-IgFhGRV_y70Ory60WurTEmsmAwq_7jhi4VQQqWWYSCgCO2CPdH0K-oMCR7j5CIyYx0H1tIyEX8sGAFVlIlvbfHT7V-RNRCWgv_aI7s/s1600/055.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is all very hard work!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Love this!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A flooding NYC was a theme. poignant.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little comedy on some very un-funny issues, always welcome.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8j5kfAmtVdrYLIayw5RE7qenlvmgV610ej0OQRI_xZSGNbX8Mrz4oePNcNo_jBsHNoTvgTtjKpvBvMWzr6DgKlmRKXDo9_gHd9xgkxiPMoSZOIpqDYEZcLCQA7ziWyl-8osVMgE9sEqc/s1600/146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8j5kfAmtVdrYLIayw5RE7qenlvmgV610ej0OQRI_xZSGNbX8Mrz4oePNcNo_jBsHNoTvgTtjKpvBvMWzr6DgKlmRKXDo9_gHd9xgkxiPMoSZOIpqDYEZcLCQA7ziWyl-8osVMgE9sEqc/s1600/146.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All generations represented.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp6RUvZ1CNXjy2vIpE6Zz71f9sFPt1ec176MyXfYScPF9-QJto8poGaOw3JFUeyDOVrqvMKdhhtmBPbfVf5_Yr7aGkWjQGZWODqYuhIuzNK_zKVXuOZ_C5nEHXiyTX7Kve1ROBr2UvWkA/s1600/159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp6RUvZ1CNXjy2vIpE6Zz71f9sFPt1ec176MyXfYScPF9-QJto8poGaOw3JFUeyDOVrqvMKdhhtmBPbfVf5_Yr7aGkWjQGZWODqYuhIuzNK_zKVXuOZ_C5nEHXiyTX7Kve1ROBr2UvWkA/s1600/159.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here they are watching the Bread & Puppet performance.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A group meditating along the side of the march, hopefully magnifying our actions.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our wishes of what not to loose to climate change.</td></tr>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-65928384163758033692014-09-15T20:20:00.003-04:002014-09-15T20:34:43.447-04:00What is useful anyways?<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Although I understand why it happens, I frequently find myself asking "why?" Why are humans so self centered? Why does nature have to benefit humans to be valuable to us? Why is the anthropocentric world view so common and socially acceptable? </span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">"Oh, it is just human nature." "All species worry about themselves first." "That's natural." </span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Maybe to a certain respect it is natural, or at least makes sense on some primal level. It makes sense that someone will worry about their daughter more than an insect, and how a flower may cure their cancer more than a "useless" minnow swimming in a stream. But shouldn't what sets humans apart from other animals allow us to think more deeply and broadly about the value of nature?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I can't help wondering why our consciousness, our understanding of how the world works, and our ability to flourish on this earth rather than just survive doesn't leave room in the human mind to appreciate and value all living things for their innate worth. Let things live for their own sake. Attempt to protect living things for their own right to live. Do we really need more than we already have, more space, more water, more forests, more resources? Or can we understand that our ingenuity is all we need to be perfectly satisfied with what we have and still continue to raise our standard of living in order to leave plenty of space and resources for other life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We have all we need in intellectual capitol to live amazing and beautiful lives today without taking away from other living things. Yet, somehow, we still have to convince people to care about the natural world only through describing how the natural word will benefit them in some tangible and utilitarian way. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Below is an article from New York Times blogger Richard Conniff addressing just this issue. I really appreciate this article and the questions that it brings up. For my last project, that involved raising awareness about 50 species affected by climate change, I thought about this a lot. I chose some species that conjure up sympathy from people, such as the panda bear and the holy cocoa tree. Since I feel pretty passionate about all living things being equally important in the unbelievable complex network that is the biosphere, I consciously chose other species that people usually don't recognize like zooplankton, chytrid fungus, and pine beetles. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With regards to environmental art, the idea of how to frame environmental conservation and how to get people's attention are central to how to be effective. What do you want your main message to be? Do you want to "market" the environment in order to "sell it better?" Or, do you want to be more raw, crunchy and lean towards deep ecology? Maybe the inherent worthiness of nature doesn't quite sell as well to society. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; line-height: 20.2222232818604px;">Life on earth and all her interconnections are too complex for us to fully understand. Who are we to judge what is important and more worthy of life? Given that we all evolved here together shouldn't the miracle that life</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; line-height: 20.2222232818604px;"> </span><i style="background-color: black; color: white; line-height: 20.2222232818604px;">is</i><span style="background-color: black; color: white; line-height: 20.2222232818604px;">, be enough?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Useless Creatures</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-style: normal;">By <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/author/richard-conniff/" rel="author" target="_blank" title="More Posts by Richard Conniff">Richard Conniff</a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">September 13, 2014</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This article contains no useful information. Zero. Nada. Nothing. If usefulness is your criterion for reading, thank you very much for your time and goodbye, we have nothing more to say. The truth is that I am bored to tears by usefulness. I am bored, more precisely, of pretending usefulness is the thing that really matters.