Babble...

    Writing today not with anything particular to say, rather because I feel like I've neglected to blog about the Colorado vacation Beth and I took a month ago and a wonderful visit with an old friend a few weeks later and some of the other thoughts that have passed by. Maybe I'm thinking that words seem shallow and pointless compared to the emotions that really motivate us, or that it has all been said one way or another by me and others, or that none of it matters and people are going to think and do as they feel regardless of what anyone says. 

                                                         My recent journal entries have been somewhat pessimistic, or realistic,

or perhaps fatalistic in regards to the future of humanity... With  people dying of covid while at the same time denying they have the disease-as happened to the 40 something year old brother of a friend-what possible hope is there that humanity will ever believe in the less tangible threats of climate change and other slow emerging problems? Men a block away from here have new signs in their yard claiming that Mr. Trump won the election, while Q'Anon followers assembled in Dallas to await the coming of... John F Kennedy, Jr who died in 1999....?  A sane person cannot make this stuff up, but it sure is disturbing that human beings can be so gullible and uncritical in their thought processes....particularly as I witness the depths to which they sink to defend them. They do not comprehend the horrors that a breakdown in civil society would unleash. 

     Being of an independent nature, perhaps I am pessimistic regarding humanity because I understand the deep inner origins of personal growth, and I witness people neglecting the difficult effort needed to embrace empathy and compassion and the interconnection of all things. I see their unwillingness to examine their own prejudices and find a more holistic view of the world, so Tribalism, or family, or culture, or religion, or political party becomes all that is valuable to them. Humanity becomes dragged into that narrow place despite the efforts of the open-minded. At the same time I understand that each of us grows at our own pace and I have no right to judge humankind from my own small experience; sometimes I forget how little I truly know of the Universe and our place in it.

               My faith remains in Nature and the knowledge that humanity does not and will not affect the Cosmos. We are of no consequence to the stars, so the sun will burn on until its own eventual death-whether or not we kill ourselves. 

                                       

As for Colorado... our visits to Mesa Verde, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and the Rocky Mountains were stunning. There simply is nothing to compare east of the Mississippi River...As for why the cliff dwellers built where they did, the intuitive answer Beth and I concluded was that they retreated there for self protection; such isolated difficult terrain immediately suggested that they were escaping violence. 

(...as always, click on the photos to enlarge them...)

    

    Here is another book exposing the recurring incompetence and corruption of the last 20 years in Afghanistan, which at least helps explain why Biden was so adamant about getting out. That said, I believe that the method of the withdrawal was atrocious. Even a layperson like me could see that the Taliban were motivated and capable of overrunning the entire country as soon as the northern cities started to fall. I thought that that the departure should have begun months before and included Bagram Air Force base.. Move the people there and fly them out before closing the base. But reality is what it is and America will repeat the same mistakes in the future because that is what we do....I was alive and watched as the helicopters evacuated people from the embassy in Saigon in 1975, so it seems as though 25 years was long enough for politicians to forget and lead the nation eyes wide open into another unwinnable war that more knowledgeable people pleaded them not to. Books like this reveal the absurdity of people who believe in conspiracy theories-as though politicians or the military or anyone else could possibly agree on anything and commit to one, unified front for more than a short period of time; that simply is not in human nature, especially in short sighted, arrogant Americans-mostly middle aged white men- who believe in their own superiority. It was as early as December, 2001 when the mission in Afghanistan became murky and plans were being discussed to invade Iraq, so like the Vietcong before them, the Taliban and Pakistanis wisely said, ' We will wait you out'.

Egypt Hollows Latest Gig

     Kenny and Addison played a restored Bed and Breakfast in Kane, PA on the 17th, a beautiful old manor building from the 1800's that new owners are in the process of renovating. This likely will be their last outdoor show this year, and because of covid the future remains  a challenge for performers. They just released a new album 'Cut and Run' -available on digital format-which they have been recording over the past year and which has kept them sane and busy. In personal terms it has been a very difficult year for Kenny, and it is an unfortunate truism that you 'have to pay the dues if you want to sing the blues'.  Fortunately, that has translated into a mature sincerity and power in his music which is reflected in the new songs he has written. Bassist Addison and he have been playing together since high school and together possess the familiar osmosis/telepathy that only time and practice can develop between musicians. The small crowd responded well because it is music that must be listened to to be appreciated-which is not necessarily the attention span of crowds these days.

