An exercise in using all five senses during a walk in the deep woods. Headphones, please--relax and listen. And thank you!

It was late August, and I was in central Iowa on a recording trip. I wandered into a cornfield, and at the back of it was a creek, surrounded by cottonwood trees. The trees were filled with 17-year cicadas.

The life cycle of these critters is a testament to the magic of life. Shortly after they hatch from the eggs laid by their mothers, the nymphs burrow into the ground, where they stay for 17 years. When they emerge, the clock starts ticking, because from that moment onward, they have about six weeks to live, during which time they mate, lay eggs, and start the cycle once again.

They also sing. As I stand here, headphones on my head, I can almost hear them saying, “17 years I waited for this. Mate? Absolutely. Lay eggs? Sure. But first? A little music.”

Well, here we are approaching the end of March, which means that once again we will soon be facing the political season in the United States, and all that that implies. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather avoid the debacle we faced last time, when social media pummeled us with disinformation from every direction, making it virtually impossible to separate the wheat of truth from the chaff of falsehood. So, I’ve been digging around, looking for tools to help me clearly separate the two, and I’ve run across some things that I want to share with you—not just because they’re interesting, but because they might be useful in the months ahead. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say.

There's something mesmerizing about the way rivers look from the air--the way they ebb and flow and respond to the topography of the land they flow over. Sometimes, the water flows in a great sheet, like a fan; other times, it flows in a tree-like structure called a dendrite.

Well, it turns out that salt can form similar structures when it crystallizes, but only under very specific conditions. It's an amazing and quite beautiful thing--have a listen.

Program notes are here: https://stevenshepardcom.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/episode-212-dendrites.pdf.

How important are libraries and books? In my mind, very. In some peoples' minds, important enough to risk their lives for their protection. In "The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu, Joshua Hammer tells the story of Abdel Nader Haidara, a minor government bureaucrat who takes it upon himself to save thousands of precious texts, some of them from the 5th century, all the while evading the clutches of Al Qaeda operatives intent on destroying them.

Have you ever wondered why geese fly in that V-shaped formation when they're migrating? Turns out that there's a very important reason--and you might be interested to know that it has a lot to do with the practice of leadership. Enjoy the episode.

Just to mess with your mojo from the earlier Parker River track, here's something on the opposite end of the sonic spectrum: A freight train barreling through Norway, Iowa, something that happens about every 20 minutes or so. Headphones again, please, to experience the spatial effect of the train's coming and going. Careful with the volume--it gets a bit loud.

Sabine and I have a discovered a new favorite place: Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, in Massachusetts, just over the border from New Hampshire. One of the first, if not THE first, refuges in the national system, it's been around so long that the original brochure (which you can download from the refuges Web site) was written by none other than Rachel Carson. Anyway, put on your headphones and enjoy this ambisonic, surround-sound track of a couple of minutes of gentle surf.

After reading Paul Woodruff’s book, Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue, I found myself thinking about the concept of reverence and what it means in modern society. Woodruff defines it as equal parts awe, respect, and shame. What I walked away with after lots of time spent thinking about the concept is this: Reverence, which has nothing to do with religion, is perhaps the single most important foundational element in modern society. Woodruff elegantly ties together reverence, and ceremony, and community, pointing out that we revere the ceremonies that define a community, because they stand for who and what we are as a family, a town, a nation, or a business. When reverence disappears, ceremony becomes meaningless ritual.

My contention is that the intransigent polarization that we’re currently experiencing is happening because of a loss of reverence. I don’t have to agree with the other side’s position, but I do owe them my respect, which manifests as my willingness to listen to what they have to say—again, even if I don’t agree.

Please listen to this episode, and then help me start a conversation. This, I believe, is important.

You can download the script of this program here: https://steven-shepard.com/2023/03/09/thoughts-on-reverence-and-democracy/.

Darrin Wassom made an envious (and courageous) career change: He went from a long, successful career as a cybersecurity specialist to being a newly-minted recordist, capturing and sharing the sounds of the natural world. His story is more than just the story of a shifted career: it's the story of someone for whom passion, and balance, and family, and life are more important than career. This is an important story; I hope you enjoy it. You can find Darrin's work at NatureIsMyJam.net, and his Podcast of the same name is available wherever you get your Podcasts. #NatureIsMyJam. @DarrinWassom