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I mostly write about wildlife. So here is how it typically happens for me: A study comes out indicating that species x, y and z are in imminent danger of extinction, or that some major bioregion of the planet is being sucked down into the abyss. And it’s my job to convince people that they should care, even as they are racing to catch the <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_353004271" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">7:10</span></span> train, or wondering if they’ll be able to pay this month’s (or last month’s) rent.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My usual strategy is to trot out a list of ways even the most obscure species can prove unexpectedly, yes, useful. The first effective treatment that turned H.I.V. from a death sentence into a manageable condition? Inspired by <a href="http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-photos/sea-sponge-hiv-medicine" target="_blank">the biochemistry of a nondescript Caribbean sponge</a>. The ACE inhibitors that are currently among our most effective treatments for cardiovascular disease (and which have lately been proposed as a treatment for Ebola)? Developed by studying the venom of the fer-de-lance, a deadly snake found from Mexico to northern South America. The new medical bandage that’s gentle enough for the delicate skin of newborns and the elderly? Modeled on <a href="http://sites.psu.edu/eseminar/2014/03/10/the-medical-field-using-spider-silk-now/" target="_blank">the silk of spider webs</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Every time I begin this line of argument, though, I get the queasy feeling that I am perpetuating a fallacy. It’s not that I’m telling lies; these examples are entirely real. But given, for instance, that three-quarters of our farm crops depend on insect pollinators, or that more than 2.6 billion people rely directly on seafood for protein, it seems a little obvious to be reminding people that wildlife can be useful, or, more to the point, that human survival depends on wildlife. Without saying so out loud, the argument also implies that animals matter only because they benefit humans, or because just possibly, at some unknowable point in the future, they might benefit humans.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You don’t have to look too far to see how silly this can get. In truth, I don’t have to look at all, because university press offices fill my inbox with examples every day: The Harvard scientists who hope their </span><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140128202045.htm" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">study of cuttlefish skin</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> will “inspire improved protective camouflage for soldiers on the battlefield.” The Berkeley team that thinks studying </span><a href="http://strangebehaviors.wordpress.com/2014/05/08/unlocking-the-secrets-of-the-polar-bears-amazing-evolution/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">the genetics of blubber-eating polar bears</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> could help us learn to live with our bacon-wrapped, wide-load lifestyle. And the wonderful folks at Nanyang Technological University, in Singapore, who believe “</span><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140702111007.htm" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">Squid sucker ring teeth material could aid reconstructive surgery, serve as eco-packaging</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.” (And you thought they were good only for calamari.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I don’t entirely blame the scientists. Their research often depends on taxpayer funding, and their dreams are haunted by the ghost of United States Senator <a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/10030/title/What-Proxmire-s-Golden-fleece-Did-For--And-To--Science/" target="_blank">William Proxmire’s Golden Fleece Award</a>. That award garnered headlines by ridiculing outlandish-seeming items in the federal budget, and animal behavior studies were a juicy target. So now people doing that kind of research all feel obliged to imply that they are two steps away from a cure for the common cold. No basic research here, Senator, sir, no idle curiosity. Useful “R” Us. (They also delight in pointing out that one of Mr. Proxmire’s targets — a $250,000 investigation into the sex life of the screwworm fly — has yielded $20 billion in benefits to American cattle farmers by enabling control of a major insect pest.)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Improbably, wildlife conservationists now also often hear the call of the useful. Along with a large contingent of eco-finance bureaucrats, they try to save threatened habitats by reminding nearby communities of all the benefits they derive from keeping these habitats intact. Forests, meadows and marshes prevent floods, supply clean water, provide habitat for species that pollinate crops, put oxygen into the atmosphere and take carbon out, and otherwise make themselves useful. In some cases, conservation groups or other interested parties actually put down cash for these ecosystem services — paying countries, for instance, to maintain forests as a form of carbon sequestration. The argument, in essence, is that we can persuade people to save nature by making it possible for them to sell it. They can take nature to the bank, or at least to the local grocery. They can monetize it. (The new revised version of Genesis now says, “God made the wild animals according to their kinds, and he said, ‘Let them be fungible.’ ”)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I understand the logic, or at least the desperation, that drives conservationists to this horrible idea. It may seem like the only way to keep what’s left of the natural world from being plowed under by unstoppable human expansion and by our insatiable appetite for what appears to be useful. But usefulness is precisely the argument other people put forward to justify destroying or displacing wildlife, and they generally bring a larger and more persuasive kind of green to the argument. Nothing you can say about 100 acres in the New Jersey Meadowlands will ever add up for a politician who thinks a new shopping mall will mean more jobs for local voters (and contributions to his campaign war chest). Nothing you can say about the value of rhinos for ecotourism in South Africa will ever matter to a wildlife trafficker who can sell their horns for $30,000 a pound in Vietnam.