Nothing is permanent (7/25/2016)

Buddhism teaches us that nothing in this world is permanent and I was so strongly reminded of that a week or so ago during our visit to Pittsburgh, PA that I have to dedicate this blog post to it.  It had been a while since I visited that city, I spent some time there in the mid and late 1990s for work, but this visit was to say hello to our daughter and to my wife's brother and family.  It was there during our visit that I was reminded of the impermanence of our existence on this planet.

Particularly on day two of our visit when we decided to stroll through the Allegheny Cemetery the final resting place of now more than 124,000 people, visited a few museums and ended it all with a visit to Randyland.

These lovely ladies were most likely models at some plush lady's fashion store; however, even their status was not permanent and they have "fallen from grace" and become a vignette at a roadside attraction called Randyland in Pittsburgh

Call us weird, but it is such a nice, quiet place to walk through a cemetery on a sunny Sunday morning.  Maybe a strange way of expressing my spirituality, but is gives you a nice combination of nature and culture.  But as I mentioned in the beginning of this post, if there is something that reminds you of your impermanence, it is a cemetery.  Naturally, death surrounds you, but even there, people erect all these monuments as "permanent (?)" memories to themselves or to their heirs and relatives.  However, even those monuments slowly erode away, and that was what struck me the most during our visit.  Those monuments were not as permanent a hoped or expected.

This must have been beautiful when first placed.
I assume this was a child's grave with a baby resting
on a pillow.

The writing on this monument is almost completely
eroded away

I wonder who was buried here

Things were often not as they seemed.  

This statue may look intact, but was in 

poor shape when examined from the front  

(below).  But she is from 1859 and had to  

withstand a lot of air pollution and inclement 

weather.

In other places nature was slowly taking over 

as we see below.

This is the front of the statue above

Subsequently, the museums we visited included the Center for PostNatural History; what could be more appropriate after looking at decaying monuments to the death.  PosNatutal History refers to the living, the Center deals with life we humans have created or at least altered using genetic engineering or selective breeding; the way "we have messed with nature." (Normal life is not permenent any longer we can mess with it).  You step into the Center and you are welcomed by a stuffed goat that was genetically engineered to produce protein that makes strands of (very strong) spider-like silk instead of milk from its utters (the Biosteel goat).  Ordinary goats are now no longer permanent, we humans will monkey around with them.

While expensive the "Mattress Factory " fits right in with the idea of impermanence.  It is an interesting place to visit, if you are ready for a different modern art experience.  I am sure that some people will call it a waste of their money, but I truly enjoyed it.  Being an old mattress factory there is an air of impermanence, but also an air of re-purposing and breathing new life into things, and the picture below says it all.  I took this in the museums restaurant.

Outside in a corner of the parking area is an area where it looks like a bunch of old stone statues have been dumped, discarded.  We just enjoyed sitting there and looking at them.  We had no idea if it was intended, but it did give me that feeling of impermanence again.

Back to Buddhism.  It appears that Buddhism recognizes five processes that we humans have no control over (although we desperately are trying to).  These are:

1. Growing old
2. Getting sick
3. Dying
4. The decay of things that are perishable, and
5. The passing away of things that are likely to pass

Don't you love number 5?  It is all encompassing isn't it?  (I borrowed them from this website).  Early Buddhist tell us that nothing in this world is fixed or permanent; "Decay is inherent to all component things" declared the Buddha.

I was so amazed when the Taliban in Afghanistan blew up the Buddhist statues at Bamiyan and how the true Buddhist reacted.  They were so matter of fact about it, like "nothing is permanent."  Nothing at all like my father who got angry when my wife accidentally broke his favorite glass just a few months into our relationship; something my wife still remembers.  Nothing is permanent, I still have to remind myself of that so now and then.

There were other signs or occurrences of (sometimes pending) impermanence on our trip, some of which had to do with human relations some of which were in art or science.  None should be mourned, all should be celebrated and revered.

Sailing meditates me (Any open water, 6/28/2016)

One of the books I am reading discusses the healing power of water; Wallace Nichols describes in his book Blue Mind: "The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected and Better at What You Do."  It is  a fun and and fascinating book in which I often see myself.  Nichols' book has a similar theme as Richard Louv's books on Nature Deficit Disorder in that Lowe talks about green nature and Nichols talks about blue nature.  But regardless, whether it is the greens or the blues: nature has it.

