Tag Archives: nature

To create “small pockets of flourishing”

Posted on 19 May 2024 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

This month, the Oregon Bach Festival book club’s reading project combines two of my special interests: music and nature writing. We’ve been listening to Sarah Kirkland Snider’s “Mass for the Endangered,” which the Oregon Bach Festival is going to perform … Continue reading →

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Awe versus Wonder

Posted on 24 March 2024 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

The great fun of reading and watching a wide variety of things is the discovery of unexpected connections. Today we have: Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, the (apparently) final book in Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga, a widely loved … Continue reading →

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Complicating the Story of Humanity

Posted on 1 January 2024 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

How did we get to be “civilized”? Here’s the big-picture story most of us have learned. For hundreds of thousands of years, humans lived in small bands that wandered the land, hunting for meat and fish, and foraging for nuts, … Continue reading →

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Thinking like a rose

Posted on 2 April 2023 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

I wonder what roses think about wildflowers that “volunteer” to share their garden without an invitation? That’s a comment one of my readers made in response to my last blog post. I loved that comment, because it sends us off … Continue reading →

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Wildflowers or weeds?

Posted on 29 March 2023 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

Wildflowers! Today I got a break from the massively complicated paper I’m writing, and we also had a break in the rain, so I went out to check in with the neighborhood wildflowers. A few years ago, I set myself … Continue reading →

Posted in category science, environmental thought | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

In love with the land – the real clash of civilizations

Posted on 5 April 2022 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

What does it mean to love the land? Two very different things, apparently. Today I was reading Ezra Klein’s column in the New York Times, where he was talking about anti-liberalism. Remember, we have multiple meanings for “liberal,” and this … Continue reading →

Posted in environmental thought, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments