A tree with a story to tell

I've walked past this tree dozens of times during visits to Boise, Idaho, during which came visits to Mom and Sister. And I think about the tree when completing a fitness walk route through the village of Essex Junction just to my north. Look carefully at the trunk of this tree, especially where it meets the ground. Yes, that's asphalt surrounding the trunk's base. Citizens had to yell loudly and wage a campaign to save this tree. Too bad for us all - and the trees, too - that those which were felled to make way for more sprawl housing in EJ. Trees filter the air and soften the racket (noise pollution) from nearby streets and lawn-mowing neighbors. Too often, though, trees (which can take many decades to reacyh the size of this one) are cleared in minutes with chain saws. Think about it.

Crude oil and New York State's capital city

The neanderthal U.S. petroleum biz keeps on trucking, even if it is by rail more than tractor-trailer and tanker. And most folks forget this little fact: It takes burning the fossil fuel to get the tanker full of fossil fueld to the marketplace where other people then burn fossil fuel in order to buy more fossil fuel. Fossil fuel = greenhouse gas. Duh. Read about the ongoing debacle of America's new energy transportation network.

Why promoting walking conserves human habitat and makes ecological sense

I'm a dedicated fitness walker; have been for four-plus decades. I was attracted to this article by the headline above (which I have repeated above). It's not just human habitat that's conserved, though. It's the habitat that's critical to the lives of our fellow brethren of Earth (the only planet we have). Sure, it's easier to get inside a car and isolate one's self from the world at large, but that's not what life is about. Walking burns calories, not a fossil fuel. Walking does not pollute the air; motoring about in an automobile does.

Nature coming back at ex-parking lot

I found this relic from the happy motoring age just off Cornelia Street in Plattsburgh, N.Y., yesterday. It'll take another decade, at least, but nature is slowly pushing the asphalt off the land at this spot. Best wishes on fighting sprawl