In the Pines

A surreal night, watching the devastation in Japan while the blare of tsunami sirens bounced about the walls of Honolulu's myriad concrete buildings. Waves penetrated my sleep. Best wishes to all in Japan who are feeling as uncertain as the ocean. May calmer waters come your way.

Reading David Abrams The spell of the sensuous: Perception and language in a more-than-human world and came across this gem of a passage in which he describes the role of perception in the life of an organism. Consider a spider weaving its web, for instance, and the assumption still held by many scientists that the behavior of such a diminutive creature is thoroughly "programmed in its genes." Certainly, the spider has received a rich genetic inheritance from its parents and its predecessors. Whatever "instructions," however, are enfolded within the living genome, they can hardly predict the specifics of the microterrain within which the spider may find itself at any particular moment. They could hardly have determined in advance the exact distances between the cave wall and the branch that the spider is now employing as an anchorage point for her current web or the exact strength of the monsoon rains that make web-spinning a bit more difficult on this evening. And...

Hello? Hello. . .? Anyone still out there? After too long of a hiatus, I've finally found my way back to the blogosphere. Not sure what the content of my posts will be from here on out. I still have plenty to say about Japanese environments, rural communities, forest governance, and the like. But, my mind is wandering to other topics as well. Will have to see what comes out. Last night found my way to Mardi Gras here in downtown Honolulu. It was an odd mish-mash of Brazil, Cuba, and Nawlins, an oddly appropriate mix. Anyway, I was back home and in bed by 11PM. . .hardly the late-night revelry that the organizers intended, I'm sure. Ah, but such is the life of an over-worked grad-student (am I overworked). Right, well, I'm back. Let's leave it at that for now. There are various papers awaiting my revisions. Over and out.