“Then they set out along the blacktop in the gunmetal light, shuffling through the ash, each the other’s world entire.”
― Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Sydney Harbour Bridge, photo by me.

Humans have been blazing trails for millennia. Our early ancestors followed the tracks of large migratory mammals who easily forged routes through the thickets of the wild. Then came the more orderly block pavias of early civilizations to resist the wear of the wooden wheel. The Romans made the roads straight and long, weapons of empire. Then, eventually, came the blacktops, McAdam’s sealed and tarred roads that we have come to expect today. … Read more

© John McColgan 2000 ~ elk taking refuge from forest fire in a river.

Taking on the climate emergency, my daughter writes…

“At first, I couldn’t see the fire. I walked freely through the verdant forest, full too with fragrant wildflowers, and saw no sign of trouble; the air was fresh, the ground cool.

Walking on, smoke permeated around me, a subtle sourness tinging the air. I couldn’t see it, or hear it. Sometimes, I doubted whether I could trust any of my senses.

Soon, though, it was visible. Grey streaks darkened the sky, and my eyes watered. The bitter fog intensified and became impossible to ignore. … Read more

29 October 2018

Dear Ginny Battson

Thank you for your email of 10 October to the Cabinet Secretary for Education in relation to the ecoliteracy within the curriculum. I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Secretary.

The Welsh Government is committed to supporting our young people to develop the knowledge and skills they need to become active, ethical and informed citizens of Wales and the world; which includes in the current curriculum engaging with topics delivered through Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship (ESDGC). Through ESDCG learners explore the links between society, economy and environment and our own lives and those of people throughout the world. … Read more

Lismore Lighthouse, nr Oban. Photo by me.

“Cease being intimidated by the argument that a right action is impossible because it does not yield maximum profits, or that a wrong action is to be condoned because it pays.” Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

So much fury is coming our way, those of us who bear the burden of understanding extreme capitalism, and the vast global inequity it perpetuates, is fuelling Earth Crisis.  The more we shine the light, the more profound the insecurity of those who benefit from it. From the alt-right to the eco-modernists, we are the object of increasing anger. … Read more

Yellow shell moth on my finger, photo by me.

This week, thousands of people marched the streets of London, calling for a second referendum on the British breakup with the European Union. Simultaneously, and perhaps connected in many ways, hundreds also marched in Lancashire to protest Cuadrilian fracking. And a group called Extinction Rebellion are planning active civil disruption, beginning at the end of the month, in the face of political inaction and apathy towards the climate crisis.

On Twitter, at least, I am registering a shift in the general zeitgeist ~ notice taken, at last, by a greater crowd beyond the long converted. … Read more

In creating Kinnaria, I have also coined 'Nagorasphere.' Inspired by work on bodily exchange by Luce Irigaray & Murray Bookchin's communalism.

N is for nature.
Agora ~ ancient gathering place, sometimes a market where exchanges take place. All is flow.
Sphere ~ ball, global.

— Ginny (@ginbat) October 15, 2018

 … Read more

Dear Minister

Thank you for the invite via Twitter to write to you further on egalitarian ecoliteracy.

Now the latest IPCC report has been published, still erring on the conservative side yet relentless in its call for urgent action, I hope beyond measure you will advocate providing ALL Welsh children and adult learners with the ecological systems and environmental knowledge/settings they truly require.

Equipping each and everyone for the rapid changes now, and the volatile future science predicts ahead of us, is the best gift we can bestow and a collective necessity in Wales under the WFG and Environment Acts.

And more. … Read more