Silent progress

I’ve finished the first of the books on my list - Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. It’s wonderfully written and is a quite terrifying account of how poorly we understand nature and the damage we have so casually unleashed upon it. It’s credited with starting the environmental movement in the US that ultimately resulted in regulations to limit the worst excesses of the early part of the twentieth century. But just glancing at the news from around the world over the last few days it’s clear the battle is far from won:

1. Trigger-happy councils mowing down our spring flowers? There’s a better way to do things
2. “What does it mean for a company to "know" that their products are harming people, how do corporate scientists convince themselves not to look at the truth, and how does that change? Stop what you're doing and read this extraordinary story right now by Sharon Lerner for ProPublica and the New Yorker.” https://www.propublica.org/article/3m-forever-chemicals-pfas-pfos-inside-story via https://social.coop/@natematias/112477151962055935
3. “Some people in #FortGoodHope #NWT say they're concerned about what #OilExtraction in #NormanWells is doing to the #MackenzieRiver & they want more say in how the project is regulated….”
   https://mastodon.sdf.org/@msquebanh/112483126024719430
4. "'At the beginning, I doubted whether microplastics could penetrate the reproductive system,' said Prof Xiaozhong Yu, at the University of New Mexico in the US. 'When I first received the results for dogs I was surprised. I was even more surprised when I received the results for humans.'" 
   via https://mastodon.social/@anirvan/112481796167098803
5. 'Bee safe' label on pesticides needs to be re-evaluated, University of Guelph researchers say | CBC News

And just after I'd finished reading Silent Spring someone came to the door asking if I wanted them to spray for mosquitoes...

Reading the book made me realise how little I know about the local fauna and flora. So I've printed out a list of the top 31 Backyard Birds In Ontario. Tink (one of our cats) is helping me with it - she gets very excited watching birds through the window. I'm also planning to learn all of the trees on my normal walk. It’s Canada so I’m going to assume they’re mostly maple trees...

Wait! More research tells me this might not be the case: The Tree Atlas: Southwest region

I've started another book on the list - Ulysses. This is a bit of a pivot from the last book and it took at least 25 pages before I even had a semblance of an idea as to what was going on. Nova has suggested I read the Odyssey alongside it. I've read the first page of that. I’m not convinced it will help. 

Meanwhile, Chrissy is not buying my argument that “there’s no need to purchase furniture because I can just make it” line. I think she wants to see more evidence of actual woodworking output. Also, I do probably need a few tools. Like a saw. 

So in the meantime we went with Amanda to IKEA and purchased a bookshelf (page 226 of my woodworking book) and a small coffee table for the basement (page 258). Amanda bought more or less everything else IKEA had. Not sure how we managed to get it all in her car or how the car managed to move afterwards. I think she and Ben will be opening boxes for quite a while. 

I have actually been researching tools. I found an apparently good resource here: 12 basic woodworking tools: Start your woodshop right (2024)

So far I've resisted the temptation to go all in on the tools, although that's partly because of the lack of space for developing my new skills. For that I need to create some more workroom in our garage. The plan is to finally order a dumpster so we can have a clear out. 

If we do manage to clear some space I can also start thinking about my bike maintenance project. I was reading about someone who had the idea to completely strip apart and rebuild a bike to learn about all of the different components and so he would know how to repair his own bike - recommended reading: A love letter to bicycle maintenance and repair. (Also now I think about it: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.)

Fortunately I have a few bikes to practice on:

This led me to some great websites about bike maintenance. For example: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/

This is the sort of site that you used to find all over the internet before the rise of Facebook and social media. And actually a lot of them are still there (and new ones are appearing) - it’s just a lot harder to find them. (On this topic, I recommend reading Molly White’s essay, We can have a different web.)

I’ve continued to keep up with my habits, although for some reason it felt a little like I had to rush to finish them this week. On Sunday I had to fit in a walk, piano practice, French listening and my Diderot post. I may need to manage that a little better next week.

I’m enjoying the French podcasts still. The topics are genuinely quite interesting - they put me in mind of the Radio 4 From Our Own Correspondent radio show a little. So as to maximise the benefit, I’ve decided to start writing down some of the French phrases that I pick up from my listening exercises. This week, I have these:

• C’était comme si j’étais passée de l’autre côté du miroir.
• Loin de tout.
• J’avais tellement de choses à apprendre sur ce paradis.

I continue to make too many mistakes while playing the piano.

UPDATE: I've bought a saw, which I used to finish levelling off the support stakes for the boardwalk. The plan is to finish this off either next weekend or the weekend after. Also planned this week: archery….