All posts filed under: Mother Nature

Mother Nature: Good Reads

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By Leslie Lindsay Looking for some fun, light reading this summer?  Something to toss into your beach/pool bag?  Well, I am not going to suggest the 50 Shades triology…though I am reading it. It’s not that it’s bad (well, it kind of is), but it’s just not worthy of a recommendation (at least in my humble opinion).  My book group is reading it because our theme for the month of June is “romance.”  And technically, the 50 Shades trilogy qualifies as an erotic romance.  Now that I am in book 2, I can see the romance piece, though just barely.  In some ways, I feel as though I am reading something the author just threw together in a haste…looking up adjectives and similies in her trusty thesaurus.  Wonder if there are some other words for “gray” and “lip biting??!” Okay, okay–I confess, it’s an okay beach read.  And I didn’t really set out to do a review on 50 Shades, so I will stop.  I do, however want to share with you a couple of titles you …

Mother Nature: Saying Good-bye to School

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By Leslie Lindsay It may be that I am the worst mother in town.  You see, I love my kids…but I don’t want school to be out for summer.  Nope.  No way.  Nada.  Sure, they are excited.  And I remember that joyous, carefree feeling of flying out of the school doors on the last day and thinking, “Whoo—hoo!  Good-bye school and heeellllooo summer.”  As an elementary kid, that was just about the best feeling in the world.  I had it all planned out in my mind:  pool and trips to the local attractions like the zoo and Six Flags, if I could get mom to take me. In all honesty, my summers were pretty fun.  It didn’t always mean the big pool, but perhaps the plastic one with the built-in-slide shaped like a turtle.  It meant popsicles and the smell of mom’s Hawaiian Tropic suntan oil (back before we cared about high SPF).  It meant mac ‘n cheese for lunch everyday because I wasn’t buying school lunch. Yet, I wonder how my mom felt about …

Mother Nature:

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By Leslie Lindsay   (image retrieved from Amazon.com 5.25.12) Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection by Sarah Blaffer Hrdy (Sep 21, 1999) Are you my mother?!  Ever wonder how kids instinctively know who their mother is?  Or do they?  You likely know this concept as bonding/attachment/imprinting.  And according to Sarah Blaffer Hrdy’s book, Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection, this time period immediately post-partum (after the birth) is considered a “critical period.” Think back to the time when you were born.  Did your father attend your birth?  Was the room warm and dim, classical music playing? Was the room even referred to as a “birthing suite,” (or was it seperate, almost like an OR)?  Did your tiny infant self sleep next to your mother, nestled in a clear rolling “cart,” with newborn diapers and other baby accuroments nearby?  Likely not. In “those” days it was more likely you were born in a sterile “delivery” room with bright lights, loud noises, and nurses and doctors attending to your first view of the …

Mother Nature: George Eliot was a woman

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By Leslie Lindsay  (image retrieved May 19, 2012 from Amazon) I am still plowing through this large book, Mother Nature:  A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection, by Sarah Blaffer Hrdy as an effort to learn a bit more about the female psyche, how it was viewed in the past, and how we as women can continue to be progressive.  I know we have come a long way, but isn’t there always room for growth? I would like to introduce you to two “characters” from the Victorian time period: 1) The English novelist, George Eliot who was really a woman.  Yes, indeed, Mary Ann Evans wrote as George Eliot, back in the mid-late 1800’s when only respectable writers could be a man.  Gasp! 2) Social philosopher, Herbert Spencer (a contemporary of Charles Darwin, and widely read).  To Spencer, the surivival of the fittest meant “survival of the best and most deserving.”   His simple message was: the advantages you enjoy are deserved.  For Spencer, evolution meant “progress.”   Yet, the problem with Spencer’s reasoning was that the environment never changes; …

Mother Nature:

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By Leslie Lindsay “Mom. You know…the woman who gave Earth to you!”  This was “stolen” from 5-year old Ruby, a friend of my daughter’s who was talking to her little brother about just how great us moms are. In fact, the Italian  phrase, “dare alla luce”— “to give birth” literally means to “show light to,” or to “give to the light,” which would mean that young Ruby was on to something.  Yes, our mothers do a lot for us, among them, giving us Earth (or birth).  Yep, leave it to the Italians to bestow such poetic language to something as messy and troublesome as giving birth. However, I am not of that persuation.  In fact, I found that my experiences “birthing” my two daughters was not nearly as messy and troublesome as I had envisioned or seen depicted in the movies.  It wasn’t glamourous, no but it was an experience I am glad to have….well, under my belt (sorry, couldn’t resist). In doing some reading–mostly out of curiousity–but also because I want to explore the underpinnings of …