My college anthropology class in Ecuador featured a lot of ecotourism, something I have subsequently tried to incorporate into my own travels. Upon returning to the Cloud Forest this spring, I was thrilled to learn that local efforts to support conservation through tourist dollars had grown in the intervening years. But reality is complex, and it’s not always clear who benefits from conservation efforts.
The equator is a cool place to encounter physics: you’re moving faster, you’re farther from the center of the earth, and you weigh less. It’s also a common place to encounter pseudoscience: from the Coriolis force to balancing eggs, tourists may be told things they never knew were true… because they’re not. Skepticism is a healthy skill we could all use more of these days.
While in Ecuador this February, we ventured up to Cotopaxi base camp, which sits at 16,000 feet. Having seen the tops of some of the world’s most famous mountains, I already knew about the importance of proper acclimation to high elevations, but it was still a record for us. I also learned some lessons about how the thinner atmosphere can affect camera equipment.
Hollywood has done us a great disservice by perpetuating the idea that once the big boss battle is done, all is right with the world. That trope is so common that we can easily start to believe that the real world works that way too. J.R.R. Tolkien gave us a much better sense of the challenges that can remain even when you think the worst is over.
The suburban landscaping aesthetic includes a lot of lawn and not a lot of trees. I’m bucking that trend by replacing my one dead ornamental plum tree with three uncommon native trees that will support more biodiversity, soil health, and climate resilience. In order to do that, I needed a crash course on how and where to plant, plus how and where to prune.
When a tree came down in our yard, we had to figure out what to do with it. Tree removal and disposal comes with its own risks to humans, and tree replacement comes with risks to the new tree if not done correctly. The chances of those risks increase in likelihood when a stubbornly optimistic gardener with a multi-year design plan is involved.
My experience is that most people feel reluctant about giving life advice because they’re still figuring life out themselves. My experience is that most people receiving life advice don’t quite know what to do with it… until they reach a point where lived experience makes it relevant. For my 42nd birthday, I revisited a compilation of life advice assembled for me on my 21st.
Now is the time for series finales. The last episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Lost share space in my May 23 memories, but my thoughts are on the recent Late Show Finale and the tumultuous changes we’re seeing in the world right now. There are lessons to be learned from each of these shows, whether or not we’re ready to accept them.
It can be frustrating and discouraging to think about voting when you have a small number of uncontested races on your ballot. Turnout during primary elections is historically very low, but there are reasons to vote, even when one vote is unlikely to change the outcome. Politicians serve at the pleasure of their constituents – and they need to know when their constituents are not pleased.
Everyone will be impacted by climate change, which means that everyone needs to be part of the solution. The problem is that some businesses and countries aren’t ready to have that conversation yet. Thanks to growing frustrations with the slow progress at COP, over 50 countries gathered in Colombia this April to begin planning a decisive and collaborative transition away from fossil fuels.