You probably know that feeling of waking up the next morning and thinking, “Dang, I really should’ve said that differently!” That’s how I woke yesterday. This week, I was honored to be part of a panel about climate change that featured Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist who has done an enormous amount […]
A Bit on Plastic Continue reading
As someone who cares deeply about the future of our planet, I also feel strongly that the only way forward is to work together. For that reason, I’ve been very intentional about remaining non-partisan in my public positions. I have been vocal about about limiting fossil fuel emissions, but realistic that it
Science as Muse Continue reading
For the last month on Mondays at lunchtime, I’ve been logging on to a Zoom Spanish class with a half a dozen other women. All of us have varying degrees of high school, college, and life experience that qualify us as “intermediate” speakers. We all intermittently confuse the differences between ser and
On Bringing: Away and Toward Continue reading
For the last few months, the world has been watching the spread of the deadly coronavirus and lives have been upended in the uncertainty of its trajectory. Governments have been mobilizing their responses and businesses have shut down operations. And all the while there’s been another lethal and massive epidemic building. One
The Epidemic No One’s Talking About Continue reading
Something happened that I didn’t see reported in any news sources that I follow and I think more of us should know about it. On October 5th and 6th, leaders from around the world met for the fourth Our Ocean conference. Started by Secretary John Kerry in 2014, the meeting is like
Our Ocean 2017 Continue reading
Last week I attended the SXSWeco conference in Austin and had the enormous pleasure of meeting, Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist whose mission is to connect people over solutions to climate change, one of the most polarizing issues in our country. There is no one more articulate at explaining why we all share the
Groping for Hope? Continue reading
Since April, hordes of bright blue jellies have been stranding themselves on the Pacific coast. Reports from Oregon and Washington started washing in mid-April with numbers of jellies in the thousands. They swept down the coast to northern California where reported abundances reached millions. When the jellies surfed into southern California in
By-the-wind Sailor Continue reading
The prize store at the Main Event, a family fun center in a strip mall in north Austin, sucks. And I know I’m not just an aged-out mom on this count. My kids hate it too. They just don’t realize they hate it. My daughter is stuck deciding if she wants to spend her
Rethinking Mother Earth at the Arcade Continue reading
“More Canadian-produced Crown Royal is shipped to Texas than anywhere else,” explained Canadian Ambassador Gary Doer speaking to the Jackson School of Geosciences at UT just before spring break. Tall, distinguished, with a shock of gray-hair, Doer added, “I think it would be easier to get whiskey in a pipeline to Texas than
A Winning Lottery Ticket Continue reading