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Finally, there is the unavoidable problem that most wildlife species — honey badgers, blobfish, blue-footed boobies, red-tailed hawks, monarch butterflies, hellbenders — are always going to be “useless,” or occasionally annoying, from a human perspective. And even when they do turn out, by some quirk, to be useful, that’s typically incidental to what makes them interesting. Cuttlefish do not fascinate because their skin may suggest new forms of military camouflage, but because of the fantastic light shows that sometimes play across their flanks. Spider web silk doesn’t intrigue because somebody can turn it into bandages, but because of the astonishing things spiders can do with it — stringing a line across a stream and running trotlines down the surface to catch water striders, for instance, or (in the case of the species named mastophora dizzydeani) flinging a ball of silk on a thread like a spitball to snag moths out of the air.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Wildlife is and should be useless in the same way art, music, poetry and even sports are useless. They are useless in the sense that they do nothing more than raise our spirits, make us laugh or cry, frighten, disturb and delight us. They connect us not just to what’s weird, different, other, but to a world where we humans do not matter nearly as much as we like to think.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And that should be enough<span style="font-size: x-small;">.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-82393456662485791852014-09-07T22:48:00.000-04:002014-09-07T22:48:00.908-04:00Pandas on Tour<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When most people think of papier-mache they might think of elementary school, arts and crafts at summer camp, or a big mess. Ready to break down those stereotypes is French artist Paulo Grangeon. Starting in 2008, Grangeon's 1,600 slightly kitsch papier-mache panda bears have been on a world tour. The project is called Pandas on Tour and was made in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund.<br />
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Grangeon made 1,600 pandas to represent the number of individuals alive today in the wild. The piece aims to raise awareness about their dwindling populations. As it turns out, 1,600 might actually be too generous, as recent estimates have put the numbers closer to 1,500. Pandas, which has long been an iconic symbol of endangered species, due especially to the panda's inherent cuteness (look out for those big eye patches!) and its iconic status as the WWF's mascot, have been in trouble for a while.<br />
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Their decreasing population has generally been driven by habitat loss, which isn't hard to imagine in midst of the ever expanding Chinese population. More recently, a new threat to the panda's population has been identified: climate change. Pandas native habitat are the moist bamboo forests that lie between 5,000 and 10,000 feet in elevation. Although pandas are categorized as carnivores, they subsist almost exclusively on bamboo. Being a specialist like this, for better or worse, makes them especially dependent on their food source.<br />
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As human development and disturbance encroach on their habitat, creeping up the mountain sides from all directions, pandas often find themselves high and dry, unable to travel safely to new habitat.<br />
As if humans were not a large enough threat for anyone's sustainable population, climate change is affecting weather patterns in China...along with much of the rest of the world, and in this case, making the mountain forests less habitable for bamboo. The panda's problem is actually a bamboo problem, but that doesn't make it any less detrimental to these lovable teddy bears.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlKq7lf02dXe3ony_OpeXgsQM4r_ns4clvNvQ53aIpCPNynIVo-ew6xw4rvyLyMlzrMz1WrEn2LP3QBj3iRAG0_CjiQUYiAa277Dj6PG_AavLbD1-7JjysWzSllopxlhufV3ROWAfQy9U/s1600/Panda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlKq7lf02dXe3ony_OpeXgsQM4r_ns4clvNvQ53aIpCPNynIVo-ew6xw4rvyLyMlzrMz1WrEn2LP3QBj3iRAG0_CjiQUYiAa277Dj6PG_AavLbD1-7JjysWzSllopxlhufV3ROWAfQy9U/s1600/Panda.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
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The panda may be a cliche endangered species but due to its enormous human fan club, Grangeon's art project is making waves. Cliches are cliches for a reason, and pandas definitely win on the cute factor. This project seems to be an effective strategy to get non-environmentalist to take an interest in endangered species.<br />
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Aside from starting a conversation among the non-environmentalist types, I wonder if Pandas on Tour is really effective. I have not seen it in person, but from a photograph I wonder if the project really denotes the nearly deadly population numbers effectively. From images, the project actually looks quite striking, which is commendable to Grangeon's effort. Because the piece makes such a large impression on the viewer, does it really force someone to contemplate the species diminutive status? What if the project was in miniature, making reference to the small population size or fragility of their situation? Or maybe they could be displayed along side the estimated global population of starlings, which might effectively put their actual population numbers in perspective for the unversed viewer.<br />
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Regardless of any constructive criticism clearly, due to its wide press coverage, a lot of people are impressed by Pandas on Tour. I am sure it makes a significant impression on the viewer, especially in its notable installation sites including the Eiffel Tower and the Tain Tan Buddha in Hong Kong. I hope this piece starts conversations about endangered species, wildlife conservation, and environmental destruction, but with a slight reservation of being too critical, I can't help but ponder if the cutesy ocean of pandas really conjures up these critical issues. This project is impressive and, yes, cute. What would this project be like if it highlighted a less-cute, less-known, and possibly even more endangered species?<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-81800636552641319882014-08-09T08:03:00.001-04:002014-08-09T08:03:35.033-04:00A little more press...This is a few months old, but I figured I would put it up anyways. Johnny Segalla is a great guy, and I appreciate him taking an interest in what I am doing. We had a wonderful chat over a cup of coffee last February. Johnny is young, curious, intelligent and very enthusiastic. This was in the Berkshire Courier in March 2014.<br />
