Hush!

Hush! Don't tell anybody that the Earth is round.

I have just been on a pilgrimage to Darwin's home country to see the exhibition "Darwin's BIG Idea" at London's Natural History Museum.

I am fairly fit, but I almost didn't survive the last part of the journey as trains and tubes were delayed as usual - I had to run for life in order to get there in time for my slot.

The exhibition is extremely popular, and you must pay in advance for an exact time of entrance. However, even though I was late (and terrified by the thought of being let down), and even though I faced the sight of a long, long queue, I was so lucky to be naturally selected by a guard, who saw my crocodile tears and followed me personally all the way through gates and barriers.

Finally, in the great halls of fame, I adapted to the situation of being a sardine in a tin can, while struggling to see the sacred.

I was moved by seeing Darwin's scribbles, his studio and evidence of his curiosity into so many very different subject areas: barnacles, cabbage, beetles, orchids, facial expressions in animals and humans etc...

However, what seemed most peculiar to me, a lukewarm protestant from Nothern Europe, was the emphasis on convincing the audience about the truth of evolution. To me it was like trying to convince the audience that the earth is round, not flat.

I shall never be the same after this - I became aware of my own evolution paradigm specs. So, although I like the idea of freedom to read and freedom to think for yourself, I cannot put my money where my mouth is, when it comes to public school politics. To say it simply: I don't want my tax money to be spent on teaching (my daughter and son) creationism as a realistic alternative to evolution in schools.

Yes. Sure. Evolution rocks! But - contrary to Dawkins, Dennett and likeminded (not that I don't love (yo)U(r) (theories) guys :-)) - I still think there is plenty of room for God(s) and spirit and the unexplainable. Science doesn't diminish the miraculousness of Life.

Who Cares?

D-Day

D-Day is coming up soon - it's time to book a table for the birthday Party.

We are going to celebrate that WE and Sir Charles Darwin are all very fit and have survived so far :-)

Who will get the best seat?

It runs in the Family

See also stunningly photographed photoes of our relatives by Fokusfoto.

X

Wow-Wov-Woven

Some of U out there may be familiar with the Scandinavian tradition of making woven X-mas hearts.
This week, however, I came across an extended version of this tradition. Fuglepigerne (the Girlie Birders) invited "fools & fowls" for "tea & teaching" and 25 creatures turned up ready and steady to embark on a craft demanding tweezers, scissors, glossy paper, dexterity and fingerspitzgefühl.
Inspired by the book Jule-Fugle-Flet we were taught how to weave birds like the golden oriole, black woodpecker, cormorant, long-tailed titmouse, nuthatch and blue tit.
I was sweating like a pig(eon), desperately trying to (pretend I was in) control of my 10 claws, but in the end I actually managed to complete a piece of work: the Golden Oriole!

Merry X-mas to all of U out there!

Do you remember the Name of the Game?

If not, visit Dansk Jagt- og Skovbrugsmuseum or go far out in the forests and spot or be spotted.

Can You Dance the Swedish Polka?

FEMALE FORESTRY?
If Forestry is defined as "The science, art and practice of managing and using trees, forests and their associated resources for human benefit", then this might be a version of a kind of Female Forestry.
This video installation was originally shown as part of the exhibition "Who's that Tripping over my Bridge?" at Frederiks Bastion, Copenhagen 2002.
Made by Joss James, Anne Mølleskov and Ingrid Weiss.

Bad Girl Birders

Wauw - found this website Fuglepigerne (the Birder Girls) which is a nice supplement to "Bloke Birding".

Personally I gave up organized bird watching 25 years ago, because I found myself turned into an anthropologist instead of an ornithologist, while spending more time watching "birder blokes" and their odd and UNNATURAL behaviour than watching birds.

Too me "Girl Birding" represents more than just watching birds - a more holistic approach, acknowledging that there is so much more to our relationship with birds than just watching them: BEING with them, feeling them, identifying with them etc.
AND loving them - whether they are wild, in cages, stuffed, cooked, portrayed or painted on dinnerware.

