Watching old movies is an interesting way to take note of just how mad the world used to be. How could people swear in movies from the 1980’s the way they did? So out of context! Or, more importantly, how could writers and producers script women like the heroic tramp Jamie Lee Curtis played in Trading Places? If we watch any film produced more than 10-20 years ago, we could easily find it dreadfully boring by today’s standards. What’s that called? Oh yeah, quaint. Appreciated only by old people. Teenage boys don’t like quaint. Teenage boys get bored easily. They gravitate toward mad video games to keep themselves entertained. Parents of teenage boys, like myself, try things like canceling cable to minimize exposure to programming that we deem blatantly mad and predatorially subtle to a child. We did this years ago instead of getting rid of the television altogether because we like movies, but Netflix and Red Box market their most violent, morality numbing offerings front and center. And once a teenage boy has a job, there is little stopping him from buying a Netflix subscription. Parents try to shield their children from aspects of the world gone mad. On the one extreme we get accused

Disclaimer: this post is metaphorical. The universal relationship challenges in a committed relationship are being compared to the challenge of gaining natural intelligence — the ebb and flow of desire to become aware of, and committed to serving, Truth. The investigation of climate science and developing a sense of awe for the mystery of ecosystems is kin to self-reflection through our intimate relationships. Humans are being called to “listen” to and partner with such ecosystems in a more mature, respectful manner. Who, other than children with hormones that have yet to kick in, doesn’t enjoy great sex (even if it has been a while)? Can we agree that we all would enjoy healthy, mutually responsive, adoring, hot and steamy sex? If so, this is a good start to a decent climate change conversation. Why? Because we all have to find a place of open and honest mutuality, or common ground, so that the important work at hand can get underway. Yesterday. 1. Sex Is Amazing So let’s get specific. Great sex is a win-win. Let’s first assume, for this scenario, two people have been having great sex for many years – like “forever” – but recently it has become painfully evident that one partner is not feeling

Trailing Off… The weather this past weekend was as good as it gets; not humid, slight breeze, sunny. And it was a very rare Saturday where I had nothing scheduled! I decided to take my dog Shaggy for a walk at Wentworth Farm, the idyllic dog walking spot in Amherst, but he didn’t want to go. So instead I figured I’d try to find an entrance to the Robert Frost Trail in that same vicinity. It wasn’t working out. I accosted a stranger walking in the area who also didn’t know a trail entrance but knew it was nearby… The parking lot behind the Amherst Chinese Christian Church proved a great spot. I found a sweet path and laid down a tiny blanket in a sandy clearing. While eating my sandwich and asking the ants to kindly not crawl up my shorts I read the GAIA student magazine I’d picked up the previous night at the Amherst College planetarium (an amazing presentation by Kevin Collins about the New Horizons 9-year voyage to Pluto about to culminate in unprecedented images on July 15th). In this magazine was an article about H.D. Thoreau’s daily walking adventures on which he’d converse with his intimates — trees, ants, and of