I read a lot on issues related to the environment.  On average, I’d estimate that a good 70% of what I read either in print or on-line has to do with the environment.  Much of the current “green” hype is just that, manic greenwashing in an attempt to catch part of the wave that Al Gore unleashed with his 2006 film An Inconvenient Truth.  Sometimes though you find a real gem.  Dr. Kaza’s book is one of those gems.

The book approaches environmental activism from a Buddhist perspective of following a green path, rather than simply making small yet important changes.  The intention is to move the reader from the current vogue of green to a more holistic approach to caring for the environment.  The discussion is split into three parts:  Seeking Green Principles, Following the Green Path, and Acting on Green Values.

While I am not well schooled in Buddhist traditions, I found this book to be fascinating on a number of levels.  First it challenged some of my assumptions about life.  For example, in a discussion of systems thinking, Dr. Kaza introduced the concept that human beings are part of a larger system and also a system of systems themselves.  As such, the Western notion of free will becomes questionable.  The argument is not that individuals do not make their own decisions, but that by virtue of the fact that we are part of a larger interconnected system we are influenced by external forces that have impact on our decisions.

Secondly, the book introduced me to concepts that I had previously not been able to name.  I have spent a lot of time over the past 10 years taking notice of and thinking about the interconnections that exist in my life.  Seemingly at random I have made connections between things that I’ve been experiencing that are not necessarily obvious.  I’ve also noticed with increasing frequency that I will find myself drawn to articles and books that do not seem to be initially connected only to find that in fact they are about very similar topics.  After reading about systems thinking in this book, it has become clear to me that this interconnected web that I’ve tuned into is a system.  Further, it will be very interesting to study the theories of systems thinking in the future.  Had I not read this book, I would still be struggling to name this strange web of interconnections that I’ve been noticing over the past 10 years.

Thirdly, there is an incredible chapter devoted to the concept of desire.  I found this chapter particularly interesting because it deals with consumerism in a way that is fresh and engaging.  The opening paragraph of this chapter is simply stunning:

The desire for life is the single most hardwired drive we have been given.  Every organism thrives according to this desire, investing energy resources to find the necessary requirements for survival.  The central message of this desire is:  Look out for me!  Look out for me! Meeting our own personal needs is topmost in our evolutionary instructions;  if we fail at this, we die.  Because this desire is so core to our well-being, we will do everything we can to make sure we have what we need.  Behind this drive is a deep insecurity based on our own fragile vulnerability.  Our concern for ourselves and our fundamental insecurity play perfectly into the hands of profiteers who exploit our desire, urging us to buy our way to a better life. (Kaza, Stephanie, Mindfully Green, Boston, Shambala Publications Inc, 2008, p. 120)

Finally, I found that the principles for engaging in environmental activism can be applied to life in more general terms.  In fact, many times during the reading of this book I found myself taking note that a given principle, say seeking out wisdom from others, could easily be applied to life in more general terms.

I have only finished the read about a half hour ago.  I have not completely ruminated with this book yet.  I know I will be going back to it for another more thorough and studied read.  Probably in the very near future.

Bill McKibben is quoted on the cover, “I can’t recommend this book highly enough.”  And although I sometimes find myself disagreeing on some of McKibben’s arguments, I would have to concur completely with this statement.

Put simply, you must read this book.

I started reading the book One Square Inch of Silence, by Gordon Hempton about a month and a half ago, finishing it last night. The book tracks his travels across the United States from Washington State to Washington, DC. The book is well written in largely a conversational tone and is for the most part a pleasant read.

Hempton is obsessed with the concept of natural silence. He defines natural silence roughly as the periods between human made noise (such as leaf blowers, cars, trucks, trains, and planes). The book makes the case for the need to preserve natural silence as a national treasure. Hempton believes that there are no places left in the continental US east of the Mississippi river where natural silence exists. I tend to agree with him on this point.

There are hundreds of references to sound level measurements throughout the book. While these serve as good indications of how noisy a particular place compared to or contrasted with another place, they become irritating quickly. After the first few measurements of an airplane’s noise level the reader is sufficiently aware of how much noise pollution an airplane generates.

I live within 14 miles of BWI airport. Most days we are not in the direct approach path of the airport, but rather on the periphery of the approach. Most days there is a slight drone once in a while of an aircraft, but it does not intrude enough to affect my daily living.

On some days though (when the wind has shifted from its prevailing direction, or there are significant weather events happening) we find ourselves directly in the approach path. At times, the jets are so low that I feel I could wave to the pilots and passengers and they might see me do so. Those are some really loud days.

Hempton argues that most people feel that they find quiet easily because they are so inundated with noise in their daily routines. I’ve no doubt that he is right on this point, however, after reading the entire book, I’m left with a sense that Hempton is overly tuned in to noise. The book left me with a sense that he is hypersensitive to noise and thinks that everyone else should be too, but that we’ve all somehow lost our sense of hearing.

