Cold

Turned on the heat in my house for the first time this season today, I am hoping not to have the dreaded energy spike that I hear so much about, especially since I live in an old draft house. Even with cold in house temperatures a considerable amount of energy will be used to heat my house, let alone the houses in Kalamazoo, and every other cold place in America. Just as the west is short on water because maybe people are not supposed to be living their in such great quantities, could we be using to much energy to stay warm? Maybe most of the United States population should be living in the southeast corner of the country, or at least migrating there for winter? We are nowhere near that type of energy crisis right now, but possibly in the future, who knows. I had not really thought of the special resources it takes to survive even here in Michigan. As our country and the rest of the world began to think more about conserving resources, one of the first things that must be considered is what places can successfully and sustainable hold huge amounts of people while making the smallest burden possible for the environment. Regardless of energy use or not, I really enjoy a warm house in the cold winter. 

Veggies

After thanksgiving I am going to give being a vegetarian a shot for 3 months. I have always wanted to try it for an extended period of time, my first attempt only lasted 3 days but I was living in the dorms and food choices were limited, now however, spurred on by the bet of a friend and being something I have always wanted to try I think I can make the three months and hopefully discover a lot of tasty new foods along the way. At the least I hope to take away an attitude that is more open towards different types of food especially protein sources, with the world population going nowhere but up, meat will increase with scarcity and people will be forced to eat a more vegetarian diet. So taking that step or at least a partial step now seems like a smart, easy, and responsible thing to do. After I start I am sure it will be harder than I am picturing it now, especially during meals such as my birthday and Christmas which will fall within the dates of the bet. I am curious to see what will happen to my body, I don’t really have many pounds to lose nor do I want to lose any, I actually am hoping to get a little bigger, I guess only time will tell.

Pictures

What makes nature photography so awe inspiring? Whenever I get a new National Geographic I first spend time studying all of the photos in great detail, from the smallest insect to the largest mountain I am most always captivated. Is it because a creature or place I have never seen or most likely even heard of is now in my living room? Getting to see the beauty of the mountain without facing any of the hardships and danger that would normally come with it is one reason I love photography. At Barnes and Nobel there are always books in the bargain section of nature pictures, these are my favorite kinds of books.

            In the first series of pictures which I was delighted to discover in American Earth there is a photo of a man and his dog laying inside of a wedge he cut in a tree with two ladies standing next to him. It is a grand old tree, absolutely massive with lots of character in its bark. Looking at this picture makes me hope nobody ever finished cutting it down. It makes me want to go visit and see the splendor for myself, I think that pictures are a good way to get more people involved in the environmental movement as their so much more entertaining than words. 

Edward Abbey

Edward Abbey was a ranger in Arches National Park in Utah, in an essay titled Industrial Tourism and the National Parks, he offers up his thoughts on how people affect the parks and how the parks affect people. He speaks people doing what they love and being satisfied and happy, I hope to someday find something I am so passionate about that I could perform it on a day in and day out basis and be happy, as of now I am just working on not losing my mind. I think being in nature is the key to most peoples mental sanity. I wholeheartedly agree with Abbey when he says “wilderness is a necessary part of civilization and that it is the primary responsibility of the national park system to preserve intact and undiminished what little still remains. National parks should not have paved roads through them and be modernized, let people test themselves against nature in unblemished rawness. If less people visit them so be it. Even with the park system as it is I have found it to still be possible to get away from crowds without a problem just by walking a few miles. My friends dad once told me 98% of the people use 2% of the park and 2% of the people use 98% of the park. So when I want to experience disconnectedness I just walk to it, often, I find the most beautiful parts of a park are found  on the journey, not the main attractions, though they are always spectacular, and I have never been to any of the grand places out west. Like Abbey I believe that the parks should remain unblemished by manmade structures, without much true wilderness left we should leave what we still have alone.