 

Insects, the Environment and the Future

  ...click on pics to enlarge

    I used to have an insect collection as a child and spent many hours running through the fields chasing butterflies and grasshoppers and other insects. In retrospect I was sometimes cruel to them- not maliciously but definitely ignorantly-shooting grasshoppers with a BB gun among other practices. I considered them playthings rather than living things, so it was not until I became an adult that I woke up to having empathy towards all lifeforms.
   The first picture is of crane flies mating, and although people often mistake crane flies for mosquitoes, the former are usually bigger and are in fact totally harmless to people. The second picture is of an assassin bug, which are mostly predators of other insects but which can bite people-something I learned by painful experience as a kid. The last picture is of of a red legged grasshopper, a short horned grasshopper and a member of of the sub family 'Spur-throat'. The latter are the common clear winged grasshopper which are abundant in roadside fields.

I have noticed that some species of insects are much less common than they were 50 years ago, which can be attributed to loss of habitat and over spraying of pesticides. The fields where I grew up near Allentown, PA are now housing developments, so thousands of grasshoppers are gone, along with less common butterflies like the painted lady that I used to see regularly.The white 'cabbage' and yellow 'sulfur' and 'alfalfa' butterflies are still numerous, but those few adaptable species cannot sustain an ecosystem. As the insects die off, so do the birds, because moth and butterfly caterpillars are a primary food source of nestlings in the spring. Oak trees can sustain over 500 different species of caterpillar, so cutting them down trickles all along the food chain. As I mentioned in my previous post, this century seems to be a critical one for the planet for many reasons, and as the codependency of so many different lifeforms begins to break down because of human activity, I worry that a tipping point may be reached. Many species and individuals-human beings among them-may die and it won't be the meek that inherit the earth- unless you count bacteria among the meek; they ruled the earth for billions of years and may once again. 

    I wish I could offer a positive outlook, but the behavior of people over the past year has solidified my awareness that they simply do not care about the social good-never mind less obvious problems such as the slow destruction of the oceans and other planetary issues. Out of sight, out of mind, so long as their preferred little tribe is doing well.  I know of a man-the healthy, fit, unvaccinated brother of a friend, in his 40's- who is recovering from a serious co-vid infection yet still refuses to accept the wisdom of vaccines and the ongoing threat of the disease to others. How is the future of the planet to be trusted to such people?  This mans freedom of choice includes the choice to ignore the consequences of his actions to both his neighbors and his grandchildren, and that lack of perspective infects millions of  educated people around the world. Contrary to their beliefs, the planet is warming and habitat and species are being destroyed and over population is contributing to the exploitation of the Earth...a fragile island spinning within the desolate, cold void of space.

Misc.

  I followed this old unused road ( old Route 6, now called Township Line Rd) about a mile to see how much nature has reclaimed it in the 60? years since it has been closed to traffic. It is located in the Allegheny forest near Kane, PA where one end is maintained with gravel to accommodate traffic to a natural gas compressor station.The other end passes an old camp trailer before becoming a maintained asphalt road again. In between the two points the asphalt has degraded to dirt path in some places, now used by four wheeler s and other off road vehicles that ignore the signs. It is always interesting to me to observe how quickly nature can recover from human encroachment-

at least of the macro intrusive kind; I am less optimistic about the chemicals and other less visible pollutants we have dumped into the environment. 

  The Rad Rover electric bike is something I purchased about a year ago, which after 700 miles of riding has proven itself to be a reliable and thoroughly enjoyable way to extend my rides. The battery lasts at least 30 miles in the hills around here, and allows me to do rides I would not otherwise attempt both on and off the road. One can still get a good workout yet have some help on the really steep stuff. (...as always, click on pics to enlarge)

 

More Buzzard

   Fished at this isolated pond in Buzzard Swamp yesterday, located 2 miles from the parking lot along the gated gravel access road. The road passes through woods and fields and near swampy ground with small vernal pools, and likely that is where this large crayfish came from... Why it was walking along the middle of one tire track was less obvious, but it seemed to be unconcerned until I approached, when it turned and assumed this defensive posture. I picked it up and dropped it into a small stream then continued on my way.
   

