Zambia, May 2022
Anyone else ever feel as if they need to restart life?
I thought it would be easy to do but instead it’s a lesson of forgetting old systems and just letting space be.
Beliefs are squashed
Identity questioned
Certainties lost
A life path suddenly drops from sight and the next step may ultimately lead to a long uncomfortable freefall.
South Luangwa Zambia
Sossusvlei, Namibia
1975, my ninth year, was one of those critical life-assessment years. I was faced with the reality that my classmates and I would soon be experiencing puberty together. The indignities of adulthood would absolutely bear down on the sweet weightlessness of our childhood, everything would change.
Ms. Kurtz’s science class also had a big impact. She was a woman of the 70’s. Her square-toed wedges and poly blouses with geometric patterns reflected her upbeat and quirky attitude. That year she explained environmental degradation to us. Industrial outputs and individual consumption were changing the planet so quickly that our class would witness ecosystems collapsing, certainties emphasized by colorful forecasting charts. Many of my life decisions have been based on Ms. Kurtz’s 1975 lesson plans.
We see that the environmentalists and scientists of the 1970s were right to be alarmed. Open wild spaces are mortally threatened today, yet those are the areas that are critical to our psyche and our physical well-being. Conservationists work to protect planet Earth and her biodiversity; we make personal and professional choices with the future of the natural world in mind. Conservationists are generally optimistic but truthful too.
Spending the day outdoors, riding my bicycle, these activities allowed my passage through adolescence. As a 21rst century adult, the joy I experience in nature is still my steadying force. I am always thrilled to share my enthusiasm for wild spaces with friends or am happy to go it alone. Taking the opportunity to be outdoors for a day or maybe a fortnight, allowing yourself to be lost in nature, these experiences provide the balance our bodies crave. Try it you’ll like it. *
*Copy of 1970’s Alka Seltzer TV advertisement.
Namib Desert, Nambia
Not a season for whispers
it harkens jigs and dance,
accompanied by nonsensical song.
Friends gather at night,
"welcome all, ladybirds and dragonflies,
come let’s celebrate the sun.”
But look at the
Platters of color
Salads of bounty
Soba and mushrooms
and a kaleidoscope of flavor
Oyakodan perfectly dressed with
small market vegetables.
Ethan Bontrager completed this graphic story May 2022. He is a creative writer, bicyclist, mechanic, cook, and my brother. Because of his MS (Multiple Sclerosis), Ethan has difficulty with handwriting and controlling a pen.
I hope you enjoy this graphic biographical account of our mother, Lily Levine.
Steeped in beauty ….
Read MoreNo. Wells and Chicago River Bridge
I had those few hours in-between breakfast and time of departure,
so I took a walk.
Men rushed past me,
women anchor their hair against the elements.
I don’t know the city well,
especially this new version.
I was here to watch, look, and see,
Good Morning Chicago.
On my own
shadows followed me.
Remember the day we
were awestruck together?
Hands clasped, our breath measured.
I never tire of Rothko
for color is life.
Her always Chagall,
to be untethered from it all.
Twilight
I know why
so alone
with the dark
shadows stare.
Acceptance
did not come.
Meaning lost
fall away.
To forget,
to remember.
Nothingness
is always there.
I know why
so alone,
cannot speak,
there should be sound.
Summer in Cape Town
Waking up from three days of Covid Haze I faced the first day of 2022. I swung my feet over the side of the bed, staggered to the kitchen to turn on the kettle before finally settling on the couch in front of the fire. I, the one who prefers to cook and bake at home on holidays, had been persuaded to attend a Christmas party. My hesitant sociability was rewarded with a bad case of Covid-19.
The last unmasked event I had attended, before Covid, was a EDM concert downtown in January 2020. We danced and were invited to meet the DJs. It was a carefree urban type of night that acclimated me back to Denver having just returned from a 9-day cycle tour in South Africa.
A South African bicycle tour operator had popped up on my Instagram feed in December 2019. I immediately signed up to join the group and in three week’s time I was on a flight to Cape Town. I took a couple of days in Constantia to sightsee and build my bicycle from the travel case. That Monday morning the tour operator collected me and the rest of the group and we drove out to the Garden Route to start our tour.
