tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post6567533703656768917..comments2024-03-15T03:17:53.587-04:00Comments on Science teacher: Earth Daydoylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12901661320505882735noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-84655148837764855622009-04-25T20:39:00.000-04:002009-04-25T20:39:00.000-04:00Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bl...Loveliest of trees, the cherry now<br />Is hung with bloom along the bough,<br />And stands about the woodland ride<br />Wearing white for Eastertide.<br /><br />Now of my threescore years and ten,<br />Twenty will not come again,<br />And take from seventy springs a score,<br />It only leaves me fifty more.<br /><br />And since to look at things in bloom<br />Fifty springs are little room,<br />About the woodlands I will go<br />To see the cherry hung with snow.<br /><br /><I>A E Housman</I>Blogger In Middle-earthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-62148312641409627682009-04-25T07:15:00.000-04:002009-04-25T07:15:00.000-04:00Dear Chris Chin,
I love the cherry blossom snow f...Dear Chris Chin,<br /><br />I love the cherry blossom snow fall image.<br /><br />While I agree we have an amazing capacity for self-destruction, I would argue that it's cultural, not instinctual, and therefore something we can change.<br /><br />(I do have my doubts that our dominant western culture will change before catastrophe befalls us; it already has proven catastrophic for many peoples who happened to have what our culture wanted.)<br /><br /><br />Dear iceowl,<br /><br />Thanks for the words--which reminds me, I need to write back to riverrun. You're welcome to join him--I'll make clammers out of both of you.<br /><br /><br />Dear Kate,<br /><br />The strawberries just started blooming here on Thursday as the cherries were hanging on to their last petals.<br /><br />There's a reason to dance every day. And there's no reason to dance every day. <br /><br />I will miss the dancing tonight.doylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12901661320505882735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-83265509361954446412009-04-24T16:55:00.000-04:002009-04-24T16:55:00.000-04:00Doyle - I do so wish that I could have had the pri...Doyle - I do so wish that I could have had the privilege of knowing your sister.<br /><br />A beautiful day like today might just lure the apple trees into bloom here. When they do, we will dance for Mary Beth.Kate Thttp://tabor330.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-44691096403183226562009-04-24T13:29:00.000-04:002009-04-24T13:29:00.000-04:00To the memory of Mary Beth. Last time I saw her sh...To the memory of Mary Beth. Last time I saw her she was sitting on the sofa in the living room on Bayberry. Low-fidelity Kinks music was burbling from the speakers perched on cinder blocks. Joe Leifheit was hitting on her in that awkward teenaged way us men rapidly learn is ineffective liquor to women, and takes decades to figure out why. She was therefore ignoring Joe and talking to me about some such item I don't remember, as I was experiencing one of my life's two drug induced moments, freaked out and unenjoying the effects of some chemical Joe of which Joe and I had partaken (I had previously collapsed on the front lawn - Mary Beth had dragged me into the living room). I remember it was summer and it was cooler in the Bayberry house, all windows and doors open, humid breezes sifting through the screens, McCoy the dog, still odorous from his last skunk spray, banished to the outside, Mary Beth saying to me, "You have to think good thoughts, or you have a bad trip."<br /><BR><BR>It's very true. All of life. We get the life we make, and whether we like it or not, we're responsible for all of it.iceowlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15326842146043131246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-82251521962699229492009-04-24T10:35:00.000-04:002009-04-24T10:35:00.000-04:00Great Photo. Here in Brooklyn, we have a Botanical...Great Photo. Here in Brooklyn, we have a Botanical Gardens that has Cherry Blossom Trees and when they're in full bloom, it's almost snowlike (especially when the petals fall).<br /><br />Wouldn't you think that everyday should be Earth Day?<br /><br />I'm afraid that our (meaning humans) capacity for self destruction is too big of an instinct to overcome. That's nature I guess...human nature.Chris Chinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02974488952529285543noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-38796497649330874132009-04-23T19:04:00.000-04:002009-04-23T19:04:00.000-04:00Dear Kathryn,
I love that photo, too--local tree,...Dear Kathryn,<br /><br />I love that photo, too--local tree, local photographer.<br /><br />I will likely miss the gathering this weekend barring a fugue state--I need to get to Tipton, Michigan, but I need to get there quietly. <br /><br /><br /><br />Dear momomom,<br /><br />Indeed. Thanks for listening.<br /><br /><br />Dear John,<br /><br />Guilt's not going to do much good--the key is to remember that you are worthy of the celebration, that the Earth is for us (is us), and that losing hope can be liberating.<br /><br />Mary Beth knew that if things continued as they are going, we are, well, doomed. She recognized that the actions of a few may not change this, but she also believed that what we do matters.<br /><br />And it does.<br /><br />Celebrate what we have. Fight like the dickens to keep it. We need more folks like you around.<br /><br />You are right, guilt will only make you give up--let it go.<br /><br />Mary Beth danced. A lot. And then some more. Just about everybody in Ann Arbor recognized her whirlwind dancing.<br /><br />Dance instead of grieve--it's what we did at her wake. Some days it's about all we can do anyway. <br /><br />So dance.doylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12901661320505882735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-10549554043371695782009-04-23T10:04:00.000-04:002009-04-23T10:04:00.000-04:00Like many holidays, Earth Day is hard for me. It's...Like many holidays, Earth Day is hard for me. It's hard for me to avoid the guilt, to feel that I'm somehow unworthy of the celebration. <br /><br />I know that when you celebrate something, you take better care of it. I know that when you get to know it to the point of personification, you think twice about how you're damaging it. And I know that guilt will only make me give up. Still, on Earth Day, I found myself far less celebratory than I would have hoped.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-49183715265181302642009-04-23T04:07:00.000-04:002009-04-23T04:07:00.000-04:00Falling petals and the fragility and the beauty of...Falling petals and the fragility and the beauty of life<br /><br />Hugsmomomomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13877168968457924624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-60233123698646224182009-04-22T20:50:00.000-04:002009-04-22T20:50:00.000-04:00The picture of the cherry tree was stunning; your...The picture of the cherry tree was stunning; your sister's story also. The gathering this weekend sounds like a wonderful way to honor her!<br /><br />So true about the need to teach students both the scientific discovery and the cost of knowing. It's important for them to learn not just the reactions but the relationship to the ecosystem.Kathryn Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16757414380685368592noreply@blogger.com