tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post1555495711456858303..comments2023-08-22T21:11:59.355+12:00Comments on pohanginapete: The end of the world as we know itpohanginapetehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-2429790005215136952008-07-19T09:08:00.000+12:002008-07-19T09:08:00.000+12:00Weeta, that's a great point; one that had slipped ...Weeta, that's a great point; one that had slipped to the back of my mind. I suppose it's akin to the exhortation to people who visit wild places, i.e. "Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints," although your point goes a little further. Of course, the apostles of progress are likely to have a particular notion of 'leaving things a little better', so I suppose (to continue the pohanginapetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-30119516670288299002008-07-11T07:50:00.000+12:002008-07-11T07:50:00.000+12:00"So what am I doing wandering this beach, photogra..."So what am I doing wandering this beach, photographing gulls and waves, water and the light, when the world is going to pieces?"<BR/><BR/>My mom taught me a rule that I have ever since tried to follow: <BR/><BR/>If you borrow it, return it in as good or better shape than you got it. <BR/><BR/>(If you wore it, wash it. If you ripped it, mend it. Invisibly. If you drove it, fill the gas tank. ThatSusannah Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11923063322849781223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-57448718461490248262008-06-16T20:18:00.000+12:002008-06-16T20:18:00.000+12:00Bill, that's often how I feel too. Incapable of gr...Bill, that's often how I feel too. Incapable of grasping all the ideas, so many of which seem to conflict. Sometimes I take the easy way out and switch off, but if I can muster the energy I can occasionally turn the confusion and uncertainty to good use. I guess I should clarify that I don't see anything necessarily evil or otherwise terrible about coming to an end. I suspect immortality isn't pohanginapetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-64494479422184436792008-06-16T12:53:00.000+12:002008-06-16T12:53:00.000+12:00This was a beautiful essay, both in words and pict...This was a beautiful essay, both in words and pictures. Thank you.<BR/><BR/>I am a student, by hobby, of eschatology. I almost consider it a coping mechanism - trying to give myself the ability to step back and look at our destruction from an academic, rather than a personal, standpoint.<BR/><BR/>I do think things are going to get a lot worse. But I also feel that people are starting to see, Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-19312352128964264272008-06-15T05:59:00.000+12:002008-06-15T05:59:00.000+12:00Pete,I am incapable of taking this all in. I hav...Pete,<BR/><BR/>I am incapable of taking this all in. I have had a series of responses to your post, all glancing, all, well, paltry.<BR/><BR/>So I take off at vectors. I go places. I think of late of how, it is built in to me the perspective of things coming to an end, since it is my own nature to come to an end myself. Yes it is big gap, a big distinction between great pieces of life comingBillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01168008987728371636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-59172884707689880602008-06-05T08:30:00.000+12:002008-06-05T08:30:00.000+12:00Thanks Robb. :^)Thanks Robb.<BR/> :^)pohanginapetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-11365673133395214562008-06-04T23:45:00.000+12:002008-06-04T23:45:00.000+12:00Kia ora Pete, It is often the same as listening to...Kia ora Pete,<BR/> It is often the same as listening to a Van Morrison song as the moment I just experienced. I can often listen to a song many times before I get it. <BR/> I just looked at the last photo by Girdlestone. Black and White, and all those Grays! It is really stunning. Kia ora PeteRuahineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09398484733805119294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-19296908525583231412008-05-30T16:19:00.000+12:002008-05-30T16:19:00.000+12:00Patry, I don't recall exactly when that statement ...Patry, I don't recall exactly when that statement arose, but it was very likely when I'd read or heard about yet another triumph of materialism over what's truly profound and important. It could have been (although it wasn't) the way New Zealander Scott Dixon's Indy 500 win was headlined here as "the biggest payout" any NZ sportsperson has ever received. The win was a great achievement, but once pohanginapetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-24989755248467164502008-05-30T10:58:00.000+12:002008-05-30T10:58:00.000+12:00"not enough people care and most people don't care..."not enough people care and most people don't care enough." That's the frustration so many of us feel, isn't it? Sometimes I also give in to the theory (or truth) that my small efforts make so little difference-- why bother? But lately, I've been more hopeful. Lately, I've been feeling