Showing posts with label nature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nature. Show all posts

May 25 - Happy Birthday, Ralph Waldo Emerson

 Posted on May 25, 2021

This is an update of my post published on May 25, 2010:




Born on this day in 1803, in Boston, Massachusetts, Emerson grew up to be one of America's most important writers and philosophers. His friends included writer / philosopher Henry David Thoreau, Bronson Alcott (father of Little Women author Louisa May Alcott), and Nathaniel Hawthorne (author of The Scarlet Letter).

Emerson is associated with the Transcendentalist movement within philosophy, and he promoted the idea of individualism—that is, the importance of independence and self-reliance rather than group-think.



Here are some quotes from Emerson:

      “Children are all foreigners.”
“A friend is one before whom I may think aloud.”

“A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.”

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”






Dive into Philosophy

I found an interesting website about teaching kids philosophy: A philosophy professor of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, Thomas Wartenberg, created the website with discussion questions on philosophical topics raised by children's books, including short picture books. Called “book modules,” these could be a great resource for talking about important ideas.


Another website devoted to kids and philosophy is Red T Media. There are books and discussions about wondering, and Big Ideas, and wondering about Big Ideas.


Appreciate Nature

Emerson seemed to think that there was a lot of wisdom to be found in nature. Here are some quotes:

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”

“The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.”

“Earth laughs in flowers....”
Go outside today and soak up a little bit of wisdom, laughter, and nature.



Emerson: Master of the Chiasmus

I'm sure you're asking, what in the world is chiasmus?

It's a figure of speech in which there are two phrases, and the words in the first phrase are just turned the other way around in the second phrase. Here are some examples that were NOT written by Emerson:
Eat to live, don't live to eat. (Ben Franklin)

Why do we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway? (from George Carlin)
You don t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. (Zig Ziglar)

Here are some examples of chiasmus written by Emerson:

"The true philosopher and the true poet are one,
and a beauty, which is truth,
and a truth, which is beauty,
is the aim of both."

"If a man owns land,
the land owns him."

"Words are also actions,
and actions are a kind of words."

Can you write or find some other examples of chiasmus?














(Varying dates)





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June 15 – Nature Photography Day

Posted on June 15, 2014


Olivetti
Grab your camera or phone, and get out in nature. Take photos of plants and animals and natural scenery anywhere in walking or biking or paddling distance from where you are and upload your favorite one onto the North American Nature Photography Associations Facebook page for Nature Photography Day. 



Remember, you can only submit one photo. 

And it has to be taken today. 

Of nature. 

Close to wherever you happen to be.

Craig Wolf
NANPA makes the point that nature photography can promote, not just enjoyment of nature, but also passion for nature and for the protection of other species and of habitats. Photography can help to intrigue and inform people. It can help to make them care!

By the way, today's photography-uploaded-to Facebook event is not a contest.

For more information on NANPA and today's event, see this official page.
Here are two of my favorite nature photography FB groups:




Also on this date:




































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May 8 – Happy Birthday, Sir David Attenborough!

Posted on May 8, 2014

Today, say happy birthday to a man who is almost synonymous with natural history TV shows.

A man whose list of books in Wikipedia covers half my screen, and whose TV credits require an entirely different Wikipedia article—and lots of scrolling.

A man whose career as the writer, presenter, narrator, and/or producer of programs about plants and animals has filled our screens in the 1950s and 1960s, the 1970s and 1980s and 1990s, the 2000s and now the 2010s – a career that has lasted more than 60 years now! And it's still going!

A man whose career has been so illustrious and so long that he received BAFTAs (the British equivalent of an Oscar or Emmy Award) for programs in black-and-white, color, HD, and 3D. He is the only person to have done so.

Sir David Attenborough is sometimes called a “National Treasure” in his own country – the United Kingdom – but I think he could be called a “World Treasure,” too. Check out some of his works today!

Here is a bit about carnivorous (meat-eating) plants. 

Here Attenborough reads the lyrics of “Wonderful World” - and it's quite simply wonderful!

