Ancient Olive Trees
May a man look up from the utter hardship of his life and say: let me be like these.
Hölderlin, In Lovely Blue.
1 Circa 1400 BCE. An olive tree in Vouvés, Crete. From ‘vouvismos’ meaning the whispering of the …
Ecosystems
Culture, Ecosystems, Philosophy, Place
Ecosystems, Place, Urban
In the Green
I’m not a very good nature tour guide. For one thing, I don’t know much about nature. For another, I walk very quickly; I have to keep reminding myself to slow down. Despite my shortcomings; however, two days before Halloween 2019, I take my English Composition class on a walk to a nearby greenspace, a short walk from our community college campus in Queens. Greenspace. It’s such a recent compound that Word autocorrects it into two.
Agriculture, Frontier, Out West, Place
Gathering Chips
One of my favorite photographs hangs in my bathroom.
At its center is a wheelbarrow, with wooden handles, braces, and legs. The ten-spoke wheel is iron. Cow chips – dry dung – are stacked two feet high in the tray. …
Conservation, Forests, Place, Rivers
In town
I followed my mother down a winding forest path.
The trail head peaks through the trees that line the softball field down the street from my house. You wouldn’t know it was there if you weren’t looking for it.
Gnarled tree …
Oceans
Sailboats, Submarines, and the Sea
The first thing I did during my tryout for the sailing team was crash straight into the seawall. Everyone at the Naval Academy is required to be part of a sports team. I did track in high school, but there was …