      After catching and releasing one large mouth bass I started back along the road and heard an ominous hiss from abut two feet into the grass-not a rattle, but a low hiss-and that was all the warning I had from this four foot Timber rattlesnake lounging near the road. I never felt threatened because it seemed a little lethargic, so I suspect it had recently eaten and was simply resting while digesting. The day was mid 80's F so no doubt it was a bit overheated in the sun. I took some pics as we watched one another for a few minutes, until finally it slowly crawled off into nearby bushes. This was only the second rattlesnake I have seen in my life, and I would have expected a  Timber rattlesnake to be in the woods or near rocks, not in the middle of a field-seemingly as out of place as the crayfish walking along the road. (as always, click on pics to enlarge them)

 

17 year Cicada

    I visited the east briefly to witness the cicada emergence there, and found these at the home of my kids near Reading, PA. There have been other broods-most notably to me a 13 year generation that I have witnessed since the 1970's- but it was still a wonder to hold an insect in my hands and think that this individual was born in 2004. My life has changed tremendously since that year in many ways, yet for all that time this fragile insect was underground sucking root juices, only to emerge for a few weeks on cue to mate and start the cycle over again. 

 Science is not sure what mechanism synchronizes their inner clock                                                           but to see them flying clumsily around the woods and

hear their mating calls is a rare experience. I anticipate being able to experience one more emergence in 2038 if I survive to my mid 80's, and will see other broods in between, but it is still a remarkable sight.

    The hiker is a man and his dog whom I met while at the Appalachian trail near New Tripoli.  If you Google 'Cloud Culpepper' or his dog 'Raindrop Hound Dog' you'll find their websites with lots of nice pics and info about their travels. He told me he has been

walking around the country for 3 years, thoroughly embraced in the freedom of the lifestyle, with a home base in North Carolina. I could relate to the minimalist in him, and gave him a couple power bars and some information about the trail ahead. As he remarked, he found most people in this nation to be kind and helpful and lamented the negative image so prevalent in the news. If we stop talking about politics and religion ( easier said than done), suddenly we are much more agreeable to one another!   (..click on the pics to enlarge)
 

Kayaking

  Beth and I tried out our new kayaks with friends at Chapman State Park yesterday, a small reservoir type park a few miles from the house. 

    They are 8 foot 'Old Townes' which replaced larger kayaks after we decided we were tired of lifting heavier boats onto the car roof. These only weigh 35 pounds each so are more manageable and tracked well and felt stable. Larger kayaks, such as our friends 10 foot sit-on Perceptions, generally move through the water a little easier, so you sacrifice some things with smaller crafts, but because we often travel downstream on the Allegheny or Conewango rivers that is not much of an issue. The maneuverability and ease of transport are preferable to us right now.  This particular section of the park is the feeder stream that fills the lake and passes a massive beaver hut and through slow water that reminds me of the Okefenokee swamp in Georgia-minus the alligators and moccasins of course. 

     While on the lake an osprey was circling overhead and Beth watched a bald eagle dive for a fish, although she did not think that it had been successful. Some people fish from their kayaks, something I have never tried, although they seem to enjoy it and it would definitively allow me to cover a lot more water than wading as I usually do. I am a casual catch and release fisherman so enjoy being outside either way-but I still feel a bit guilty for the 'trauma' of hooking and throwing back fish, so I really only fish occasionally.  (as always... click on pic to enlarge...)

Ohiopyle Sate Park

    Beth and I camped at Ohiopyle State Park over the weekend, a popular whitewater destination on the Youghiogheny river in southwest PA.  The park is beautiful but very crowded on weekends, so we did most of our exploration on Monday. A bike trail from Pittsburgh to Washington DC passes through the park, and in between showers we pedaled that for a few miles then explored the small town of Ohiopyle. I happened to see a foot long trout jump up and out of that churning water behind us towards the falls, like a salmon, something I never would have expected had I not witnessed it. ( Beth took the pics with her new Motorola phone, and as usual click on them to enlarge! )

 

Pooh Sticks

    Spent some time playing 'Pooh Sticks' with the granddaughter a couple weeks ago as she visited for a week while mom recovered from back surgery. I used to play this game with my son -now her uncle- when he was small, dropping sticks into a creek and watching them pass under the bridge before disappearing downstream. The name was derived from a Winnie the Pooh video my son loved, and naturally this is something kids have been doing for ages. At one point Renley walked over to a huge log with the expectation that we could somehow lift it into the water, but eventually she settled on this large stick. I guess she became bored with the small stuff and wanted

a bigger thrill, but in the end it got stuck in shallow water near the shore. She also passed a half hour climbing onto boulders to see which was the best in her 4 year old mind. 

