I am reading a fantastic but disturbing book called Lost Mountain. It chronicles a year in which a mountaintop in Kentucky is obliterated for coal. The author points out that our electricity usage has skyrocketed over the last 20 years. I'm not surprised because as I sit here lamenting nature's destruction on the internets, Cara sits on one side of me talking on the landline, Jessie is in her room talking to a friend on Skype and the satellite radio plays in the background. And of course, nothing is ever completely off these days. Our cable box hums even though we haven't watched TV since the Super Bowl.

Today I tromped through the woods in the mist thinking, "this must be the feeling the makers of Valium are shooting for." But you can't bottle nature, so there's no profit in it. You know what, I'm going to have to end this. I'm getting kind of dizzy up here on this old soapbox.

Well, actually, perhaps there's just a bit more I can share from the hypocrisy files. When I was doing a bit of clean-up in my woodlot, I was reflecting on how initially I hoped to do everything manually, using an ax and saw and pack basket. But as it turns out I'm always gassing up a chainsaw, splitter or 4-wheeler. So not only am I using gasoline to harvest my renewable heat source, but loud engines are busting up my peace.

And I'm sure the birds aren't diggin' it too much either.