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*I would like to mention that some quotes are not direct quotes.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-58553439722123998412014-01-27T10:25:00.000-05:002014-01-27T10:29:12.316-05:00A little press.<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mobile-width-nopad" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; width: 650px;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">I got a little shout out from my old alma mater the other day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">See the whole news letter here: http://e2.ma/message/5oknh/xiyruf#block_wnventoy</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Alumnae Ariel Burgess</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><i>Climate Change is an Emperor Penguin Issue</i> by Ariel Burgess</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><i>For James II</i> by Ariel Burgess</span></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #a83e00; font-size: 30px;"><strong>LCWS Alumni Update</strong></span><br />
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #a83e00; font-size: 20px;">An Interview with Ariel Burgess</span></div>
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<b><span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;">When were you at LCWS, and what is one memory you have from your time here?</span></b></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;">'92-'01 (K-8th) I liked playing in the woods with my friends the best.</span></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;"><b>What is the bravest thing you've done since you left?</b></span></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;">Believed, even when others said it was crazy or impossible.</span></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;"><b>What are you doing now that you love?</b></span></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;">Working on building an art career.</span></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;"><b>What do you do to relax?</b></span></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;">Dance to live music and hike with my dog.</span></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;"><b>Where do you live? What do you like about it?</b></span></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;">I am living in Western MA for now, mostly by accident, but I love the people.</span></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;"><b>Who are the people (and animals) you live with?</b></span></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;">I live with my beautiful pup, who is almost 8, and a great roommate.</span></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;"><b>What are you reading right now?</b></span></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;">I just started reading <i>Driven to Extinction</i> by Dr. Richard Pearson for my current project. I am also reading <i>The Fools Progress</i> by Edward Abbey.</span></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;"><b>Anything else you want to share?</b></span></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;">I am an environmental artist. Right now I’m working on a project exploring how climate change exacerbates biodiversity loss around the world. I’m interested in making science accessible to a wider audience and raising awareness about global extinction rates. The work is called <i>We Are All In This Together</i>. </span></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;"><b>Learn more about Ariel’s art, and donate toward her current project</b>:</span></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;">Kickstarter Page:<a data-name="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1112121841/we-are-all-in-this-together" data-type="url" href="http://e2.ma/click/5oknh/xiyruf/58j0yb" style="font-weight: inherit;">http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1112121841/we-are-all-in-this-together</a></span></div>
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<span class="e2ma-style" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px;">Website: <a data-name="http://www.blackburgeart.com/" data-type="url" href="http://e2.ma/click/5oknh/xiyruf/l1k0yb" style="font-weight: inherit;">http://www.blackburgeart.com/</a></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-82826867913399271992014-01-02T19:49:00.000-05:002014-01-02T19:49:03.625-05:00Midway: a film by Chris Jordan<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><u>MIDWAY</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Both elegy and warning, Midway explores the interconnectedness of species, with the albatross on Midway as mirror of our humanity.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> -</i>Chris Jordan</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Watch the trailer, beautiful and heartbreaking. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This needs to be seen: <a href="http://vimeo.com/25563376">http://vimeo.com/25563376</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.midwayfilm.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">http://www.midwayfilm.com/</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-37516751791395090392014-01-01T22:54:00.003-05:002016-03-24T15:53:44.150-04:00Eve Ensler's TED Talk<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Eve Ensler is a playwright, activist, and writer. Probably her most famous work is the Vagina Monologues. She is an advocate for raising awareness about and putting an end to violence against women and started the international V-Day, that has raised millions of dollars to educate about and stop violence towards women. She has done a number of other notable things, which I will not attempt to portray here, but I encourage you to learn more if you are curious about this strong and inspirational woman.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is her powerful and passionate TED Talk about the similarities between our bodies, our selves, and the world around us. Young girls are raped in war as we rape our mother earth for equally meaningless and petty reasons. </span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-51056981150724303212014-01-01T22:36:00.001-05:002014-01-01T22:36:38.105-05:00A Couple Noteworthy KickstartersOver the past few months I have spent just a little time (okay, a little more than a little...) on Kickstarter (<a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/">http://www.kickstarter.com/</a>) and I wanted to share two particularly interesting projects that I found there. As of today, they are both fully funded with time to spare!<br />