       The energy of kids always reminds me of how far we all come in learning about life, and how sluggish we become...There would be no need for diets if adults moved so much...(and as always, click on pics to enlarge )

Texas

 We returned from two weeks in Texas two days ago, visiting the grandson and family in Dallas/Fort Worth area, and took a day trip to this state park an hour southwest of the city. The Tyrannosaurus model is not accurate in that that species never lived in the area nor at the same time as the species that did live there, but it was obtained after the 1964 NY State fair from an exhibit that the Sinclair Oil Company had produced. Despite its inaccuracy it's still a hit with ‘kids’ of all ages. The Paluxy River runs through the park in which the old rock that contains the footprints has been exposed by erosion. The Acrocanthosaurus that made the tracks in the picture was a resident carnivore that weighed about 13,000 to 14,000 pounds and lived 123 to 113 million years ago. When the water level is very low one can literally walk the same path, although the local people also use deep pools in the river for swimming and there are picnic tables and playgrounds for family use.  About ½ mile from the park entrance, religionists have erected what they call a ‘creation museum’, apparently to offer a counter message to the scientific reality of the geological history of the area.  According to Wikipedia, certain people mistook some tracks to be human, and so:

 “ young-Earth creationists continue to believe that humans and non-avian dinosaurs lived at the same time, a notion that is contrary to the standard view of the geological time scale. Biologist Massimo Pigliucci has noted that geologists in the 1980s "clearly demonstrated that no human being left those prints," but rather "they were in fact metatarsal dinosaur tracks, together with a few pure and simple fakes."^[6]

^{AS always...click on pictures to enlarge them...}

  

 

Beaver Meadows

Took a walk at Beaver Meadows yesterday, another small  CCC area in the forest with some trails that circle a beautiful reservoir. I had to walk from the macadam road along the access road which was a sheet of ice in some places and had snow that was too deep for the car in others.  A few people had managed to drive in with four wheel drive and I found their footprints in elevated impressions where the deep snow they had walked through had been compressed and then the softer snow around the prints had melted. Because sunshine has been rare this winter a blue sky day such as this was a blessing, with warmth to the sun that hinted of spring.

Postscript: 3/3/21- Despite the snow at the CCC site, most of it has melted in town and I saw the first Grackle in a tree today. The return of the migrators is always a welcome sign of spring!

 

Anecdotal Evidence

 

 There are common phrases we banter about such as Murphy’s Law –‘if something can go wrong it will’- which of course is no more valid than ‘if something can go right it will’- although sometimes it seems as though one or the other is true because it feels that way at that moment. Years ago my mother and I used to joke that ‘every time you approach an intersection the light is always red’, regardless of the direction. When I tested the truth by counting how many times it really was red or green, it turned out that the light was green 52 times and red 48 after 100 intersections- exactly as statistical evidence would predict. Sometimes red was ahead and sometimes green.     

   When walking along a deserted road where it can be miles before seeing another vehicle, if a vehicle does eventually come along, it seems as though there is always one coming from the other direction so that all three people converge at the same place at the same time. Beth and I call this the vortex effect-as though the energy is somehow being drawn together to that one point.

    Lately I have been noticing how slowly people seem to move, so that at age 65 I walk across a parking lot or through a store faster than the average person, not because I am rushing, rather because I naturally walk and move more efficiently.  At the register in a store some people seem to place their items on the counter slowly and let the cashier check them out before reaching for their money or a credit card-rather than being prepared to pay ahead of time. When at an ATM, some people seem to be incapable of pushing the buttons efficiently. They buckle up and adjust the mirror and do all the other things they could do after leaving the bay. When driving, Beth and I sometimes judge how long it takes people to turn after they have put on their signals. A 10 is fast, safe and efficient, and a 1 is turtle slow, and 3’s and 4’s seem to be the average; Very few people seem to be able to slow down and turn as smoothly as their vehicle would allow.

    These are all anecdotal observations which I have not put to an empirical test like I did with the red lights, and the truth probably is that I become impatient with peoples slowness or lack of consideration and thus I  remember those instances more often. Science would be my clearest measure of  whether   people actually are slower or if I am being influenced by my own bullshit-as is so prevalent in the world these days.