Monday: The five of us cyclists got to know one another on the drive to George. We were a non-competitive group out to enjoy the summer weather. I was amazed that the guys from England had traveled all the way to Cape Town to attend a cricket tournament held the week before and they were equally amazed that I would fly in just to ride my bike. Before dinner we took a quick ride in the evening mist, a test of our wits perhaps? The face paced ride was the perfect warm up for the next day.
Tuesday: George to Oudtshoorn - 70K (approx.) - Outeniqua Mountains
This proved to be one of my favorite cycling days. We rode through indigenous forests of the Witfontein Nature Reserve then into mountain fynbos terrain. It was a cloudy, rainy day perfect weather for strenuous climbs. Montagu Pass was the climb of the day, here we encountered 4 mountain bikers and 2 vehicles., blissfully low-key compared to Colorado traffic.
The world has experienced a seismic shift since my January 2020 bicycle trip. I don’t expect to return to indoor dance concerts or any other indoor social events for awhile, but I do plan to return to bicycle touring this year. 12 weeks has always been my optimal training time. The time commitment is probably the hardest part of the program next to winter conditions. Let us see where I’ll be in April or May.
An afternoon in Cape Town before the bike tour
An afternoon in Cape Town after the bike tour
painted wolf puppies
Our first encounter with painted wolves was during a mobile camping trip in the Okavango region of Botswana, after morning tea we all trundled into the safari truck for a day of exploration.
Read MoreArchive Alert
I recently completed a school report regarding the impacts that prolonged drought events are having on the HImba in the Kunene Region. My photographs were taken in 2018 and the drought had continued since then through 2020 with predictions for unpredictable weather patterns to continue in the region at large.
I enjoyed my visit and learning about some of the cultural traditions that the Himba live by. It is humbling how well they have adapted to living in this arid environment for generations.
whattled cranes overhead
Okavango Delta region, Botswana
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From an early age my father taught my brothers and I to appreciate good soil. I can hear his instruction now as we cupped soil samples from our organic gardens and orchard in our hands, “feel the texture of it, can you smell the living organisms in the soil?” Good soil takes effort, and the rewards are far greater than production and turnover rate, good soil is the heart of our environment.
I visited a Himba village in Northern Namibia in 2018, and as a soil aware person I was struck with how degraded the landscape was from overgrazing. I asked our local guide about the state of the landscape. He explained that the land was typically like this at the end of their dry period except that the normal rain systems were not arriving as they had in the past. I pressed him about possible solutions, he shrugged his shoulders.
I thought about this experience as I read my ecological systems assigned readings this week. One author briefly mentioned the possibility of making topsoil. The first step to reclaiming soil is testing and evaluation. I discovered that there is a group of European scientists who are working with Namibian farmers on soil degradation problems similar to I had seen (Prudat, et al., 2018). They recognize that previous reclamation efforts had not included local farmer’s field experience. The renewed approach includes creating a soil testing system that is relevant to the regional farmers by incorporating their local soil classification system and by recognizing all of the actors involved in the farming activities. Finally, a bottom-up approach to developing a soil testing system that could lead to a long-term soil management policy in which all stakeholders are invested in.
Prudat, B., Bloemertz, L., & Kuhn, N. J. (2018). Local soil quality assessment of north-central Namibia: integrating farmers' and technical knowledge. Soil, 4(1), 47–62. https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-4-47-2018, 2018.
Giraffe leaving as elephant arrive to water hole in Western Etosha NP
At dusk giraffe gather in sheltered locations to prepare for the night. Most of the group will lay day and sleep for a few hours while one or two group members stay alert to watch out for predators. Giraffe’s nocturnal behavior is structured to benefit their community.
Wild giraffe populations are declining due to human development, political unrest, habitat loss, and poaching. We have the responsibility to conserve their habitat. As we learn about their complex social systems the responsibility is even more fundamental. The recent article published in Ecology and Evolution outlines the current studies of giraffe’s nocturnal behavior patterns hoping to provide guidance to human behavior towards wildlife.
Burger, A.L., Fennessy, J., Fennessy, S., & Dierkes, P.W. (Feb. 2020) Nightly selection of resting sites and group behavior reveal antipredator strategies in giraffe. Ecology and Evolution, 10(6), 2917–2927.
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6106
Angolan Giraffe in Etosha N.P. near Dolomite Lodge
An endemic tree species of Southern Africa the Quiver tree is an example of another endangered species that may have a very short future. Quiver trees have been disappearing from the landscape…
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