Andrea McDowell

bird-brained

Tomorrow, early enough to drag me out of bed at an ungodly hour for a weekend, I will be standing quietly in temperatures well below zero, in a large urban park, counting birds for a couple of hours. Don’t ask me for details. I haven’t a clue what it entails, other than–presumably–silence and watchfulness. AndContinue reading “bird-brained”

Wind Turbine Noise and Human Health

I have been over-researching an article on wind energy that will supposedly be published soon, though I have yet to hear back on the edits. It’s a problem of mine, this need to make every argument impervious to nuclear attack, as if it is possible to construct an argument that will convince everyone–especially in 1,200Continue reading “Wind Turbine Noise and Human Health”

Happy New Year

I’m in the middle of Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken, and I thought the following passage was appropriate for the first day of 2009: A familiar biological tease argues that a hen is an egg’s way of making a new egg. Likewise, have we evolved plants to create agriculture, or have plants used agriculturalists toContinue reading “Happy New Year”

Where the "wild" things are

photo credit: Ontario Parks website According to a story in today’s Globe and Mail, residents near Algonquin Park are fighting the Ontario government’s decision to try to site a wind farm nearby. Why? Because wild areas should be preserved in all their unspoiled glory. Brent Peterson, a cottager who speaks for 45 families with propertyContinue reading “Where the "wild" things are”

It's cold, not dead

I should preface the photo posts by emphasizing that I’m putting up what I find interesting, not what necessarily would win any photography contests. This creek runs through a small ravine behind several detached homes, and is part of the Don River watershed. The greenspace it runs through isn’t part of the park or trailContinue reading “It's cold, not dead”

Who

(The first couple of posts will constitute the inevitable throat-clearing while I get a few things out of the way, such as: who am I, what am I talking about, and why should you read me?) When I was a child, I spent weeks at my grandparents’ cottage, near Apsley, Ontario. It was a shack.Continue reading “Who”

First Snowfall

I snapped this about a week ago, in a mini-greenspace during our first substantial snowfall. After the snowstorms this week, no ground is visible anymore. <a href=”http://technorati.com/claim/h6k6nqjvpj” rel=”me”>Technorati Profile</a>

Why

I’m not worried about Nature. Nature is tough. Give her the slimmest of cracks in the concrete and something will come through. Many people see this as carte blanche to treat Nature any way they like. But just because she can recover from a massive assault is no reason to massively assault her, any moreContinue reading “Why”