Tunø and Samsø

1 2 Tree Smile!

On Top of Things

Make your Day - climb a Tree!

I love tree climbing like many other people on this planet:

Into the Unknown Happy New Year!

I don't know where I am going, but I know where I am.

And I am reading "Walking" by Henry David Thoreau (much about him soon to come).

This little great book began as a lecture, first delivered in USA 1851 and later published in 1862 after his death.

It is a lyric, meandering essay celebrating what is wild and untamed in the world and encouraging the reader to truly understand the Art of Walking and become a real SAUNTERER.

He writes:

" I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my life who understood the art of Walking, that is, of taking walks -- who had a genius, so to speak, for SAUNTERING"

and:

"It is true, we are but faint-hearted crusaders, even the walkers, nowadays, who undertake no persevering, never-ending enterprises. Our expeditions are but tours, and come round again at evening to the old hearthside from which we set out. Half the walk is but retracing our steps. We should go forth on the shortest walk, perchance, in the spirit of undying adventure, never to return, prepared to send back our embalmed hearts only as relics to our desolate kingdoms".

And later in the book:

"No wealth can buy the requisite leisure, freedom, and independence which are the capital in this profession. It comes only by the grace of God. It requires a direct dispensation from Heaven to become a walker."

Thoreau himself preferred the impervious and quaking swamps to towns and cities with its cultivated lawns and fields.

In this spirit I shall enter 2008 with a walk into the unknown - and who knows - if I take a flight next year and look down at 2008 - my route might have turned out to be a STORK like in Isak Dinesens little story from "Out of Africa" - described here.

...og gå så, og gå så og gå så min ven

Birth of the Light

Merry X-mas to all Beings

1 December

Autumn

Forest Fashion for Trolls

My daughter is the happy owner of this hut which has been created by Ingrid.

The Importance of Dialogue with Nature

Starring my wriggling toes and my late cockatiel Ringo

Natural Humanity - Human Nature - Natural Nature?

Mølleskov 2007

Manet 1863

Skovgaard 1858

Watteau 1718

Scandinavian Summer

Danish Summer Seascape, Langeland

Danish Summer Skyscape, Ærø

Danish Summer Landscape, Drejø

Swedish Summer Landscape

Swedish Summer Landscape with blueberries and cranberries

Life is a maze (ing)

I have spent part of my holiday in a maze - or rather a labyrinth called a Troy Town or a Trojaborg.

You enter with a question in mind and walk slowly and meditatively following the single tracked path to the centre of the labyrinth - here you turn round and walk all the way back again.

When you reach the exit your question is answered, your problem solved and your decision made.

Easy peasy.

Summer Holiday ....

Reading EATING

I have just finished reading Eating, What we eat and why it matters by Peter Singer and Jim Mason.
This book is NOT about the impact of your food choices on your OWN body's health, but about the impact of your food choices on OTHERS and on the environment.
Having consumed this book it is almost impossible not to being (or trying to be) at least a conscientious omnivore.

Buying fair trade and organic food is a growing industry in Europe, particuarly in UK.
However, it is not always easy to find ethical meat. The Danish newspaper Politiken made a survey in Copenhagen recently and found ethical chicken in 2 of 10 supermarkets only (Superbrugsen and Kvickly) (26 May 2007).

Here are some ways to start making a difference:
Every time you are shopping or eating out ASK QUESTIONS about the origin of the food you are buying. For example questions about organic/non-organic production, fair trade, animal welfare, food miles, social responsibility, energy and water consumption in production etc.
You might very well get no answer but shop assistants and waiters baffled by the questions will soon learn that they need to find the answers.

You can also take action in other ways:

FRUIT is an ongoing project by Future Farmers who examines the current food systems and proposes expanded access to knowledge about the food we consume.
Join their online demonstration

Or try We Are What We Do's action no. 51 "Find out where your lunch has come from"

The more transparency we get regarding our food and the implications of producing it, the easier we can make a conscious and conscientious choice.