Hot air

Several years ago, poet/farmer Wendell Berry penned a controversial essay titled “Why I am Not Going to Buy a Computer,” in which he presented a clearheaded rationale for not buying into this form of technological slavery. His critics countered that computers enable them to follow and respond to the numerous environmental issues we face. Berry […]

From brown to green

The more I wrote about drought this spring, the more it rained. I considered starting a second career as a contrarian rainmaker. I could lease my talents out to water-hungry towns, an editor suggested. Still, I wondered what I would write about. The rain gave me more time indoors, even as I fell behind in […]

Asheville City Council

Voluntary conservation measures instituted by the city last October are paying off—the North Fork Reservoir is full to overflowing, Water Resources Director David Hanks reported during the Asheville City Council’s April 8 formal session. North Fork, the city’s primary water source, is currently about 3 inches over “full pool” and is actually running over its […]

Raindrops

A welcome sound woke me at 2 a.m. one recent Saturday: Plunk … plunk … . I listened: It was faint and dull. It could be a raccoon fiddling with my trash-can lid (too faint for a bear, too loud for a mouse—we have both here). Plunk. Plunk. Pit. Pat pat pitter-pat. Rain hitting my […]