My sense of hearing is rather acute and I often hear things that others around me do not. With this perspective, I can understand where Hempton’s concern arises, however I’m not sure I can get behind the central treatise of the book which seems to be that we should as a society do everything in our power to minimize all noise generated by humans.

At the end of the day, I think this is a marvelous ideal, but would be completely impractical to implement.

Ok, in my case, I’m listening to The Old Man and the Sea on the iPod on the way to work.  I must admit that in my long career as a reader I’ve read very little of Hemingway’s work.  I see now that this is a problem.  A void that must be filled.  I’m resolving to fix that problem, right here and right now.

I am a perfectionist, even though I’m far from perfect.  I am constantly striving to be exact and firmly believe that luck is merely that – a chance.   So, when I heard, “It is better to be lucky, but I would rather be exact” it struck a chord with me.  I immediately started committing it to memory.  (Since I’m not reading the book I can’t bookmark it or underline it — one of the many drawbacks to listening to a book rather than reading it.)

Contextually, the sentence is interesting in its own right — the old fisherman who hasn’t caught a fish in over 80 days, is thinking about the fact that his protégé is fishing with a luckier boat.  But there’s more here.

I’ve always been fascinated by how sounds fit together to become words, and words fit together to become sentences, and sentences…well, you get the picture.  Some writers (probably myself included) simply manage to put together a good sentence.  And maybe, if we’re lucky, we put together a few good sentences and have a good paragraph.

The Old Man and the Sea is not full of good sentences — it is full of great sentences.  Every one of them seems to be perfectly timed, measured, and exact.  It’s as if Hemingway is telling the reader that he’d rather be exact in his writing that be lucky (his previous writings had not enjoyed the commercial or critical success that this story would).

For me personally, the sentence is interesting because I’d rather be exact than be lucky.

For many years I’ve held the attitude that audio books are of little value. It’s a prejudice that stems from my education, which was strongly rooted in a liberal arts background and valued reading, writing and rhetoric. The assumption was that if you listened to a book being read, you were not actively engaged in the reading of the book and for that reason, the act of listening to the book was somehow diluting the value the book itself.

I’ve got a long commute (generally over an hour). Over the years, several people have suggested to me that I try audio books to help pass the time. I have always dismissed this, preferring to listen to the radio or the ipod, including a wide variety of music and some NPR.

I have a great deal of respect for NPR, however, I have been having a really difficult time with the news over the past year and a half. I want to stay informed, but the news is really bogging me down. That being said, I get bored with music on radio and my ipod on a frequent basis. Sometimes I’ve ridden to work in silence.

Yesterday, I finally broke down and purchased an audio book for the car ride. For a variety of reasons I chose On the Road, by Jack Kerouac. First and foremost, I’ve never been able to read the book in it’s entirety. I find the style a little bit difficult to read. The sentences are short. Choppy. Or, they are long and rambling in a manner that makes it difficult to remember the subject when you finally get to the verb; let alone the all the conjunctions and interjections that appear throughout them. In short, the book is written in a manner that many find appealing, but I find hard to read.

Upon listening to the first five chapters on the way to work today, I noticed something interesting. The book is a conversation – albeit in the narrator’s head. Listening to the reader’s voice, I was finally able to identify the reasons for the strange gate of many of the sentences, and quite frankly, it was a thrilling listen.

I’m sure not all books lend themselves to nicely to the audiobook format, but for certain, there are books that are meant to be read aloud. On the Road is one of them.

We had a long weekend two weekends ago (over presidents day).  We went up to PA to visit with some friends from England.  It was a great time.  This past weekend was kind of a blur.  Where does the time go?  Mr. Grey and I spent a lot of good ole quality time together this past weekend, which was great.

We saw Frank and the fam as well as a childhood friend.

This truly is one of those books that will make you think about your life and how you are living it.  It is the story of a family of four eating locally (mostly) for a year.  They grow their own crops, raise their own poultry,  collect eggs from their chickens, and purchase the bulk of the food that they cannot produce from local farmer’s markets.  The book is really entertaining.   It is far from preachy, and it really has made me think.

Last year, I began trying to grow some of my own tomatoes in the back yard in a 2 foot by 4 foot plot.  I was relatively happy with the harvest, but I know I made some mistakes.  (Like planting 4 tomato plants within a 4 square foot plot of land.)   I also grew basil, oregano, and thyme.  I’m still using my own basil that I dried in the fall.  After reading this book, I’m excited about the idea of expanding the garden to include some larger plots of land and some other veggies that I really like.  I believe I will try my hand at the following:

• Summer Squash
• Acorn Squash
• Butternut Squash
• Green Beans
• Collards
• Chard
• Kale

Of course, I will also plant a few tomato plants but they are going to be further apart this year.

I read his book One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich when I was in high school at my debate coach’s recommendation.

It truly was a fascinating account of the horrors of the Soviet prison system under Stalin.

Today we have lost a freedom fighter as well as a very strong writer.

Unfortunately, the long day caught up with me fast and I fell asleep, book on chest around 8:30 last night. Hope to make some time to read the next chapter tonight.