Worthwhile places

There is no excuse ever to be bored with the wealth of good opportunities online. Chances are that if we feel that way, we are wasting our time on all the trivia that is there as well. Two things crossed my inbox today that made it worthwhile. One was the mid=week posting of the amazing Maria Popova’s Brain Pickings, a weekly newsletter full of excerpts and wonderful children’s illustrations on many important themes - frequently climate related. Today’s relates to a book called The Songs of Trees, which already resides on my Ipad. As she says:

“It is in such lyrical prose and with an almost spiritual reverence for trees that Haskell illuminates his subject — the masterful, magical way in which nature weaves the warp thread of individual organisms and the weft thread of relationships into the fabric of life”

The book is a journey through time and space, where the writer focuses on trees in various locations and references how they influence their surroundings. I haven’t quite finished it, but it is definitely a keeper and you can find it here - or as Brain Pickings usually does, go to the public library.

The other was an excellent podcast featuring the climate scientist Katherine Hayhoe. I like that when she is asked, as a resident of Texas, whether she is a Democrat or a Republican, she replies, “I am a Canadian.” The video, featured on Climate One was useful in reminding us how to communicate. Hayhoe doesn’t waste time with serious climate deniers, but she has lots of time for the skeptical. She also says that we respond to change based on our values and these come not only from the mind, but also from the heart. I also like her translation of “Dominion” in the book of Genesis - as “responsibility”.

And she is proud of her work on Science Moms, which focuses on facts and other excellent resources for mothers and grandmothers.

The podcasts are recorded live and subsequently posted and you can see some good ones here. Katherine Hayhoe also has a new book coming our that I’ll add to my Ipad Collection, You can find it here.