The Primacy of Water

Inspired by one of my reader's comments yesterday, I've done a little research and discovered a number of interesting facts about the world's freshwater. For starters, only 2.5% of the total water on earth is freshwater. Of that small percentage, 60% is trapped in glaciers and ice caps, 10% is found in surface waters (lakes and rivers), …

Continue reading The Primacy of Water

Oil, Oil, Everywhere

You have no doubt heard the classical paradox of the immovable object and the irresistible force. While I am not so sure that either naturally exists, it does seem that the appealing idea of infinite economic expansion is pressing up against the outer boundaries of a finite base of resources, particularly oil, these days. Fortunately …

Continue reading Oil, Oil, Everywhere

The Right Light

"A man's errors are his portals of discovery." ~ James Joyce When I look back at the mistakes I've made over the last few years at work or home, while training my horse, hawk and dogs, I take comfort in the fact that each one - once recognized and corrected - opened the way for …

Continue reading The Right Light

The Decision to Act

"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward." ~ Amelia Earhart What, if anything, do you fear? Change? …

Continue reading The Decision to Act

A Discipline of Simplicity

"Business is never so healthy as when, like a chicken, it must do a certain amount of scratching around for what it gets." ~ Henry Ford While it is not always the most comfortable place to be, working in a small business during the lean years can teach you a lot about how to function …

Continue reading A Discipline of Simplicity

Make a Difference

While considering my eldest son's graduation from kindergarten I came across Tom Brokaw's recent commencement address at St Lawrence University. I rather enjoyed his speech, particularly his concluding remarks: I have some other slightly less weighty observations that may be helpful. You've been told recently you're about to enter the real world. That's misleading. Your …

Continue reading Make a Difference

The Right Door

"You never know till you try to reach them how accessible men are; but you must approach each man by the right door." ~ Henry Ward Beecher Office dynamics are fascinating. Put a bunch of unrelated people together in a pressure cooker environment and you have a recipe for a complex blend of interpersonal relationships. …

Continue reading The Right Door

Forward, as occasion offers.

"Forward, as occasion offers. Never look round to see whether any shall note it... Be satisfied with success in even the smallest matter, and think that even such a result is no trifle."  ~ Marcus Aurelius Who is to say that success in the smallest matters is naught but a trifle? Likely the same person …

Continue reading Forward, as occasion offers.

The Stormy Present

"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew." ~ Abraham Lincoln Well, here we are again. We went to sleep in the old world …

Continue reading The Stormy Present

The Little Things

"What we call little things are merely the causes of great things; they are the beginning, the embryo, and it is the point of departure which, generally speaking, decides the whole future of an existence. One single black speck may be the beginning of a gangrene, of a storm, of a revolution." ~ Henri-Frederic Amiel It …

Continue reading The Little Things