A picture I took earlier this year on Catalina Island in Maine.  This picture captures the blue and the green that are so important in my life.

What struck me in one of the passages in Nichols' book was his statement about how someone mentioned that once you are near water you do not need to meditate, but that "water meditates you."  I found that a profound statement and it stuck with me.  If you read my previous post <here> where I wrote about when I visit the beach, how I can just sit in the waves for hours; let the water wash over me; forget everything; live in the moment; wait for the next wave; yes, empty my mind; and let it be. It kind of sounds like the definition of meditation to me.  I don't do it consciously, the water does it for me, the water meditates me.  Truthfully, being in nature often does that for me too (I write about it <here>).  Probably less so, because I have to pay attention to what my dogs do, and keep up with my wife who walks faster than I do (we need to get the heart rate up, you know.  Honestly, there is a time for that too.).

I took this picture of a boot at a mooring buoy in the York River some time ago, and I am not sure if I shared it with you already but scenes like this, or doing this, meditates me. 

I was discussing this concept of water meditating me with a good friend at church the other day.  Doc Robin is a band leader, self proclaimed shaman and the leader of the Earth Rising Community in our Unitarian Church.  "I often think that church interferes with my spirituality ... The spirituality that I can get from nature", he quipped when we discussed the concept of nature (or water) meditating you instead of you meditating in nature (or on or near the water).  So there is something to it; being in nature or water, or being able to see it (even in pictures) is good for you, it heals the body and the mind, it lowers anxiety and lowers the blood pressure.

Last week I experienced this again when we went sailing.  You really cannot think about much else when being at the rudder and trying to maintain course and keeping the wind in the sail.  The winds were around 15 knots, which were fairly strong for our small 25 foot boat.  Nothing dangerous, but you need to keep attention to what you are doing, stay in the moment.  Yes, there were dolphins, birds and wonderful weather, but just looking backwards or not paying attention for a few seconds results in a course change, loose the wind out of your sail, or maybe get too much. Even occasionally looking on my tablet (GPS) to see where we were resulted in a course shift.  It could also cause your boat to come about or to gibe.  You had to be in the moment.  I really could not think of anything else that was going on in my life than being right in the moment and concentrating on my sailing, staying on course and reading the wind and the water.

You want to see two people experiencing flow?  Here you have it!  My wife and I look like we are truly enjoying ourselves and I am concentrating on keeping the boat on course and properly into the wind.

Granted, I do not have an autopilot as many people I know have on their boat.  I am not sure if I want one.  I know it would be nice when I solo sail or need to do something in a hurry, but in the past when I sailed on a friend's boat with autopilot it felt that I somehow lost that intimate touch with the water and the wind.  It was great to be on the water and I loved it; it was so much better than being on land, and of course you always have to pay attention, but still, I like the rudder in my hand.  Granted, I have not sailed in my own boat for longer than 4 or 5 hours at a stretch, so time will tell.  On top of that, I always have someone to take over when I have to take a pee-pee break.

After reading Nichols I realized that in reality, our sailing trip "meditated me", there was no time for distractions.  Mihály Csikszentmihálályi describes this as flow.  Flow is an interesting concept that I learned about from a book that he published in 1990 under the same title (boy that was a long time ago that I read that book).  When you are in flow, you are completely absorbed in and energized by what you are doing (no television watching does not count).  Healing at 15 degrees or more, with 15 knot winds and thoroughly enjoying yourself, not thinking about anything else (as I show you in the photograph above), now that is flow.  Kayaking through the marshes, looking at birds and snails hanging on to the marsh grasses is also flow.

I took this picture while kayaking this weekend of all the snails hanging on the the smooth cord grass (Spartina) during high tide.

Think about it folks, get out there, let nature meditate you!  Blue or green, it it good for your physical and mental health.  Go with the flow!

We went kayaking this past weekend.  Another advanture in the blue and green.  My wife took this picture of me, she really had to call be a few times to get my attention and take this picture.  I was absorbed by being out there in it.

Nature-deficit disorder II (6/14/2016)

What is the common thread in my life (other than my wife, family and friends)?  There are a few, but they all come down to the same common denominator which is nature.  Whether nature is green (the forests) or blue (the water or even the expansive sky), it does not matter to me, I like being out there.  I believe in the healing power of nature, it calms me down and heals the soul. 

