Biking in the Rain

For the first time today I rode my bike home from work in a moderately heavy rainfall.  Up until now rain and wind have been the two weather forecasts that have kept me from biking to and from work; today, though, I didn’t pay much attention to the evening weather predictions and rode to work with dry pleasant weather, none the wiser to the inevitable rain of my evening commute.  As I saw the rain build throughout the day, I was unprepared for what biking in the rain might look like, but after the journey I can say that it was a rewarding experience that will make me think twice next time I head for the ‘el’ because of a chance of rain.

On my ride home, I was thinking about the shift in many people’s perspective of weather as they age.  As a child, rain is sometimes seen as an opportunity; rain means puddles, excitement, an adventure waiting to happen.  That same person, after twenty years, views rain in the opposite light:  rain means puddles, a nuisance, an obstacle through which one must drudge.  I was reminded then of the Romantic period of English literature, and the interest then in the loss on a connection with the natural world that comes with age.

In “Ode:  Intimation of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood,” William Wordsworth writes:

There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight,
            To me did seem
         Apparelled in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.
It is not now as it hath been of yore;-
      Turn wheresoe’er I may,
         By night or day,
The things which I have seen I now can see no more.

This passage laments the loss of a wonder that the natural world once inspired, a lament that is echoed by the Romantics throughout their writings.  While their poetry in many ways is not appurtenant to a contemporary audience, I have often found the Romantics’ reflections to be a simple but inspired reminder that despite the familiarity we may have developed with it, nature once was a source of wonder, and that it’s important to reflect on the innocence with which so many view nature as a child, lest a rainy day keep us from an opportunity, an adventure waiting to happen.

I’ll leave you now with another poem from Wordsworth which optimistically outlines a sustained awareness of one’s connection with and sense of wonder inspired from nature:

My heart leaps up

My heart leaps up when I behold
   A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a Man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
   Or let me die!
The Child is Father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.

 

Friday News Roundup

Here’s a look at the headlines of the week on the environmental front.  Have a great weekend, and let me know if there are any big news stories I seem to have missed.

 

Republican presidential nominee John McCain announced last Friday his decision to take Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running-mate.  As opposed to the Democratic National Convention last week, there has been very little mention of the environment at the Republican National Convention this week (in fact, not one utterance of “environment” in McCain’s acceptance speech), and Grist sheds a light on Palin’s relationship with the environment:  The eco-rundown on Alaska guv Sarah Palin, John McCain’s veep pick

The EPA on Thursday issued new rules on the allowable emissions from lawnmowers and speedboats.  By 2011, gas-powered lawnmowers must see a 35% reduction in smog-forming emissions, and there must be a 70% reduction in emissions from recreational watercraft:  EPA Tightens Engine Standards on Surf and Turf; Environmental Defense Fund Welcomes EPA Standards for Nonroad Gas Engines; EPA Issues New Engine Rules

The EPA has also criticized the fuel-economy standards set by the DOT for on-road vehicles.  Currently, the DOT is calling for a 31.6 mpg average for all vehicles by 2015; the EPA has announced concerns over the methodology that was used to read these figures, and essentially would like to see a further increase in vehicles’ fuel economy:  U.S. EPA criticizes DOT over fuel-economy standards; EPA: Transportation Dept off base on fuel estimate

In Ecuador, voters will have the chance to decide in a referendum to the constitution later this month whether or not to officially acknowledge the rights of nature among other reforms.  Should it pass, the reform would mark a revolutionary shift in how governments recognize the world around them:  Ecuador’s Correa has majority before key vote: poll; Putting nature in Ecuador’s constitution; Ecuador constitution would grant inalienable rights to nature

And last, lest we forget that global-warming is a real issue that greatly affects the world’s landscape and not simply a political ideology, two stories from the BBC report on ice-shelf loss in Canada and stronger tropical storms throughout the world:  Major ice-shelf loss for Canada; Warming boosts strongest storms