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The first project is called <i>Eli Skipp weaves representations of her brother's RNA. </i>Eli Skipp, the artist, is representing the RNA of her brother and the cane toad (<i>Bufo marinus</i>) with frame-loom weaving. She represents each base in the RNA (adenine, guanine, cytocine, and thymine) with different colors (red, yellow, blue, and green) in the weaving.<br />
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The comparison between her brother, a life-long lover of toads, and <i>Bufo marinus </i>she describes as being for private reasons, but that it is really speaking to the two halves of sides of her brother, and that they are both in fact him. This is interesting to me with respects of our connections to nature, whether you think of spirit animals, affinity with a certain type of animal, or the evolutionary memory of being one with nature. I digress.<br />
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Philosophy aside, I really appreciate this project for another reason as well. Skipp has found a really interesting way of representing scientific data through art. The RNA data simply dictates the colors in a weave. What does this do to the meaning of the weaving? Does it help people relate better to science, or does it make them more curious about it? Upon seeing the brother's RNA aside the toad's RNA will the similarities or differences be more obvious? Will it make it tangibly obvious what is the difference, or lack there of, between being a human and being a toad? I am curious to see this project completed. As a work in progress I think it has significant potential.<br />
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Skipp has other interesting projects and art as well. To find out more check out her blog and website:<br />
<a href="http://eliskipp.com/blog/">http://eliskipp.com/blog/</a><br />
<a href="http://skipp.us/">http://skipp.us/</a><br />
<a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/skipp/eli-skipp-weaves-representations-of-her-brothers-r?ref=home_spotlight">http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/skipp/eli-skipp-weaves-representations-of-her-brothers-r?ref=home_spotlight</a><br />
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The second project that I would like to share with you is called <i>The Bicycle Diaries: My 21,000-mile Ride for the Climate</i>. David Kroodsma has a masters degree in interdisciplinary environmental science and now works as a data journalist and a climate consultant/researcher. More to the point, Kroodsma went on a 21,000 miles journey, on a bike!<br />
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I have had dreams of doing things like this, walking to the Amazon or Alaska or Africa, but the closest I have come is various car trips collectively of about 15,000 miles (not the same). But what really sets Kroodsma's trip apart from my various adventures, and most other people's, is his mission. His strong concern about climate change fueled Kroodsma to center his trip on the idea of researching and teaching about climate change in the places he visited. He sought out interesting people and gave talks along the way, he researched how climate change affects the places we traveled through, and along the way, he gained a new perspective on how climate change is a global issue.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ivaXBxAK3SbPeW4DtiDjG8S-D-d8SaWkuCvljndpow-A5A9sl-DgHeS9_IUQZT2qHS_GsnWGYP6NYnJRihqZYTb6YsftZtkiQpXEsVfpj4bZeR0BQAEFoI3yW8uZ2cFsX-OwlXoJUeI/s1600/David+Kroodsma1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ivaXBxAK3SbPeW4DtiDjG8S-D-d8SaWkuCvljndpow-A5A9sl-DgHeS9_IUQZT2qHS_GsnWGYP6NYnJRihqZYTb6YsftZtkiQpXEsVfpj4bZeR0BQAEFoI3yW8uZ2cFsX-OwlXoJUeI/s320/David+Kroodsma1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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So, upon pedaling from San Francisco to Tierra del Fuego, what did he do? He wrote a book of course! I am jealous of his journey and inspired by his technique. What better way to connect with people, share knowledge, do the dirty work, connect with our southern neighbors who are far too often annexed by our politics, have fun, and bring back and then share his gained knowledge.<br />
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Kudos for fun and inspiring!<br />
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P.S.<br />
His next trip is going to be across Asia!<br />
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<a href="http://rideforclimate.com/blog/">http://rideforclimate.com/blog/</a><br />
<a href="http://kroodsma.com/">http://kroodsma.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2080478170/the-bicycle-diaries-my-21000-mile-ride-for-the-cli?ref=live">http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2080478170/the-bicycle-diaries-my-21000-mile-ride-for-the-cli?ref=live</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-49438494558490296122013-12-11T15:39:00.002-05:002013-12-11T15:39:40.674-05:00No fear.<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> -Vincent Van Gogh</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Follow your Bliss.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-25733594674338895652013-12-02T12:39:00.001-05:002013-12-02T12:39:58.408-05:00Sarah Hatton and Bees<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Over
the past weekend A very dear friend of mine came to visit me. We had a
wonderful time together staying up late and having a three hour breakfast at
the kitchen table. At one point I was telling her about my <i>We are all in this together </i>project. Her eyes got wide and she sat
up straight in her chair patiently waiting for me to finish my sentence. “Can
you paint a honey bee?!” she asked me with apparent excitement.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“…ummm
well, maybe, is it related?” I answered. Despite anyone’s passion, I want to
stick to my theme of climate change. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Yes!”
