Dr. Theo Colborn raised children on a farm in Colorado before returning to graduate school at the age of 55 to fuel and further her passion to prevent harm to the environment from endocrine disrupting chemicals. Her organization TEDX collects and distributes scientific evidence about these chemicals.www.endocrinedisruption.org.

In this excerpt from our interview, which took place on the rim of the Black Canyon in Colorado, she describes a miraculous event that happened one day many years ago in the life of her son working on the family farm. What I deeply respect about Theo and her work is its high degree of basic common sense. Like Rachel Carson and others, she starts at home, by just looking at the world around her and seeing what is beautiful and miraculous… and what needs some attention and action.

One weekend every spring, my family and I head to Montville, Maine for a weekend immersion in American fiddle music… at the Maine Fiddle Camp, run by Doug Protsik and originally founded by Greg Boardman.  Two years ago, a group of women in the Newell family entertained with a very moving a capella version of the tune Now is the Cool of the Day.  The song was written by Jean Ritchie.  To my ear and eye, it conjured up the image of a slow moving river, winding through an open and mature woodland.  No question, it belonged in this film!  With a little searching, we found such a place near us, at the Tanglewood 4H Camp and Learning Center.  A spectacular location (and an intriguing camp for connecting to the Maine outdoors).

We filmed Tim Eriksen sat riverside and worked up a version of this tune on his banjo, finishing it off with an echoing flourish.  Enjoy.

In his book Last Child in the Woods, author Richard Louv points out that teaching children about the “abuses of nature” at too young an age can be problematic. He relates his learning from David Sobel, co-director of the Center for Place-Based Education at Antioch New England Graduate School.  Some kids in the 2nd and 3rd grade are taught more about an imperiled rainforest in Brazil or a seal hunt in Canada than they are about a nearby meadow and woodland. This can overly frighten and burden these children, and also lead some to become excessively romantic and overly protective of animals.

I’ve seen these children, for whom every creature becomes a character in a Disney film. The basic realities, grace, and back-and-forth that could be learned about -say, birds eating insects- are left out. These children don’t understand that Lion Kings eat Bambis, and that the need for sustenance doesn’t make the lion a villain. The food web of creation is not so simple.

Better to simply orient these younger kids towards their own associations with the nearby woods or backyard garden first. Save the heavier burdens of degradation until later. Cal DeWitt also spoke to me about this. More from Cal soon.

Cal DeWitt, a professor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin, speaks about his earliest exposure to Creation. His wonderful wife Ruth takes two of their grandchildren into the marsh behind their house on their weekly expedition.

Awe and wonder. These fundamental responses to the natural world are a powerful starting point for discussion of how to live rightly.

“There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings.” Thus begins Rachel Carson’s fable for tomorrow, the 3-page long first chapter to her 1962 book Silent Spring. Her text continues; a chronicle of disconnect between bee and apple tree, between hen and chick, between morning and the dawn chorus. A necessary and painful re-read in the heart of spring hope.