Thoreau's Legacy Read Online Free Page B
Author: Richard Hayes
bath with someone special. Conservation is loads more fun than you ever imagined.
You put on another sweater and lower your thermostat. You join the Sierra Club. You pay close attention to what businesses, scientists, and politicians are doing to shift gears, lower the heat, slow down the melt, take full responsibility, and protect what is left. It’s time.
Don’t feel guilty. Don’t blame anyone or blow hot air—we don’t need more of that. And don’t be overwhelmed, don’t panic. These are all petty indulgences. Rather, hold the image of a healthy glacier in your heart and the taste of ancient ice on your tongue. It will change you and gently lead you to make change.
Susan Carol Stein owns a fair-trade Internet business that donates its net profits to global organizations that aid women and children. She lives in Seattle, where she also volunteers to protect indigenous land in Siberia.
The author at Exit Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska. Photo by Jackie Stratton.
Through a
Sailor’s Eyes
Edward C. Brainard II
AS A SAILOR, I VIEW THE WORLD FROM THE SEA, gaining a perspective often lost on land. I feel very close to the sea, where life was created, for my blood runs deep with the balance of its salts.
I have made many Atlantic crossings in small yachts and have seen many storms. You learn to be prepared, to make sure that your yacht is well founded. At the mercy of nature, you develop a profound respect for her power. You are in her realm, and after each storm you are thankful to have survived. You have been given another chance, and deep inside yourself you promise to show her respect and a willingness to give back all she has done for you.
Many wonderful memories come to me. During a dark, foggy night I saw the phosphorescent trails of a mother dolphin and her baby flowing abeam without effort, ribbons of undulating fire. In the morning the two dolphins were still there. They seemed content to be at our side. We developed a fondness for this marvel, a feeling of closeness and respect, a bond that they would be safe in the future.
In 1986 I was planning my first double-handed transatlantic OSTAR race with the help of a meteorologist. We were deciding on a route from Plymouth, England, to Newport, Rhode Island, for the next summer. Normally we see Mercator projections as viewed from the equator, but I spotted one projection looking down from the North Pole. Like magic, I could see three very large storms equally spaced around the globe above the mid-latitudes. The system looked like the planetary gear in an automobile. That one image suddenly made me realize that a storm is not just an isolated event, it is part of a marvelous weather machine driven by the heat of the sun. Everything is interrelated.
The surface temperature of the sea is rising, and violent hurricanes are increasing. Higher ocean acidity threatens the development of shells and corals. Sea level is rising. We know we will see major shifts in weather patterns and ocean currents. Although the future is not clear, there will certainly be immense changes that will have profound effects on future generations. There will be major dislocations of human populations and of all life on our planet. There will be no safe haven.
Only the wise use of our environment and resources will ensure that we can continue. Our efforts to adjust to change will strengthen our role as stewards of our planet, helping to preserve this world so that future generations can enjoy seeing the rising sun at sea, with gales to keep us on our guard. A well-prepared yacht has a much better chance of surviving. Using our planet and its resources intelligently will similarly give us all a better chance of survival.
Edward C. Brainard II , an inventor and retired executive whose previous company makes oceanographic and environmental instruments, lives in Marion, Massachusetts. He is a Corporation Member of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and a member of
You put on another sweater and lower your thermostat. You join the Sierra Club. You pay close attention to what businesses, scientists, and politicians are doing to shift gears, lower the heat, slow down the melt, take full responsibility, and protect what is left. It’s time.
Don’t feel guilty. Don’t blame anyone or blow hot air—we don’t need more of that. And don’t be overwhelmed, don’t panic. These are all petty indulgences. Rather, hold the image of a healthy glacier in your heart and the taste of ancient ice on your tongue. It will change you and gently lead you to make change.
Susan Carol Stein owns a fair-trade Internet business that donates its net profits to global organizations that aid women and children. She lives in Seattle, where she also volunteers to protect indigenous land in Siberia.
The author at Exit Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska. Photo by Jackie Stratton.
Through a
Sailor’s Eyes
Edward C. Brainard II
AS A SAILOR, I VIEW THE WORLD FROM THE SEA, gaining a perspective often lost on land. I feel very close to the sea, where life was created, for my blood runs deep with the balance of its salts.
I have made many Atlantic crossings in small yachts and have seen many storms. You learn to be prepared, to make sure that your yacht is well founded. At the mercy of nature, you develop a profound respect for her power. You are in her realm, and after each storm you are thankful to have survived. You have been given another chance, and deep inside yourself you promise to show her respect and a willingness to give back all she has done for you.
Many wonderful memories come to me. During a dark, foggy night I saw the phosphorescent trails of a mother dolphin and her baby flowing abeam without effort, ribbons of undulating fire. In the morning the two dolphins were still there. They seemed content to be at our side. We developed a fondness for this marvel, a feeling of closeness and respect, a bond that they would be safe in the future.
In 1986 I was planning my first double-handed transatlantic OSTAR race with the help of a meteorologist. We were deciding on a route from Plymouth, England, to Newport, Rhode Island, for the next summer. Normally we see Mercator projections as viewed from the equator, but I spotted one projection looking down from the North Pole. Like magic, I could see three very large storms equally spaced around the globe above the mid-latitudes. The system looked like the planetary gear in an automobile. That one image suddenly made me realize that a storm is not just an isolated event, it is part of a marvelous weather machine driven by the heat of the sun. Everything is interrelated.
The surface temperature of the sea is rising, and violent hurricanes are increasing. Higher ocean acidity threatens the development of shells and corals. Sea level is rising. We know we will see major shifts in weather patterns and ocean currents. Although the future is not clear, there will certainly be immense changes that will have profound effects on future generations. There will be major dislocations of human populations and of all life on our planet. There will be no safe haven.
Only the wise use of our environment and resources will ensure that we can continue. Our efforts to adjust to change will strengthen our role as stewards of our planet, helping to preserve this world so that future generations can enjoy seeing the rising sun at sea, with gales to keep us on our guard. A well-prepared yacht has a much better chance of surviving. Using our planet and its resources intelligently will similarly give us all a better chance of survival.
Edward C. Brainard II , an inventor and retired executive whose previous company makes oceanographic and environmental instruments, lives in Marion, Massachusetts. He is a Corporation Member of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and a member of
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