Author Archives: Roger Gosden
A Tree for Hugging
If the Ancient Greeks ever had a deity for protecting the environment it was Artemis. She was a goddess of the forests and wilderness, a defender of the vulnerable who once hid in a chestnut tree from Zeus when he … Continue reading
Posted in Other
Tagged American chestnut tree, chestnut tree, conkers, horse chestnut, John Muir, naturalist, Robert Morris
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A Hunter’s Heart
Of all the things I remember about being in Boy Scouts, the stories told by Akela, our scout leader, about how to survive in the wilderness have stayed with me over the years. Suburban London children didn’t need to know … Continue reading
Posted in Animalia
Tagged Boy Scouts, childhood, London, naturalist, nature, outdoors
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Nose to Proboscis
Dogs get really close when they want to check something out. Noses twitch and nares gape when air is being drawn from an object of curiosity across their olfactory epithelium, which can sense far more odors than we can ever … Continue reading
Star-struck
Few people are star-struck these days—unless you mean a movie- or rock-star. How could they be when the nightly spectacle is veiled by light pollution? That expression might strike you as perverse, even as a non sequitur, for isn’t “light” … Continue reading
Posted in Other
Tagged astronomy, blackout, light pollution, science, stars, West Virginia
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A Scythe for all Seasons
Old Cyrus thought he had killed off the scythe for good when he invented the mechanical reaper. The scythe has mowed hay for fodder and harvested grain for bread since the Roman Empire, and its diminutive cousin, the sickle, was … Continue reading
Roger musing about Peace with Nature 