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Category Archives: The West
The End of Growth, Or to Quote Bette Davis, "Fasten Your Seatbelts, It's Going to Be a Rocky Ride."
So there’s a fascinating, if decidedly gloomy, piece in the NY Times today, about one economist’s challenging paper that argues the U.S. (and other industrialized nations) are in store for a dramatic decline in growth, here. The most interesting part … Continue reading
Unicorn Sighting in Southern Colorado!
So on my drive back from Santa Fe this weekend, while passing through the rugged (and remote) Huerfano County, Colorado, I snapped this photo of that rarest of rare (horses? ponies?) one-horned wonders, a unicorn. And I swear this photo … Continue reading
Posted in Cryptozoology, The West, Unicorns, Weird Science
Tagged Cryptozoology, Santa Fe, The West, Unicorns, Wildlife photos
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At the Collected Works Bookstore in Santa Fe, in Cormac McCarthy Country
So last weekend I was in Santa Fe, one of the coolest cities in the U.S., and did a reading at the Collected Works Bookstore, which is a beautiful, old-fashioned, high-quality, brick-and-mortar bookstore right off the plaza, on Galisteo Street. … Continue reading
Posted in books, Cormac McCarthy, The West
Tagged Cormac McCarthy, Good Fiction, Santa Fe, The Bird Saviors, The West
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On Jessica Karbowiak's "These Things I Know" & Simon Winchester in the NY Times
So one of my former students, Jessica Karbowiak, has a knockout book out right now, titled These Things I Know. And though I know much about the book I don’t want to be a Spoiler and give it all away, … Continue reading
Posted in Birding, books, The West, writing
Tagged Birding, Book Reviewing, Good Fiction, Simon Winchester, Wildlife photos
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Reading from "The Bird Saviors" in Santa Fe, at Collected Works Bookstore, Oct 4th, 6-7 pm, & 4,000 miles of the Wild West
So for the month of September I’ve driven over 4,000 miles, traveling to Montana and Wyoming for the first three weeks, then finishing off the month with readings from The Bird Saviors in Durango & Boulder, Colorado. I have to … Continue reading
Posted in Birding, books, Climate Change, Owls, The West, Weird Weather
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Lewis & Clark's Lolo Pass Campsite, 207 years later
So I’m traveling in Montana just now, and visited Lolo Pass and the Glade Creek campsite of the Lewis & Clark “Corps of Discovery” almost exactly 207 years after they were there (they passed through on September 13th, 1805, and … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, The West, Weird Weather
Tagged Climate Change, The West, Wildfires
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On Bogus Book Reviews, Facebook Hoopla, & Why Book Reviews Even Matter
So I read with some amusement and (tempered, jaded) dismay a good piece in the NY Times about bogus, “bought” online book reviews, here. I didn’t know about any of this, exactly, but I’m not too surprised. The ‘net is … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West, Uncategorized
Tagged Book Reviewing, Cormac McCarthy, The West
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Review of David McGlynn's "A Door in the Ocean"
So my review of David McGlynn’s just-published memoir, A Door in the Ocean, appears today in the Dallas Morning News, here. It’s a good book, and gives an interesting insider’s viewpoint of competitive swimming, how grueling and isolating it can … Continue reading
Posted in Birding, books, Photography, The West, writing
Tagged Birding, Good Fiction, The West, Wildlife photos
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Teenage Mutant Cannibal ATV Riders & The Coming Megadrought in the West
So last weekend I was camping in the Medicine Bow Wilderness Area of southern Wyoming, loving it, my family all alone in a beautiful campground, when the sound of loud motors, screams, dogs barking, and shouting wafted through the forest … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change, The West, Uncategorized
Tagged Climate Change, Drought
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On Frozen Penises and Rivers Coated With Pelican Feathers: Reading Stephen Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage," About the Lewis & Clark trip of 1804-6
So I’m heading up to Montana/Wyoming in a month, to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, and to get warmed up for it, I’m reading Stephen Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage (1996), which is in some ways a retelling of the Lewis & … Continue reading
Posted in Birding, books, Climate Change, Photography, The West, Water Crisis
Tagged Birding, Climate Change, The West
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