Reggie Lutz is an old friend of mine. We ran in overlapping circles when we were in college, being weirdos in our own rights. Back then, I was writing music, immersing myself in Mahler and Penderecki and writing fiction. She was a DJ on the Revolution and was writing plays and fiction I thought were … More The subconscious is sometimes smarter than the conscious mind: An exchange with author Reggie Lutz

My son is a lot of fun. He’s eight. He loves being outside, loves bugs, wants adventures, lives in wonder and marvel, draws pictures of invented creatures, plays baseball and…I’ll stop. I love him. And yesterday we went mountain biking in the Scotia gamelands. He’d not gone on this kind of terrain yet and it … More Mountain biking with my son

I pay enough attention to solar power to understand its potential, its (current and near-term) limitations and how much better it is than every fossil fuel when assessed by the triple bottom line (see here too). I’m not a solar guru, but I know it’s much cleaner, its carbon impact is very low over its … More Solar power’s land & justice challenges

The following is an excerpt from some fiction I’ve been writing. It’s part of a project I’m calling In the Heart of the Heart of the Valley. Who knows how it’ll go? Not me. I’m just writing some of it 4-5 mornings a week. I’ll post other excerpts from time to time. I hope you … More Writing fiction again. In the Heart of the Heart of the Valley

Today is the fifth anniversary of my father, John Buck. My sister and I delivered speeches at his memorial. Here they are. As I said in the memorial speech, my father was a teacher, an English professor who taught poetry, literature and the Bible as literature. He was absolutely committed to it and his students. … More Remembering my father on the fifth anniversary of his death

This is part V, the final installment, in a series of posts that come from thinking on how we often use the word “we.” In particular, it came from many readings of Derrick Jensen’s essay “Beyond Hope” in Orion Magazine and wondering, “Who are we? How do we find meaning?” Read Part I, Part II, … More V. Toward Meaning: Living into meaning (Part V)

This is part IV in a series of posts that come from thinking on how we often use the word “we.” In particular, it came from many readings of Derrick Jensen’s essay “Beyond Hope” in Orion Magazine and wondering, “Who are we? How do we find meaning?” Read Part I, Part II and Part III. … More Toward Meaning: Who are “we” anyway? (Part IV)

This is part III in a series of posts that come from thinking on how we often use the word “we.” In particular, it came from many readings of Derrick Jensen’s essay “Beyond Hope” in Orion Magazine and wondering, “Who are we? How do we find meaning?” Read Part I and Part II. III. The … More Toward Meaning: The Shadow of Ignorance in Middle World (Part III)

This is part II in a series of posts that come from thinking on how we often use the word “we.” In particular, it came from many readings of Derrick Jensen’s essay “Beyond Hope” in Orion Magazine and wondering, “Who are we? How do we find meaning?” You can read Part I here. II. We. … More Toward Meaning: We. Us. (Part II)

This is part I in a series of posts that come from thinking on how we often use the word “we.” In particular, it came from many readings of Derrick Jensen’s essay “Beyond Hope” in Orion Magazine and wondering, “Who are we? How do we find meaning?” I. Hope and Despair In early 2014 climate … More Toward Meaning: Hope and Despair (Part I)