As a teenager growing up in the Caribbean I could spend hours outside on our desert island imagining how to landscape the yard.  My parents had just built our home in this new subdivision and it was still a partial construction site.  But I just walked through the yard will all these designs in my head.  There was no day-time TV, no computer games or anything like that and yes we had to walk through 3 feet deep snow to school even in the Caribbean.  Just kidding of course.  I never go to landscape our yard; we moved away, back to the Netherlands.  But even in 3^rd and 4^th grade after school my best friend Michiel and I would be playing outside in the bush exploring things, finding what we thought to be hidden caves and beautiful flowering plants.

I still do it to present days, as I like to say to the dogs on Saturday mornings, “let’s walk the grounds”; our yard is slightly shy of a half-acre, so nothing to write home about, but I still imagine things.  I attempt to grow bonsais and I will go look at my trees trying to imagine what they will look like years from now.  One thing I do too little off during my rounds is, to my wife’s annoyance, pull weeds; I just enjoy a very slow walk and looking at nature, like the towhees digging through last year’s fall leaves that we left in all the perennial beds.  We tend not to use any pesticides or fertilizers in our yard and it usually teams with weeds, birds, frogs, toads, skinks, butterflies, squirrels, moles, voles, mosquitoes, and ticks in our yard.  We built a huge stick pile which is a refuge for all kinds of birds, a pair of rabbits, and the other day, our beagle flushed a fawn out of it.  We have a nature preserve behind our home and one of the things I do is to stand in our yard and look out over it in anticipation of fall weather when temperatures at night are low enough again for the chiggers and ticks to become dormant, so we can go out there again.

When not in the yard on his afternoon off from school, this teenager growing up on a Caribbean island was either sailing or swimming/snorkeling.  But he was always enjoying some other form of nature.  He was rarely ever brooding inside.  He was brooding outside. 

Regular readers know my love for the water and sailing.  Just a visit to the beach always amazes the family; I can just sit in the surf and never come out.  Sitting on the beach on the sand does not interest me one bit, I want to be in the water; that is where I am at home.  The same is the case for being on the water, in a sailboat. 

Extroverts need people around them to recharge.  I need nature around me to do that.  Being an introvert I wonder if all or many introverts recharge that way, or if they all recharge differently?  But for me it is nature, be it green or blue, it really does not matter to me. 

I know I am not alone in this.  When I began writing this post my wife ran into the following article published by the BBC.  It describes how exposure to nature is good for you.  It is based on a scientific research article published <here>.  It showed that people who where exposed to nature for 30 days or longer were significantly happier than before they were exposed to nature.  As I mentioned in my blog about Richard Lowe's book, he has seen the same in the research he has reviewed.  The book on the Blue Mind by Wallace Nichols has the same premise (see the list of books I am reading).  While it is slow reading for me, it is not a bad book (it is actually a great book); but I have so many other important things I am doing, like exploring nature and sailing.

A picture of this weekend's sail.  This was "Blue Mind" for sure, 15 knot winds, some fun intense sailing, we had no chance to think about anything else.  We were living in the moment.

On being opportunistic, or “Being against the law, except when you need it.” (6/3/2016)

A discussion on one of the LinkedIn groups I am a member of sucked me into a rabbit hole that I call today's blog post (and yes I will share it with you a little later in this post).  It stirred something in me that I also about about in the classes that I teach. 

So often you hear people complain about (environmental) laws and regulations: that they are too restrictive; that these prevent the growth of businesses that they are regulating; that some laws tell people what they can or cannot do on their own land; and even make private property undevelopable.  Then there are times people hide behind the laws and regulations and don’t want to do anything extra or different or don't want to do more than the law requires them to do.  Doing more costs money; even when doing more makes more sense, or when it is better for the environment, or when it is more sustainable (read profitable) in the long run.  This is not only true in my job right now; I even see this is the current political environment.

Let me explain.  One of the classes I teach is a class on the use of plants in erosion and sediment control and in stormwater management.  I spoke about it in previous blog posts <here> and just a small mention <here>.  In this course I talk about non-native plants and the care we need to take that they do not become invasive.  In fact, as I also mention in class, Virginia’s Natural Heritage Group currently identifies 90 invasive plant species that threaten the natural areas in Virginia.  You can find the list by clicking <here>.

Galax, (Galax rodundifolia) a native species, all in bloom in the mountains right now

Now here comes the rub: we work from guidebooks that were written in 1992 and 1999.  They are somewhat out-of-date, in particular when it come to the understanding of what foreign plants eventually become invasive; it takes time to find that out.

