The City Mouse in the Country

Hi. As the writer of the post and feel that I need to clarify something. I do not advocate the planting of invasive species. The point that I'm trying to make, and clearly didn't, is that perhaps we should be thinking about an invasive species in a different light. Apples, figs and other crops are clearly non native to America and Europe but are widely cultivated because they have use to humans as a food source, animal feed, etc. Kudzu is an edible plant and although it is clearly harmful can it be used someway by humans? It's a food source, it's been used as a cloth and is showing some use as a building material. All I'm trying to do is to create discussion on how we can use invasive plants in new ways.   It's mid April here in Western Pennsylvania and so far it's been warm and wet.  The buzz of lawnmowers fill the air as I gallivant through my back yard collecting dandelions to make some tea and bread with them.  I had always known that they w

Years ago when I lived in Charlotte, North Carolina I was teaching 7th and 8th grade science.  One lesson in particular I remember very well.   It was on the uses of technology and I hoped to impress upon those kids one thought and one thought only.    Technology is neutral; it's what you do with it that matters. At that time there were no computers in the classroom and cell phones were still big bulky devices.  However these kids would be one of the first generations to deal with the technology we now take for granted.  So it was important that they at least an inkling of the promise of technology,  and how to deal with those consequences of technology. I still have my concerns about how we as a society approach technology and what, if anything, we have learned about it. We can learn from the past of course, but that's always jaded.   If only we had a real world example in the here and now that could serve as a guide on how to approach technology. Where I live today is

       I generally don't fear technology. I may not understand it, I may not have an interest in a particular technology...but I don't fear it.  Technology is generally neutral; it is simply an item that, depending on how it is used can either be destructive or beneficial.       Sometimes it can be both.   Wagon makers and bicyclists welcomed the coming of the gasoline engine because they understood the potential of it; where farrier's and saddle makers rued the day for the same reasons.      Computer science has allowed the world to contact in a way it's never connected before, as we can chat in real time to people around the world, share information, support causes and discuss ideas.   It can also isolate us and build walls around us of our own design.  As the echo's of what we believe can be deafening; and that makes it all that more important to pop your own bubble and face your own prejudices.       Which is harder to do than you may think.   I'm guilty of