(October 7, 2013 - excerpt from Time Magazine article, "Power Surge," by Bryan Walsh, p. 39)

The same innovations that have resurrected oil and gas production in the U.S. have extended the age of fossil fuels, making it that much more difficult to break free of them.  A number of independent studies have suggested that the world has to stop emitting carbon dioxide by midcentury to avoid dangerous climate change.  We're not likely to get there if we keep inventing ways to extract and then burn the hydrocarbons still in the ground.  "It appears that the good Lord has set up a real test for us," says Bill McKibben, the writer-activist who helps lead the group 350.org.   "We have to decide if we want a habitable planet or not--and if we do, we can't dig this stuff up."

The threat of climate change is very real, and we now know that we're ingenious enough to extract more than enough hydrocarbons to burn ourselves alive.  McKibben is right.  If we want a habitable world, we'll need to choose it.

Afternoon on a Hill
by Edna St. Vincent Millay

 I will be the gladdest thing
   Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
   And not pick one.

I will look at cliffs and clouds
   With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow down the grass,
   And the grass rise.

And when lights begin to show
   Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine,
   And then start down! 


(I hate the word "gladdest" and this isn't my favorite of Millay's poems, 
but I have stood on this hill and visited Millay's house, and the poem 
recreates a lovely memory.)

Butterfly Prayer Square  (The butterfly is a symbol of resurrection and renewal.) 

This cloth is adapted from a Drops (Garn Studio) butterfly motif chart for a free sweater pattern.  I wrote the directions based on their butterfly chart.  I have made numerous changes along the way.

Cast on 19 stitches with worsted-weight yarn and size 7 needles.

Rows 1-4:  Knit
Row 5:  (wrong side) k4,  p11,  k4    (Extra knit sts to prevent rolling.)
Row 6 and all even (right side) rows:  Knit
Row 7:  k3,  p13,  k3
Row 9:  k3,  p2,  k1,  p7,  k1,  p2,  k3
Row 11:  k3,  p2,  k2,  p5,  k2,  p2,  k3
Row 13:  k3,  p2,  k4,  p1,  k4,  p2,  k3
Row 15:  k3,  p3,  k3,  p1,  k3,  p3,  k3
Row 17:  k3,  p4,  k2,  p1,  k2,  p4,  k3
Row 19:  k3,  p3,  k3,  p1,  k3,  p3,  k3
Row 21:  k3,  p2,  k4,  p1,  k4,  p2,  k3
Row 23:  k3,  p1,  k4,  p3,  k4,  p1,  k3
Row 25:  k3,  p6,  k1,  p6,  k3
Row 27:  k4,  p11,  k4  (Extra knit sts to prevent rolling.)
Rows 28-31:  Knit
Bind off loosely.  Weave in ends.

(version #4)