Take the plant in the picture below, sericea lespedeza is a legume introduced from the far east.  It grows fast and forms these dense mats.  It was thought to be great in stabilizing construction sites and controlling erosion and sediments.  It was used in revegetation throughout the U.S. However, we found out that this plant is too aggressive and competitive; and does not allow other plants to become established.  Moreover, it is allelopathic, meaning that it gives of a chemical that prevents the germination and growth of other plant species.  I describe it as chemical warfare between plants (something I studied for my PhD).  This is why some states have wanted posters for this plant.  It is still listed in our handbook that was published in 1992 and since it is there, some builders are still insisting that they can use it on their property, even though they harm themselves and everybody around them in the short and long run.

Sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cunuata) a noxious weed that is still being recommended by the handbooks.

A Kansas State poster.

All the time I get people complaining either that the laws and regulations that these guidebooks are based on are too restrictive.  People are always trying to circumvent the law and the regulations; who are we, telling them what they can and cannot do on their property!  In other cases, people who design plans will copy whole pages out of our out-dated books and slap them on plans.  It is the easy way out, it does not require any thinking time and if it is in the book it must be OK, or so they think.  It is a great thing to hide behind even if it calls for the planting of invasive plant species like sericea lespedeza.  However, the minute we ask them to update their plant species list, they refuse, because that is going above and beyond what the guide books requires them to do, and they hide behind the law they so revile in almost all other cases.  Trying to get away with it and if you can't getting away with the minimum, opportunistic, but using the law in their advantage when they need it.  Not everybody does it of course but even one is too many.

This all came up in me during a discussion on LinkedIn on the potential environmental consequences of the great American wall that Donald Trump wants to build.  It is amazing to think about what would happen to things such as water flow, airflow to the migration of insects and animals or even seeds; maybe even people, just to name a few.  The discussion centered about all the permitting that would be required.  All federal projects need to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA and the question was if a President Trump would abide by this law.

This brought me back to just after 9/11.  I was working on Andrews Air Force Base as an environmental consultant.  Andrews AFB did not have a perimeter road at that time.  A perimeter road is a road at the inside of the entire fence that could be patrolled by the military police to keep intruders of the base.  This is very important, especially for a place like Andrews AFB, since it is the home of Air Force 1, the President’s plane.  So there I was, doing my job just after 9/11, when I noticed that they were frantically building a perimeter fence around Andrews AFB.  I was told that there was no permit for any of the work and they were tearing through wetlands and forests, which all needed a permit, and yes, go through the NEPA process (write an Environmental Assessment or an Environmental Impact Statement).  Being the (somewhat) naïve, but hungry consultant, I spoke with my contacts in the environmental office and offered my assistance and told them I could help them and get them an after the fact permit, probably very quickly.  He told me he would take it under advisement, and within an hour military police escorted my off Andrews AFB and I was told never to set foot on base again.  I eventually lost my job for the company that I was working for at the time, because of this incident.

Air Force 1.  (I stole this picture from the White House website)

 I guess this being above the law, whoever it is, bothers me.  Yes, Andrews AFB needed that perimeter road, and it was foolish that they never had one in the first place!  But more than that, I am so tired of people (companies) trying to break the law, doing the bare minimum required by regulations, and trying whatever they can to get away with, just for short-term profit, or gain for themselves or their stockholders, while not considering the environment, sustainability or society as a whole.  No, profit was not a motive at Andrew's AFB, safety was; but me pointing out that laws were being ignored and that the military was not above the law did not go over well, and made me loose my job.

This discussion on the great American wall brought it all back to the surface.  Again, think about it, what would president Trump do?  From an environmental standpoint and the way he takes things out on everybody that opposes or just questions him?  A scary thought.

Virginia State Parks (5/27/2016)

I have been really impressed by the Virginia State Park System.  Naturally I am biased; I am a Virginian since 2000 and worked for the Department of Conservation and Recreation (or DCR) for 4 years before my program was transferred to another agency.  As part of DCR I had some special privileges, including a discount on the wonderful cabins that they maintain in many of the parks.