 

Rachel Marie Powell

 

  Powell was one of the rioters at the White house, the so-called bullhorn lady, and is a divorced 40 year old mother of eight living about 1 ½  hours southwest of here in Sandy Lake, PA. She had her first child at age 16 and their present ages range from four to the mid twenties. Besides an apparent disregard for birth control and overpopulation, a search of her car turned up a "go bag" that contained a tarp, zip ties and two loaded magazines for an AK-47. During an earlier search of Ms. Powell's house, FBI agents found two other "go bags," one containing ammunition, rope and duct tape and a second one with Ninja throwing stars, knives and lighters. The FBI also found paper shooting targets with written slogans on them, including "Guns don't kill people, I do," and "Prayer is a good way to meet the lord, but trespassing is faster."

       On February 2^nd she gave a New Yorker interview in which she said that “I garden” and “raise chickens” and that she had been working part time jobs and sold cheese and yogurt at a farmers market. In short, she is an adamant ‘anti-mask’ protester who over the last year has been sucked down the rabbit hole of lies and conspiracy theories by people like Rudy Giuliani and Alex Jones and Donald Trump.

     Anyone unfamiliar with western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio should know that this is a darkly conservative area with an enduring provincial attitude. When Trump made his campaign sign “GOD, GUNS and COUNTRY”, this is the people to whom he was trying to appeal. It the only area that I passed through during my cross country walk in 2006 where I encountered negative comments from people and where a driver deliberately swerved to harass me. 40 years ago when a friend and I rode bicycles across PA, we were resting in a town park in Sandy Lake when people noticed us and harshly yelled for us to leave. 

     In January, when I drove to southern Georgia through West Virginia, Virginia, North and South Carolina,  I noticed that western PA was the only location where people still had dozens of Trump signs in their yards. Most of them will remain there for the next four years as people refuse to believe he lost in a fair election. Some of his supporters in Warren County live in dilapidated houses, but Mr. Trump remains their hero as he flies in a private jet to his Florida mansion. Some claim they fear socialism and the welfare state while cashing their stimulus checks; yet despite the hypocrisy  they prefer the greed in the abuses of capitalism over a more equitable, humanitarian distribution of wealth. Some defend their right to own AK 47s because the men who wrote the 2^nd amendment said so, forgetting that in 1776 muskets required 20 seconds to reload. Some believe they must ‘make America great again’ while changing the oil on their boats and trucks and ATV’s and drinking beer and eating pizza and not quite noticing that they have it pretty damn good. Others condemn the rioters but not Trump, and never acknowledge his role in encouraging the behavior. Trump once claimed  “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.” That is True for some of his supporters. The gulf between opinion, fact and reality, between moral conscience and political expediency has become so skewed that I do not know if some people will ever crawl out of the rabbit hole. Postscript: Trumps attorney general Bill Barr said to Trump during Trumps final weeks: "..your people keep shoveling this shit out" ..."my suspicion all the way along was that there was nothing there. It was all bullshit." "...part of Trumps "..clown show." ...and yet there are millions who still believe it.

       As Neil DeGrasse Tyson wrote:

        “One objective reality is that our government doesn’t work, not because we have dysfunctional politicians, but because we have dysfunctional voters. As a scientist and educator, my goal, then, is not to become President and lead a dysfunctional electorate, but to enlighten the electorate so they might choose the right leaders in the first place.”

CoVid

 

 Had my first of two Moderna covid vaccine shots yesterday, and after twenty four hours the only side effect is mild soreness at the injection side-similar to any other shot. The second shot is scheduled for March 10th, after which additional side effects are more common although mostly mild and short lived. The Moderna vaccine is an mRNA type which stimulates cells to produce a 'spike' protein similar to the spike on the virus. The cell displays that protein on its surface which stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies against it; those antibodies later are used against a genuine covid infection should a person be infected. 

    I am disheartened but not surprised by the anti vaccine people and the general wariness against vaccines. Approximately 25-30% have a hesitancy about the vaccine. I attribute that to their historical suspicion caused by past abuses by researchers, and to the anti science stance of some politicians and the scientific ignorance of Americans in general. There are still many unknowns regarding how this virus will mutate and the effectiveness of the current vaccines over time, but so far they dampen the seriousness of the disease. As the virus mutates, new booster vaccines may need to be developed, but there is also a possibility that this coronavirus will eventually mutate into something no more serious than the common cold. We shall see. Meantime vaccines are the best defense against the rampant spread which will slow the mutation rate.  POSTSCRIPT: May 19, 2022- An NPR study of 3,000 counties nationwide found a direct correlation between those people who voted for Mr. Trump and death from co-vid. Those who voted for him are 2.26 times more likely to die from the virus than those who did not. That is because they neglected to get the vaccine. Reasons to not get the vaccine range from suspicion of government microchips being implanted in the vaccine, to fear that it was developed 'too fast' to be safe, to a faith in 'Gods will'. Much of that 'reasoning' is associated to misinformation they are consuming on the internet or television or in their local church. But there are annual awards called Darwin Awards given out each year to people who "eliminate themselves in an extraordinarily idiotic manner, thereby improving our species' chances of long-term survival."                The mostly Republican members of this group should all receive the award posthumously.                                                                                                                             

