Hi Christopher, I really appreciate the work you put into this - a real mosaic of emotions. The Green Life of the filtered wastewater wetland is the thing that has stayed in my heart. After the dry sand and shimmering haze distractions of industry, I guess it's the actual oasis in the desert reaction, our bodies, minds (well, our everything) falling toward our survival and nourishment. I explored a similar place near me in Byron Bay, going to check out how the filtration worked with gravel and reeds, but it was the birds! And fish, and dragonflies, and a general soft feral buzz.
Thanks, too, for the whisltling duck. As part of a call to artists and writers to defend a place called Bimblebox, in Queensland, from a truly gigantic coal mine. I took on the role of representing the whistling duck, so now I feel a family like connection to this hopeful green sliver of Texas.
It was stopped, adani wasn't, I'll carry your images with me.
Thank you so much, Peter. I just looked up Bimblebox and the whistling ducks of Australia and the kinship is evident. We find nature, and hope for the future, where we can. And I just subscribed to The Nest, and loved your riff on Pierson v. Post, which I have written about a few times, including in the forthcoming book that draws from the same material as this newsletter. I look forward to reading more from you.
Beautiful, as usual! Your Kansas novel reminds me of William Least Heat-Moon's PrairyErth, his deep historical and ecological writerly excavation of Chase County. Also, it rained overnight here in Dallas. Not our typical July by any stretch.
Thank you for reminding me of Wm. L.H-M! I read “Blue Highways” when it came out, back in the last days of the previous geological age, but, stressed by work, missed PrairyErth, which is now added to the reading list, next to “River Horse,” a copy of which is already on the shelf, here.
At sunset & sunrise for these pandemic years (prior to that I was on my way to work by sunrise every day), I would hear the strangest bird calls and never be able to identify them. When I finally got the Merlin app, it told me I was hearing black-bellied whistling ducks - which I didn't believe for months, until I actually saw one near Cypress Creek in Houston. Turns out large numbers of them live around my suburban neighborhood & the many manmade lakes, along with Egyptian geese, among all the herons & heron-adjacent water birds.
Some of the best days are when those sunrise & sunset calls are the only things that mark time for me.
Beautiful piece. I admire the devotion to detail - both the natural wonders and the human interventions. Your restraint in (mostly) withholding judgment helps me feel it all. The good and the ominous, all part of one messy, ever changing whole. Thank you.
Thank you so much! I appreciate you reading, and sharing. And indeed—imagine what those kinds of resources could accomplish in service of restoring this planet’s ecology instead of trying to turn Mars or the Moon into some sad simulation of the beautiful life we can have here 🌒
Hi Christopher, I really appreciate the work you put into this - a real mosaic of emotions. The Green Life of the filtered wastewater wetland is the thing that has stayed in my heart. After the dry sand and shimmering haze distractions of industry, I guess it's the actual oasis in the desert reaction, our bodies, minds (well, our everything) falling toward our survival and nourishment. I explored a similar place near me in Byron Bay, going to check out how the filtration worked with gravel and reeds, but it was the birds! And fish, and dragonflies, and a general soft feral buzz.
Thanks, too, for the whisltling duck. As part of a call to artists and writers to defend a place called Bimblebox, in Queensland, from a truly gigantic coal mine. I took on the role of representing the whistling duck, so now I feel a family like connection to this hopeful green sliver of Texas.
It was stopped, adani wasn't, I'll carry your images with me.
Thank you so much, Peter. I just looked up Bimblebox and the whistling ducks of Australia and the kinship is evident. We find nature, and hope for the future, where we can. And I just subscribed to The Nest, and loved your riff on Pierson v. Post, which I have written about a few times, including in the forthcoming book that draws from the same material as this newsletter. I look forward to reading more from you.
Beautiful, as usual! Your Kansas novel reminds me of William Least Heat-Moon's PrairyErth, his deep historical and ecological writerly excavation of Chase County. Also, it rained overnight here in Dallas. Not our typical July by any stretch.
Thank you! William Least Heat-Moon is amazing.
Thank you for reminding me of Wm. L.H-M! I read “Blue Highways” when it came out, back in the last days of the previous geological age, but, stressed by work, missed PrairyErth, which is now added to the reading list, next to “River Horse,” a copy of which is already on the shelf, here.
ooo. I didn't know about River Horse! And only stumbled upon PrairyErth at an estate sale a few years back. He is a true gem.
At sunset & sunrise for these pandemic years (prior to that I was on my way to work by sunrise every day), I would hear the strangest bird calls and never be able to identify them. When I finally got the Merlin app, it told me I was hearing black-bellied whistling ducks - which I didn't believe for months, until I actually saw one near Cypress Creek in Houston. Turns out large numbers of them live around my suburban neighborhood & the many manmade lakes, along with Egyptian geese, among all the herons & heron-adjacent water birds.
Some of the best days are when those sunrise & sunset calls are the only things that mark time for me.
What a beautiful vignette—thank you for sharing it, and for reading.
Beautiful piece. I admire the devotion to detail - both the natural wonders and the human interventions. Your restraint in (mostly) withholding judgment helps me feel it all. The good and the ominous, all part of one messy, ever changing whole. Thank you.
Thank you so much 🙏
Silent Running is a favorite. I wish the undertaxed aristocrats would focus on saving this planet instead of leaving it...
Thank you so much! I appreciate you reading, and sharing. And indeed—imagine what those kinds of resources could accomplish in service of restoring this planet’s ecology instead of trying to turn Mars or the Moon into some sad simulation of the beautiful life we can have here 🌒
Excellent, and thank you too for the nudge towards Williams's novel.
Thank you!
Your encounter on the beach reminded me of The World in a Grain. Have you read this excellent book? https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/537681/the-world-in-a-grain-by-vince-beiser/
Thanks, Derryl—I have read about that book but haven't checked out a copy yet. I will do so—it looks amazing.