that diminishing resources will force all of us--those who don't care, and those who don't care enough--to Patry Francishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10961915797919017179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-7655600732796707592008-05-29T17:22:00.000+12:002008-05-29T17:22:00.000+12:00Peregrina, you're right about the importance of ho...Peregrina, you're right about the importance of hope. I think there's another cause of what you term "the paralysis of pessimism", and that's the difficulty of knowing <I>what</I> to do. Confronted with a major problem and multiple courses of action, it's possible to become stymied — paralysed, I suppose — by being unable to choose. A little reflection should show how illogical that is, but pohanginapetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-25873191238559919242008-05-25T08:38:00.000+12:002008-05-25T08:38:00.000+12:00I've been by to read this post twice. I have nothi...I've been by to read this post twice. I have nothing profound to add. I am pessimistic. I recently read James Kunstler's book <I>World Made By Hand</I>, which explores a fictional United States after a crisis leaves us struggling with only 19th century technology. I am fully prepared to leave a much smaller footprint. It's the transition to those extended privations while living among my fellow robin andreahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13390482190562312928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-2295264977925110642008-05-24T14:42:00.000+12:002008-05-24T14:42:00.000+12:00Kia ora mateI have been thinking a lot about the e...Kia ora mate<BR/><BR/>I have been thinking a lot about the environment lately as we are doing some quite exciting climate change programmes in Jakarat with slum dwellers and it seems much easier to get the poor to respond to climatew change issues better than the rich. Perhaps those final lines from one of Bob Dylan's song bring some sanity to it all...<BR/><BR/>There are rockets in the meadow Bob McKerrow - Wayfarerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13832128768908667724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-68408245105630045252008-05-23T15:14:00.000+12:002008-05-23T15:14:00.000+12:00Kia ora Pete. Thanks for this thoughtful and thoug...Kia ora Pete. Thanks for this thoughtful and thought-provoking post. I have been back to read it many times and have wanted to comment; but there's much in the post I don't know where to start! I've enjoyed reading the comments too.<BR/><BR/>I will say, though, that I adore your photo of the white-faced heron. The heron itself is beautiful; but I love the background too. Do you have any photos ofAnne-Mariehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06769343406187885283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-47572559659062233852008-05-23T02:07:00.000+12:002008-05-23T02:07:00.000+12:00Sorry to take so long to respond to this post, Pet...Sorry to take so long to respond to this post, Pete. As more and more this question fills me with anguish the harder it is to know what to say. I've gone far beyond outrage and ire, it is almost a daily state of mind now that affects everything I see. I walk through this ruined landscape that I live in now and it is like I hear this silent grief of things disappearing, or, as the Japanese used toAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-67594910268308196952008-05-22T22:45:00.000+12:002008-05-22T22:45:00.000+12:00Pete, there have been times in my life, too, when...Pete, there have been times in my life, too, when I've been despondent about what the human race is doing to itself and to the world. But in the end I find I have to have hope, otherwise I'd fall into the paralysis of pessimism. <BR/><BR/>There definitely are positive things happening. Recently I heard a radio interview with John Pontin that really did show that there are people who care bothAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-2891226050696747052008-05-21T11:58:00.000+12:002008-05-21T11:58:00.000+12:00Avus, I guess it does sound pretty dark. I hope I'...Avus, I guess it does sound pretty dark. I hope I'm wrong. Part of me wants to live to find out what happens but another part doesn't want to live in the kind of world I expect will survive. Whether any humans remain to see it is moot, but I doubt they'll be any wiser.