she replied. She went on to tell me a great and very local reason why the honey
bee would be perfect for my project. My friend is a new and avid bee-keeper and
loves to talk to anyone about them who will listen. Her passion is not held by
her alone. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bees
are integral and essential to plant pollination around the world. Along with other animals such as butterflies, moths, other insects, bats, and birds, bees have co-evolved with flowering plants. In many cases the plants rely on the these creatures for pollination and reproduction. The symbiotic relationship is a beautiful one, but it is also extremely fragile, prone to upsets at even the smallest of changes. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><br /></span>
<span class="apple-converted-space">Over the past decade or so, the accounts of colony collapse disorder have increased in North America and Europe sparking environmental, social and economic concern. The phenomenon itself, which is a when the worker bees of a colony suddenly disappear, is not new, but its increased frequency is a cause for concern. There are a few possible causes of colony collapse disorder including pathogens, fungus, mites, and malnutrition. Many experts, including the European Food Safety Authority, are attributing the recent increase in colony collapse on the use of modern pesticides. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This issue is complex and still being studied to be fully understood. One person who picked up on this multidimensional and international issue is Sarah Hatton. A visual artist who predominantly works in paint, branched out to create her body of work called "Bees". </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here is the statement of "Bees" from Hatton herself:</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
</span></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 20px; padding: 5px 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i style="background-color: black;">The link between neonicotinoid pesticides and the worldwide decline of bee populations is a crisis that cannot be ignored.</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 20px; padding: 5px 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i style="background-color: black;">I have arranged thousands of dead honeybees in mathematical patterns symbolically linked to monoculture crops, such as the Fibonacci spiral found in the seed head of the sunflower.</i></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></i></span><br /></span></span>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i style="background-color: black;">The viewer experiences the vertigo of this lifeless swarm, a dizzying optical illusion that echoes the bees’ loss of ability to navigate due to the toxins locked within the very source of their sustenance.</i></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvavNJBe07GAVwicO3cQ1O2g0ASwkOHs3viPv58haFs55PApRKyxNgO9Yb7jszSvwuN1qNZses4PDINNgkxDDIyHdTxIEb2fISPT3uLyDvSxv9ZvH1RsuwG6YbLig-LLiDUokUPAWtjgQ/s1600/Sarah+Hatton+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvavNJBe07GAVwicO3cQ1O2g0ASwkOHs3viPv58haFs55PApRKyxNgO9Yb7jszSvwuN1qNZses4PDINNgkxDDIyHdTxIEb2fISPT3uLyDvSxv9ZvH1RsuwG6YbLig-LLiDUokUPAWtjgQ/s400/Sarah+Hatton+3.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sarah Hatton in front of her Bee work</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Fv_hNLgD_Ma3W6hQgAOPhHD1W_gvX_ULt7Uhas4i1_75ZSK0mdnJukJyjxYoJvnxfqPaKfigj1Y3356Lk5DIT6a8j5PrG64xSJJFzxkAvh2x-eYLiQFQ8HpT50p1Wq6kByNJEN8BR-Q/s1600/Sarah+Hatton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Fv_hNLgD_Ma3W6hQgAOPhHD1W_gvX_ULt7Uhas4i1_75ZSK0mdnJukJyjxYoJvnxfqPaKfigj1Y3356Lk5DIT6a8j5PrG64xSJJFzxkAvh2x-eYLiQFQ8HpT50p1Wq6kByNJEN8BR-Q/s400/Sarah+Hatton.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hatton's Bee piece</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc0eOjJ36jeXtwNYkHL6kCgZbATZaLEH-4ZDOPRsEfe4mJJwYIgOZo_OdmxRzMdvwxwDjFsWKooltzBFYLQrqo7-juXfLb4L4lU0TFV5_9zpMH4QGMx3M2KAdwNKVK6PYqNAxPouQ0T_w/s1600/Sarah-Hatton-bee-art-537x357.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc0eOjJ36jeXtwNYkHL6kCgZbATZaLEH-4ZDOPRsEfe4mJJwYIgOZo_OdmxRzMdvwxwDjFsWKooltzBFYLQrqo7-juXfLb4L4lU0TFV5_9zpMH4QGMx3M2KAdwNKVK6PYqNAxPouQ0T_w/s640/Sarah-Hatton-bee-art-537x357.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hatton's Bee piece</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4zNlTRbhx3YZdfXj-sTnDidwTQqSG3E9JF9lVAh6Kk1lkLSmipbiy1BcSmvcT6o6zfUy2uXoKDmFJj9drHIjMPW1Nl8qLPdkzueHbzH4z_pFblWY8RAfvUG7OSyTK2LCvcEocGQBRpwU/s1600/Sarah+Hatton+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4zNlTRbhx3YZdfXj-sTnDidwTQqSG3E9JF9lVAh6Kk1lkLSmipbiy1BcSmvcT6o6zfUy2uXoKDmFJj9drHIjMPW1Nl8qLPdkzueHbzH4z_pFblWY8RAfvUG7OSyTK2LCvcEocGQBRpwU/s400/Sarah+Hatton+4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hatton's Bee piece</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgJsK-j6DzxRcnsXhKDTEr9kX-u_34RWVwtTqyYAe8rUeunwxWn2yzsukZ7YmAl25zSjm9cH36B1ktaidUKOHge8QUE5G8O_EDmzUEoFR4_2aMzeEbatLEGheHHsjE9hf_T5pzdhKqmrM/s1600/Sarah+Hatton2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgJsK-j6DzxRcnsXhKDTEr9kX-u_34RWVwtTqyYAe8rUeunwxWn2yzsukZ7YmAl25zSjm9cH36B1ktaidUKOHge8QUE5G8O_EDmzUEoFR4_2aMzeEbatLEGheHHsjE9hf_T5pzdhKqmrM/s400/Sarah+Hatton2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bees from Hatton's piece</td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-74362840773807169682013-11-23T20:15:00.002-05:002013-11-23T20:16:29.339-05:00We are all in this together: My next project<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is my Kickstarter for my next project. