RNA Blog
Nature’s Mathematics
The Golden Ratio, Fibonacci, & Nature’s Spirals – 5-28-24 The real world is beautiful to our senses, mathematics is beautiful to our thinking, and each type of apprehension enhances the beauty of the other – the whole is greater than the sum of its parts....
Ursula Le Guin’s Message and a Religious Naturalist’s Response
The Sorceress poster Ursula Le Guin is one of the best known Science Fiction writers of all time. Interestingly, much of her fame is relatively recent which I take to mean that her ideas are still relevant in today’s world. There is a video on YouTube called The...
Landscape
Landscapes evolve over seasons, centuries, and eons. I live in a valley shaped by glaciers that flowed sinuously down from the peaks of the Alaska Range 200 miles north of me. We can estimate the glaciers’ thickness by the mountains on either side of the valley. ...
The Art of Noticing
Spring has arrived in the northeast. In latitudes where four seasons are distinct, each with its own color palette, symphony of sounds, and visible changes in the landscape, the arrival of spring can be watched day by day if one has the patience to notice. This is my...
Aurora Borealis: A Symphony of Light
Blog Aurora Borealis Laura Emerson Alaskauu1.blogspot.com Alaskauu1.substack.com Book: Log Cabin Reflections, Kindle, Amazon $5 For several decades, I lived in Houston, TX, latitude 31. When I moved to Alaska, latitude 61, almost everything was different, of...
Nature’s Abundance in Wild Alaska
Despite Two More Feet of Snow, Spring has Sprung Although our land is still blanketed by 2 feet of snow and the lake remains frozen, spring has sprung this week. How do I know? One clue is the first of many flocks of migrating geese and one, lone sandhill crane...
Meditation Basics
While Religious Naturalists may or may not meditate, for many, meditation is an important lifelong practice. This article by J.X. Mason is presented here for those interested in knowing more about the topic. Meditation is paying sustained attention to some event,...
Nature’s Blessing of Awe
Image by Moaz Tobok on Unsplash No matter how little attention we pay to the outside world and the magical shifts of life turning from season to season, nature has ways of getting our attention as if to prod us back into wonder and awe. One morning in early fall, I...
The Beauty of Winter Trees
Natural settings can speak to people, make them feel at home. One of my sisters has been attracted to oceans, another to the desert. For me, it is forest settings that have always beckoned. Every morning, I feel a sense of peace and gratitude as I look out my...
Ethnobotany
Laura Emerson Alaskauu1.substack.com Nature’s grand vistas of mountain ranges and oceans are certainly awe inspiring, but so, too, are the riches that lie beneath our feet and within arm’s reach. Let’s pay attention to a patch of nature close to us. One of my...