<BR/><BR/>Well said, Emma. Love for others and for the world must surely be the impetus for action — who could stand by and watch pohanginapetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-66921254377399611142008-05-20T19:59:00.000+12:002008-05-20T19:59:00.000+12:00Kia ora Pete, I came across an interesting passage...Kia ora Pete,<BR/> I came across an interesting passage written by Ed Abbey today. I thought it fit well with your recent post, I hope you do not my sharing it here with you:<BR/>"Something like a shadow has fallen between present and past, an abyss wide as war that cannot be bridged by any tangible connection, so that memory is undermined and the image of our beginnings betrayed, dissolved, Ruahineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09398484733805119294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-88203709526622769682008-05-20T18:45:00.000+12:002008-05-20T18:45:00.000+12:00I can't say much more than--let alone improve upon...I can't say much more than--let alone improve upon--what others have already said here in your comments, Pete. But for what it's worth, and perhaps simplistically, I try to live such that when I go to bed at night and when I leave the house in the morning, I am satisfied that I've done all I can do, in a reasonable fashion. Love is my first priority and my first order, and I find more and more Emmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06193158939182430887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-72903845179941211952008-05-20T04:35:00.000+12:002008-05-20T04:35:00.000+12:00Dark and thoughtful musings to ponder on, Pete. I ...Dark and thoughtful musings to ponder on, Pete. I guess we are just too many and too greedy. <BR/>I think there could be much trial and tribulation, wars and famine ahead for the human race. But then it will find its level. Some will creep out from the shattered remains of this "civilisation", to start again - fewer and wiser - -I hope!Avushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16512540148378201058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-25509220369111191692008-05-19T22:28:00.000+12:002008-05-19T22:28:00.000+12:00Gerry, I know what you mean. It's possible we (mea...Gerry, I know what you mean. It's possible we (meaning humans) might make it through, but even if we do, it's almost unbearable to think about what we'll have lost. Try as I might, I can't yet manage to understand the world through the eyes of those who assert, for example, that if whales were wiped out it wouldn't bother them too much because “the beach would still be a good place for a picnic.”pohanginapetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11463792721091291063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-53354834010451232632008-05-19T18:55:00.000+12:002008-05-19T18:55:00.000+12:00Beautiful post.The dueling snow leopard societies ...Beautiful post.<BR/><BR/>The dueling snow leopard societies are a nice example of the glamour-based agenda that underlies so much conservation energy. I suppose this connects to our ancient, perhaps hard-wired tendency to see animals as metaphors for desirable human qualities. I wonder: Does NZ's relative lack of charismatic fauna make it easier for people there to think in integrated, Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-1549921271082386572008-05-19T02:33:00.000+12:002008-05-19T02:33:00.000+12:00taking photos of rocks and birds, writing with awa...taking photos of rocks and birds, writing with awareness about the world around you - essential to living a good life, a sustainable life. Also being true to oneself means a happier more balanced life.<BR/><BR/>In the richer countries most people's lifestyles are unsustainable, but how many people are prepared to consider what that really means, how much they will need to give up?Crafty Green Poethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02486633917197181851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-6036710472484699332008-05-18T19:20:00.000+12:002008-05-18T19:20:00.000+12:00Your last paragraph contains the core of the dilem...Your last paragraph contains the core of the dilemma, and probably a real answer to it. You are writing about empathy, with all the knowledge and experience that the word implies. Empathy just might help the world to continue going round. Wouldn't certainty be a dangerous thing in this context?<BR/>I just work hard to create a miniscule haven - and it spreads in some very surprising ways!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-62674544433378720512008-05-18T02:16:00.000+12:002008-05-18T02:16:00.000+12:00Pete, I am a cynical shit. Went to the UN climate ...Pete, I am a cynical shit. Went to the UN climate change conference in Bali last year and saw big wig politicians travelling business class with huge gas guzzling carbon footprints, but yet showed they were reducing greenhouses gases by riding a bike 1 km from the hotel to the conference centre. The could have walked as the bike tyre rubber may have caused some pollution. Al Gore is one of the Bob McKerrow - Wayfarerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13832128768908667724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14677243.post-84025783178894807152008-05-17T16:24:00.000+12:002008-05-17T16:24:00.000+12:00Perhaps it is people who deny their gifts--both th...Perhaps it is people who deny their gifts--both the gift of talents that they did not create but nonetheless possess and the gift of the world, that lovely blue-and-green aggie spinning in light and dark--who create the most difficulty for themselves and others and the planet.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com