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Check it out, pass it along, and support in any way you can! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I only have 30 days to raise my goal so I can make this a reality, please help!</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-79567920683153504302013-11-21T08:56:00.002-05:002015-04-05T13:30:19.021-04:00The Artist<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As an artist, create from the heart, do what you love, address what you are passionate about, spread your passion to others, create a world for others to be a part of. Be honest, raw, and constantly evolving. Love what you do.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Every good painter paints what he is."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-Jackson Pollock</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5681681028464282722.post-69375471137824440392013-11-20T09:23:00.003-05:002013-11-20T09:31:41.735-05:00COP 19<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My
life has been in flux all fall, and clearly my blog has been given a small
vacation. But no fear, it has not left my heart and thoughts!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This
morning I just want to address a few quick things. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First
of all I have been working on a Kickstarter campaign that will be up and
running very shortly. I am pretty excited about it and hope all my readers
check it out!</span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Second,
mostly unrelated, it is my brother’s birthday today! (This is a cheerful prep
for the third thing…)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Third,
from everything that I have read and heard so far, COP 19 might just end as disappointingly
as the previous 18 and others. For you who do not know, COP 19 stands for the
19<sup>th</sup> Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)….A mouthful right? It is basically an
intergovernmental meeting with the purpose of agreeing on actions to combat,
mitigate, adapt, and face climate change. So far, they have actually done
pretty much nothing to combat or even mitigate climate change, and
environmentalists around the world hope each year that they will come to a
binding international agreement to lower greenhouse gas emissions and hopefully
avoid catastrophic climate change and tipping points that might take climate
change out of our hands and beyond our ability to deal with it.</span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Just
like the beginning of COP 18 in Doha, Qatar, this year the COP commenced as a
serious Typhoon hit the low-lying nation of the Philippines. This year Super
Typhoon Haiyan, or Yolanda as it is referred to in the Philippines, hit land
with unmatched intensity. So far it is the second deadliest typhoon ever to hit
the Philippines. In the days after the storm hit, it was postulated that it was
the strongest storm ever to landfall in recorded human history. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBf-U_ve0J8Uw2O8HsJWrWa54sn07rLy2vGcBKcXpNi6QW7p5pId6Ye3F4DfT8fkd31eUAFNzyFucKASM2I9ynttczVZZUdaNwdKqpywz3mcXYgxLV1QfqFDKqEECCYGDtcS1TwhLgL2M/s1600/Haiyan+storm+view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBf-U_ve0J8Uw2O8HsJWrWa54sn07rLy2vGcBKcXpNi6QW7p5pId6Ye3F4DfT8fkd31eUAFNzyFucKASM2I9ynttczVZZUdaNwdKqpywz3mcXYgxLV1QfqFDKqEECCYGDtcS1TwhLgL2M/s320/Haiyan+storm+view.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SuperTyphoon Haiyan</td></tr>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">What
is even more serious is that many prominent and reputable political and climate
professionals are linking the severity of Haiyan to climate change. What more
obvious message do our “climate leaders” need to pass significant and
meaningful actions on climate change? At least some of our representatives
understand and are ready for action. </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzO2zy3i1rZbkv1Hn44k5MbQLnMH_ZqN9U7kg6E7fUq1SOfxsLuzfqjWTmwmmLrdyufbVP2bMklKcHEOshTcPzyuY83wQYFWIp_vAyg1o0r1UuKj35NZdsoAajahLmX6WJXHL4b2nLKsQ/s1600/Need+Food.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzO2zy3i1rZbkv1Hn44k5MbQLnMH_ZqN9U7kg6E7fUq1SOfxsLuzfqjWTmwmmLrdyufbVP2bMklKcHEOshTcPzyuY83wQYFWIp_vAyg1o0r1UuKj35NZdsoAajahLmX6WJXHL4b2nLKsQ/s320/Need+Food.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Survivors of Haiyan still in need</td></tr>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Naderev
Madla Saño, more commonly known as Yeb Saño, is the Commissioner of the Philippine’s
delegation to the UNFCCC. At COP 18, after his country experienced a destructive
typhoon, he gave a moving speech calling for climate action and not to delay