This past week we camped one night at Fairy Stone State Park.  Regretfully it was only one night, because we had an absolutely wonderful time there.  The camping spots are ok, they were a little packed together, but thank goodness there were only a few campers there.  Naturally there is always this one very inconsiderate camper who invites his or her buddies over at night for a party and then despite the 10 pm curfew keeps on partying until midnight (which we did not here) but then the rowdy friends left the camping site honking the horn of their car all the way out waking us up.  People like that should be zapped straight into hell for being so inconsiderate.  But then their car/truck would go out of control (without a driver) and it would careen right into our tent and wake us up anyway.

Galax was flowering everywhere

The next day we did one long hike to the little waterfall and then it was time for a four and a half hour drive back home.  This visit was way too short, but it was part of my teaching gig in Rocky Mount the day before which was only a forty-five drive to the north of the park.  My family was waiting there for me and we had a good time.

The little waterfall in Fairy Stone State Park

I have been to a fair number of State Parks in Virginia.  Here is my review of some of the ones I visited:

1. Hungry Mother – Far out one of my favorite parks, it has great cabins and great hiking.  We stayed there once.
2. Grayson Highlands – We camped there probably 10 years ago.  It takes some driving to get there; it is remote.  It felt Alpine and yes if you like to hike it is great.  It is a day hike from Mount Rogers the highest peak in Virginia.  It is also on the Appalachian Trail.
3. New River Trail – A great (mountain) bike and walking trail that I visit a lot.  Just look in my label list for Draper and you will find lots of entries form the descriptive to the philosophical.
4. Shot Tower – On the New River Trail, just interesting to visit.
5. Claytor Lake – I visited this one for one or two hours for a hike and to look around.  If you have a bass boat and like fishing, this one is for you.  They have nice looking modern cabins.  This one is not for me I like hiking and biking.
6. Douthat – Another very favorite state park.  Here you can stay in a log cabin that was built in the 1930s, or camp.  Great trails for hiking.  We absolutely love the place.  I have three short entries and photos in my blog on this park; just look at the labels.
7. Shenandoah – Another great park.  Stayed here two times, both times in spring and enjoyed it tremendously.  We combined nature hiking with visiting some of the wonderful wineries in this area.
8. Sky Meadows – When we visited, this was only a hiking park with access to the Appalachian Trail and I am not sure if this has changed.  We had a great afternoon hike on the trail.
9. Westmoreland – Nice park, along the Potomac River, near some nice wineries, Washington’s birthplace, and general Lee’s home.  In other words there is a lot to do and a lot of history and culture to be had.  On the beach you can even find geologic shark teeth.  We stayed in a cabin and had a lot of fun.
10. Belle Isle – A very new park; it is very flat and good for walking.  There is room for camping and a few cabins for rent (I think).
11. York River – This is my home state park.  It has great hiking, kayaking, canoeing, mountain biking, and riding trails.  Not camping or cabins.  We enjoy going there and walking through the marshes.
12. Kiptopeke – Looks great.  We just drove through it to the shore to look at the concrete ships that were sunk as breakwaters just off the shore.
13. First Landing – A great park with great hiking trails
14. False Cape – We spent a day in March walking from Virginia Beach to North Carolina and back.  It was all along the beach, looking at wild horses and shore birds.
15. Chippokes Plantation – Another “home state park”, although I’ve only been their once for the annual peanut festival.  It looks nice for the rest and we really need to rent one of the cabins one of these days.
16. Pocahontas – We go there for retreats of our church, and DCR had their annual personnel award ceremony there.  It has great hiking, biking and kayaking/canoeing. 
17. Holiday Lake – I was there once for a conference.  It was nice.  Not much else to say about it.  It was far removed from everywhere.
18. High Bridge – This is another bike trail.  I did this a number of times and started in Farmville.  I have a number of blog entries on this park as well.
19. Twin Lakes – Interesting, this is an historic black park.  The cabin we stayed at was right at the lake and was really nice.  It is more a recreational park.  Hiking was fair and not well developed.
20. Occoneechee – This is a park on a lake near North Carolina (Kerr Lake).  You can guess, this is a park for people who have a bass boat and fish.  It is a new park with great cabins but not many trails.  We enjoyed our stay, but should have brought the kayaks instead of the mountain bikes.  I actually wrote about it <here> in my blog.

So, counting the I have visited 21 of the 36 state parks and I have not been disappointed in any of them.  In fact, I/we loved our stay and will continue visiting them and after this week's short camping trip we will even go camping again.  It is a great way to go back to nature and alleviate your nature deficit disorder. 

Along the trail in Fairy Stone State Park