R = Rachel Carson

Marine biologist, conservationist, writer and editor, Rachel Carson pioneered in government service during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Her service to science and the environment has lasting impact into the 21^st century.

Rachel Carson was the daughter of a successful insurance salesman. Her childhood was spent exploring the 65 acre family farm and reading Herman Melville and Robert Louis Stevenson. She attended college in the 1920s changing her major from English to Biology.

Her pioneering scientific work focused attention on pesticides and the negative and cumulative impact on the environment. Her work directly brought about the ban on DDT.

She served as the editor of the Fish and Wildlife Service publications and supervised the writing staff by 1945. She wrote articles for Reader’s digest and the New York Times as well as penning  the bestseller ‘Under the Sea Wind’ and ‘Silent Spring’.

Her work inspired others to found the Environmental Protection Agency. Her research and writing has continued to find its way into current publications including the Scientist of the Food and Drug Administration, and giving the base information for the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.

More about Rachel Carson: http://www.rachelcarson.org/

Book Review: PersonaliTrees

PersonaliTrees is an inspirational book that lifts one’s spirit. Timeless photographs show the winter trees in most expressive ways. Accompanying the photographs are wise sayings from some of the most memorable philosophers through history.

Author Joan Klostermann-Ketels is dedicated to helping others with health and well-being through her writing and training company. Her book PersonaliTrees blends the sights of Nature & human wisdom or thought.

Trees (and all Nature) speak to us, if we are open to hear what they have to say. Walking through the woods during different seasons offers different experiences. Walking through the woods during winter gives us the opportunity to look at the barren branches to see the PersonaliTrees beneath the leaves.

Silly, Fun, Serious, Scary, Thoughtful, Balanced, Joyous, name it… there is a photograph of a Tree representing that feeling, action, or emotion within this book.

Wise sayings from our cultural behemoths: Charles Dickens, Emily Dickinson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain, Plato, Thomas Moore, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Victor Hugo, And Edgar Allan Poe among them give each reader inspiration for inner spiritual growth.

PersonaliTrees is an exceptional gift book, a coffee table book, an inspirational book, written for thoughtful people to pick up, read and rejuvenate the spirit anytime.

Title: PersonaliTrees: Let the Human Spirit Awaken in the Presence of the Trees
Author: Joan Klostermann-Ketels
Genre: Spirituality/New Age
ISBN: 978-1-84409-191-1
Publication Date: April 2010
Pages: 112
Price: $14.95
Publisher: Findhorn Press
Free Review Copy

Natural Consequence Versus Punishment

As human beings, we are a part of the natural world even though some egos would like to say that we’re better than or apart from Nature. Human beings are subject to all the same laws as all other creatures, natural consequences included.

Natural consequences are those things that can’t be helped. They are scientific and subject to the same results if Jack does the experiment or if Jill does the experiment.

An experiment with gravity:
Jack and Jill went up the hill, to fetch a pail of water,
Jack fell down, broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after.

Fall at the top of a hill + gravity = Find yourself at the bottom of the hill.
Natural consequence.

Punishment is entirely a different situation. Punishment is not the natural consequence of actions. Punishment does not come from any natural law.

We can see the difference between Natural Consequence versus Punishment in this example:

If a dog failed to finish all the food, the natural consequences might be:
a) another animal might finish the food
b) carrion birds or flies would finish the food
c) the food would rot

If a child failed to clean their plate of all food provided, the natural consequence might be:
a) another person might finish the food
b) the food might go bad
c) an animal might finish the food
d) the food might be thrown away

Not a natural consequence might be one or more of the following:
e) forced to finish the food anyway
f) denied food at another time
g) spanked
h) grounded

Parental authority allows for punishment of children, but don’t let that be misconstrued with anything like the natural consequences of actions.

Threaten a dog, beat a dog, or tease a dog, and the dog will bite.
Natural consequence.

Punishment is simply the choice of the authority/punisher to inflict their will on someone under their authority. When they say to the punished, ‘it’s a natural consequence of your behavior'; the authority seeks to avoid the responsibility for their actions. Avoiding responsibility may go unpunished, but there are always natural consequences.

Calm Creek

The Calm Creek moves quietly through the land, carving out its place in the world.

The water quenches the thurst of plants and animals, as it moves some things to other locations. Calm, yet persistent, the water wears away rock to sand. Large things become small with time. But the Calm Creek grows to join a river, and the river flows to join the sea.

So too I strive to become like the water.