any longer. Watch his here speech, it is very moving:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2012/12/7/if_not_now_then_when_filipino_negotiator"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">http://www.democracynow.org/2012/12/7/if_not_now_then_when_filipino_negotiator</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In his speech he asks, “If not us, then who? If not now, then
when? If not here, then where?”</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP5xX8K6PhrNCSYunukrl5GYMQ-3by9xpPz5pYWMbV3EjQUwY5dKn6cn89W4SO23jbN8SL6GJzrUN3dJAB-58BBU2vTr2l6Nnbjd-KCRZrV5glqbRVuf_g_7taS3bXDpsm7u-AUpiEFmk/s1600/Yeb+Sano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP5xX8K6PhrNCSYunukrl5GYMQ-3by9xpPz5pYWMbV3EjQUwY5dKn6cn89W4SO23jbN8SL6GJzrUN3dJAB-58BBU2vTr2l6Nnbjd-KCRZrV5glqbRVuf_g_7taS3bXDpsm7u-AUpiEFmk/s320/Yeb+Sano.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yeb Sa<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">ño at COP 19</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A year later his questions have not been answered. As he
traveled to Warsaw, Poland for the COP 19 another devastating typhoon hit his
country. At the opening of the climate negotiations Yeb addressed the parties
again. This year again asking his pointed questions and pleading with the
nations gathered to “end the madness”. :
<a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/11/12/stop_this_madness_filipino_climate_chief">http://www.democracynow.org/2013/11/12/stop_this_madness_filipino_climate_chief</a>
In his speech he also vowed to fast for the remainder of the climate summit until
significant action was taken to combat emissions and address climate change. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">On Tuesday evening when I was reading the news and listened
to Sa</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">ño’s
speech I was so moved by his presentation and actions that I decided to stand
in solidarity with him and fast. Knowing myself, I knew that to maintain my two
jobs and finish my Kickstarter I would need to eat some, but I vowed to skip a
meal each day symbolically standing with him and indeed all people around the
world already negatively affected by climate change. I emailed him telling him
what I was doing and thanking him for his dedication and leadership. As it
turns out, I was not the only one who was moved to take action in solidarity
with Saño. People from around the world as well as delegates at COP 19,
including US negotiator Collin Reese are also fasting in solidarity. 350.org
started #WeStandWithYou petition demanding climate action, which Saño presented
to the conference with over 600,000 signatures on Tuesday, November 19. </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNdbfy8Tu3U-JAwuDprRLZPW3UdJSVUBWGUisHgjX_NWh0s5PmBXBhgWkixewgRQYjbdOm2QiWUXDPihseUj5sFmJ-8Bw38n9DQUse_LyDvfj1Iz9JiW1C1-O0XtemznYVjcXuhv6HLIk/s1600/Yeb+Sano+Petition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNdbfy8Tu3U-JAwuDprRLZPW3UdJSVUBWGUisHgjX_NWh0s5PmBXBhgWkixewgRQYjbdOm2QiWUXDPihseUj5sFmJ-8Bw38n9DQUse_LyDvfj1Iz9JiW1C1-O0XtemznYVjcXuhv6HLIk/s320/Yeb+Sano+Petition.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Yeb Sa<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: start;">ño and others presenting #WeStandWithYou at COP 19</span></span></td></tr>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">People
from around the world, including young activists in Warsaw are being heard and
then ignored and shut out. While young activists are being shut out of the
conference area, the International Coal conference also took place in Warsaw.
Is this a joke? You are not the only one scratching your head at the irony.
Greenpeace in their typical tactics unfurled a banner on Poland’s Ministry of
Economy building where the coal conference was taking place. Not to mention
their Cough for Coal lungs getting paraded around. </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhutwhhOvOpN5I3wGDBjCtI2YtRuY0l30v2QPFj08fKiuzYnI5l_ggGy74Hi5i5vZjwYpd9w6GJW3S5ZcNMtBeKthzh1xNkYJY6RbjDidonZOZmZn0bcYI1T9dhEUv_oYvoCHcL0q7EF-w/s1600/cough4coal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhutwhhOvOpN5I3wGDBjCtI2YtRuY0l30v2QPFj08fKiuzYnI5l_ggGy74Hi5i5vZjwYpd9w6GJW3S5ZcNMtBeKthzh1xNkYJY6RbjDidonZOZmZn0bcYI1T9dhEUv_oYvoCHcL0q7EF-w/s320/cough4coal.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I
could go on and on. There is a lot happening, but I wanted to address at least
part of it. I am an optimist, but like many climate activists around the world,
we are starting to get disgusted and fed up with the lack of action on the part
of our representatives. Yes international and intergovernmental agreements are
hard; we do not think they are not. But at this point, the lack of action and
dedication to what they are supposedly there to do is simply disgusting. In the
end, I know that we will persevere and find a way to address climate change and
flourish, but my question is how much longer do we have to wait for our
governments to catch up with the views of the people? How many more lives must
be lost, how many more children must starve? How many more species mush be
lost? How many more forests dried and burned, crops lost, communities
destroyed?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If
not us, then who? If not now, then when? If not here, then where?</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com