Another Walk

 This is another favorite trail a few miles from the house and the main reason for the refuge to be here are large hemlock trees, some that I estimate to be 200-300 years old. It is not a long trail-maybe 2 1/2 miles-but crosses the stream a couple of times (often called a "run" around here) and switchbacks up and down a steep slope on top of which live the oldest trees....I followed  these coyote tracks for 1/2 mile of the trail before the animal bushwacked off into the woods. It obviously had discovered that a human trail made for easier walking and incorporated it into its boundary by pausing to mark its territory at several stumps. As anyone who walks in snow can attest to, unseen ice or roots or branches can be treacherous, but the path was surprisingly firm despite the steep slopes.... Cornplanter is the common English name giver to a Dutch-Seneca Indian chief born near here. His history is too long to repeat now but when the Kinzua Dam was built in 1965 the government seized and flooded most of the 1,500 acres that had been given to him and his heirs "forever".  As always, click on the pics to enlarge them if you are so inclined.

 

Oil and Gas Revisited

     There are thousands of conventional oil and gas wells in Warren County, many of them in the Allegheny National Forest, and even in winter they are checked weekly. The access roads must be plowed to allow a pickup truck or, more commonly, an ATV to reach the pump jacks. Many of the pumps are on timers powered by electric lines that have been run through the forest-sometimes well buried and sometimes simply hanging from tree branches. The pumps push the oil into large holding tanks scattered throughout the area, and the gas is piped to large transfer stations and then further on to consumers. As I have said in previous posts, I use the access roads to hike and bike into what otherwise would be inaccessible parts of the forest. In all my travels I have never witnessed a major leak of either oil or gas on the surface, although sometimes a passerby can smell the gas leaking near a well.

      The main problem exists with the thousands of old wells that companies classify as “active”, despite them not having produced for years. With that classification there are no laws dictating how much methane can be legally released, and the companies that simply abandon the wells have no incentive to maintain any pipes and seals that may be leaking. Lack of enforcement means that some 11% of gas wells are leaking methane at various rates, and many of these leaks are miles from civilization-so it is out of sight out of mind to the general public. The DEP has asked for the private sector to help in plugging old wells leaking oil or gas, although regulations to address the abandoned wells have been opposed by the oil and gas industry.

       This issue cannot be solely blamed on the Republicans catering to big business, at least in the sense that most of us still burn oil or gas in our homes and automobiles. Big houses and big SUVs and trucks are as popular as ever in America.  Until, if, and when, the United States transitions to renewable energy sources… gas and oil and coal will remain the primary sources of our power. The Biden administration will attempt to move us into the future, but this is how we stand worldwide as of 2020 :

 

Published on 23/01/2020

Research carried out by scientists at Stanford University has predicted that the world could be run by renewable energy alone in 20-40 years.

There are a number of countries leading the way with this, by generating a significant proportion of the energy they use from renewable sources.

Iceland

Iceland is the world's leader in renewable energy generation and produces more electricity per person than any other country on earth. Nearly 100% of their energy comes from renewable sources because of their unique landscape. Iceland generates hydropower and geothermal energy, which produces around 95% of the country's heating.

Iceland’s current power generation totals approximately 19 TWh annually, which makes Iceland the world’s largest electricity generator per capita with 55,000 kWh per person; in comparison, the EU average is 6,000 kWh.

Norway

Norway produces 98% of its energy from renewable sources. Hydropower has been the primary source of the production for some time, but both wind and thermal energy contribute to Norwegian electricity production.

Kenya

Kenya currently produces 70% of energy from renewable sources and aiming to be 100% powered by green energy by 2020.