Here Attenborough says “boo” to a sloth and lets us in on the mystery scientists have never solved about a sloth's pooping habits!

Here is a long video on climate change. 

You can also watch many of Attenborough's documentaries on Netflix and Netflix streaming. Check out Planet Earth, Blue Planet, The Life of Mammals, and The Life of Birds. And more!

Also on this date:

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April 3, 2011


Happy Birthday, John Burroughs

He wrote 23 books, was very popular and well-connected during his own time, and was important in the American conservation movement—and I don't remember ever hearing about him!

Born on this day in 1837, in New York, Burroughs grew up to become the Grand Old Man of Nature. He wrote about the Catskill Mountains, fly fishing, birds and bees, flowers and trees, and all things natural. He hung out with Teddy Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford (who gave him a car, as a gift!), John Muir, Walt Whitman, and Harvey Firestone. He traveled to Alaska with scientists, artists and photographers, and he wrote about the expedition and his other travels. He wrote about science, including controversial topics: he disagreed with the (relatively) new-fangled idea of evolution through natural selection (but now that truck-loads and mountains of evidence have accumulated, we know he was wrong). He lived to be 84 years old.

Burroughs wrote in 1912:

"We can use our scientific knowledge to improve and beautify the earth, or we can use it to...poison the air, corrupt the waters, blacken the face of the country, and harass our souls with loud and discordant noises, [or]...we can use it to mitigate or abolish all these things."

He called his cabin Slabsides.
Links I Like

Here is a short story written by Burroughs. It's really interesting!

A natural history society is named after him and runs field trips, lectures, and a newsletter. If you live in New York, check it out! 

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May 25, 2010

Towel Day
Towel Day is a celebration of the life and work of the late Douglas Adams, hysterically funny author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and many other books. Fans carry a towel, or sometimes signs that say "Don't Panic," to show their love of his work and their commitment to keeping his memory alive.

(Both the towel and the saying are references to The Hitchhiker's Guide. By the way, the books are MUCH better than the movie!)

also on this date:

Happy Birthday, Ralph Waldo Emerson


Born on this day in 1803, in Boston, Massachusetts, Emerson grew up to be one of America's most important writers and philosophers. His friends included writer/philosopher Henry David Thoreau, Bronson Alcott (father of Little Women author Louisa May Alcott), and Nathaniel Hawthorne (author of The Scarlet Letter).

Emerson is associated with the Transcendentalist movement, and he promoted the idea of individualism—that is, the importance of independence and self-reliance rather than group-think.

Here are some quotes from Emerson:

           “Children are all foreigners.”
“A friend is one before whom I may think aloud.”

“A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.”

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

Dive into Philosophy

I found an interesting Philosophy-for-Kids website: A philosophy professor of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, Thomas Wartenberg, created the website with discussion questions on philosophical topics raised by children's books, including short picture books. Called “book modules,” these could be a great resource for talking about important ideas.

This very short video of a classroom discussion inspires us to deal with deep ideas like beauty and value.

Another website devoted to kids and philosophy is Kids Think About It. There are lots of resources here, and some interesting mini-bios (“Famous Brains”) and questions about Big Ideas (“Try This at Home”).


Appreciate Nature

Emerson seemed to think that there was a lot of wisdom to be found in nature. Here are some quotes:

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”

“The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.”

“Earth laughs in flowers....”
Go outside today and soak up a little bit of wisdom, laughter, and nature.

Emerson: Master of the Chiasmus

I'm sure you're asking, what in the world is chiasmus?

It's a figure of speech in which there are two phrases, and the words in the first phrase are just turned the other way around in the second phrase. Here are some examples:


We should eat to live, not live to eat.

Why do we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?


Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” (John F. Kennedy)


Here are some examples of chiasmus written by Emerson:


"The true philosopher and the true poet are one,
and a beauty, which is truth,
and a truth, which is beauty,
is the aim of both."

"If a man owns land,
the land owns him."

"Words are also actions,
and actions are a kind of words."

Can you write or find some examples of chiasmus?
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