The wind, on this warm summer day,
chases green leaves, much too soon.
Excessive heat, burns plants and crops,
ruining fruit and plants alike.
Wind builds the heat, dries the grass,
creating another season; a furnace blast.

A swath of grass,
one muddy trail,
weaves through the trees,
which stand and prevail

The water was tepid
with a brackish taste,
as though it contained,
undesirable chemical waste.

The lights flicker,
there is no wind.
No tree limbs,
falling on power lines
and, yet the lights
do a funny dance.

> “Community Choice” Is Getting Renewable Energy to Millions || by Alejandra Borunda : Reasons to be Cheerful

> Is Your Living Room the Future of Hospital Care? || by Julie Appleby : Kaiser Health News

> The World’s Northernmost Town Is Changing Dramatically || by Gloria Dickie : Scientific American

> Inside the Movement to Clean Up the World’s Most Toxic Sites || by Eric Krebs : Reasons to be Cheerful

> How Aquaculture Is Spreading a Salmon Virus || by Brian Owens : Hakai Magazine

> Could humans really destroy all life on Earth? || by Santhosh Mathew : BBC

> Taking the Fish Out of Fish Feed || by Brian Payton : Hakai Magazine 

> Greening the Desert With Wastewater || by Klaus Sieg : Reasons to be Cheerful

> How auto dealers’ lobbyist wrote an exemption into Washington’s new capital gains tax law || by Jim Brunner : The Seattle Times

> Tree-Free Paper is rescuing forests and farmers in Washington || by Britany Robinson : Reasons to Be Cheerful

> The PNW is a leader on forage fish management — but it needs better data || by Hannah Weinberger : Crosscut

The Sunlight has slipped away,
as the shadows seize the day.
The air warmed by the Sun
is here and will not succumb,
as the coolness of the night,
creeps in to enclose us tight,
while the day has become the night
and surrenders again, without a fight.

When the last cold
breath of Winter
passes by, it will bring
the freshness of an
Eternal Spring.

"The loss of Native American land during and after the colonization period remains one of the darkest points in US history, but in the past few decades, there has been a rise in land acquisitions from Native American tribes" ..... Read full article