Uruguay

In the last ten years, Uruguay managed to significantly reduce its carbon footprint without government subsidies and without an increase in consumer costs. This has been achieved through a positive governmental regulatory environment which encourages the public and private sectors to work together. Power cuts, which were a significant issue in the country, were also reduced as a result.

The growth of renewables also attracted energy investment and now accounts for 15% of the country's annual GDP.

Sweden

In 2015 Sweden decided to challenge the world with the ambitious goal to eliminate its use of fossil fuel by 2050. Sweden has increased its investment in solar power, wind power, energy storage, smart grids and clean transport.

Germany

You might not think Germany has the weather to be a solar energy hotspot, however, they are one of the world's leaders in the sector. Currently, renewable energy in Germany provides more electricity than its coal and nuclear output combined.

China

China is among the most prominent investors in renewable energy. They produce around 25% of their total energy from renewable sources, however, they still use huge volumes of energy from non-renewable sources. This has meant that although China is one of the most prominent investors in renewables an increase in the growth of the country resulted in a surge of CO2 emissions in 2018.

UK

In the UK, wind power is the main contributor to renewable energy production. Currently, Scotland able to produce enough renewable energy to power all its homes and businesses without the need for any fossil fuels. The UK now produces more energy from wind farms than it does from coal.

USA

Just 18% of energy comes from renewable sources, and this could fall further. In the country’s 2020 budget, renewable energy budget fell to $700 million, a significant drop from figures as high as $2.3 billion in previous years.

                  So Beth and I are conscious of our energy use but still leave the lights on too long sometimes. While the debate over climate change is over, what to do about it is as contentious as ever. Seeing how poorly Americans have cooperated over co-vid- a disease killing us right in front of our eyes and a disease that a man living right down the road from us still claims is a “hoax” –even 441,000 deaths later- makes me think that Americans will be some of the last people at the table. The corporations are taking the lead with electric vehicles and other innovations, but that same man and millions more like him have no interest in facts and insist that electric motors can never replace internal combustion engines. They either ignore or deny the specifications that are rapidly changing in favor of the former. So the potential  is there for solar or wind or some other renewable source to power a non polluting future, but the technology and infrastructure is not fully here yet and the resistance among the fossil fuel adherents is deeply ingrained.

                    Meanwhile I walk and bike the oil and gas and logging roads because they make woods travel much easier. I know the politics and the science and the hypocrisies in all of us and live my life the best I can, however flawed. 

 

Winter Walk

       This is the Tionesta River, a popular fishing and float stream near Warren, although it becomes too shallow and rocky in summer to be much good for either except in some deeper pools. I walked the old railroad grade alongside it yesterday, and passed these icicles formed from water flowing off the steep hillside to the left. It had been about four years since I'd been at this specific spot, and that time lapse made me think of the last time Chelsea and I had been here-which is often the case when returning to old walks; they rekindle fond memories of  how she would rush ahead and sniff for chipmunks and, if it was summer, take a quick swim to cool off. Dogs are remarkable animals who become part of the family and whose short lifespans remind us to cherish each moment for the blessing it is.

 

More Southern Travel Observations

  I had never seen a cotton field before my first journey south a couple years ago, and was surprised to see the hay like bales scattered over the landscape. Cotton is still big business, as is lumber, and pine trees are clear cut by the millions, then replanted like corn. The south has thousands of abandoned, rotting buildings, including old gas stations, houses, stores, motels and other structures. In one town I counted six  abandoned motels in various stages of decay, and can only speculate that whatever economic boom had led to their construction no longer existed. I do not know why so many buildings are left to rot, but possibly the relative poverty of the south means that people simply abandon them when life gets tough and either lack of insurance or lack of new buyers means they sit empty for decades. Another very common feature in the south is churches; there are thousands of them, from small school house type buildings to million dollar mega churches. Regardless of the economy, religion is important in the south so the churches always seem to have priority; the photo illustrates a typical middle of the road congregation. Finally, a peculiar driving habit of southerners- four out of ten of them anyway-is a hesitancy to pass slower vehicles. As I drove the van along two lane roads, which are often straight and flat for miles, sometimes I would either be at the posted speed limit or as much as 10mph below it, and a car would approach rapidly from behind-obviously traveling ten to twenty mph faster than me. That car would pull in and tailgate one or two lengths behind, then stay there for miles-despite many opportunities of  open road to pass. There seems to be a hesitancy-an intimidation maybe-for some drivers to pass, and they would rather drive much slower than make the effort.