Articles by: Dr Shepherd Bliss

In Praise of Honey Bees

In Praise of Honey Bees

I attended a honeybee gathering recently at a wild place in rural Sebastopol. During my nearly 30 years of organic farming here, I have usually had honeybee hives on my farm. The berries need their pollination. We two-footeds can learn much from the winged honeybees, especially during this time of international crises. Such bees can help us at this time,[Read More…]

by — 31/07/2019 — Comments are Disabled — Environmental Protection
Love at First Sight—Old Man Adopts Dog

Love at First Sight—Old Man Adopts Dog

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” French Nobel Prize winner Anatole France Sebastopol, California: Searching for a dog, I recently visited three animal shelters. At the final one, I saw a dog that I instantly connected to. I consulted with my friend Debbie Melmon and decided to adopt her—one of the best decisions[Read More…]

by — 25/08/2018 — 1 comment — Life/Philosophy
Millions of  Students Demand “Never Again” to Gun Violence

Millions of  Students Demand “Never Again” to Gun Violence

Sonoma County, Northern California: Over a million students and allies walked out of classes in the U.S., from Maine to Hawaii, and elsewhere in the world on March 14. Ten days later, March 24, hundreds of thousands of defiant marchers flooded the streets in Washington, D.C., and at more than 800 places on every continent except Antarctica. What might they[Read More…]

by — 26/03/2018 — 1 comment — World
Thousands of Students Protest Gun Violence

Thousands of Students Protest Gun Violence

  Sonoma County, California: Driving through small-town Sebastopol on March 14 toward the Senior Center, this 73-year-old noticed groups of young students with signs gathering on downtown street corners and waving to motorists. These active participants in direct democracy joined thousands who walked out of schools across the U.S. and the world, organized by the Women’s March Youth branch. As[Read More…]

by — 16/03/2018 — 1 comment — World
Representation Image/ Photo by Derek Mindler

 How Falling Down Can Lead to Waking Up: Learning from Loss and Pain

  Sonoma County, California: The organic Kokopelli Farm has been my home, as well as my main work, identity, and love, for the last two-dozen years. Then I fell into a badger hole in the ground, covered by grass, on Jan. 15 this year. I crawled painfully uphill back into the house, as if I were a baby. This unwelcome[Read More…]

by — 15/02/2018 — Comments are Disabled — Life/Philosophy
Photo Credit: http://deathcafe.com

What Happens At A Death Café?

  Sonoma County, Northern California: Putting the words “death” and “café” together may seem unusual. In the United States, many of us ignore our own pending, inevitable mortality. Many Americans do not accept that they will surely die, much less talk openly about it with others, especially strangers. On the other hand going to one’s favorite café is something that[Read More…]

by — 11/01/2018 — Comments are Disabled — Life/Philosophy
Japanese American Internment Remembered, As Trump Rounds Up Immigrants

Japanese American Internment Remembered, As Trump Rounds Up Immigrants

Sebastopol, California: The Japanese American Citizens League held a “Day of Remembrance” at Sebastopol’s Enmanji Buddhist Temple on Feb. 18 in Northern California. Around 200 people marked the 75th anniversary of the incarceration of over 120,000 innocent West Coast Americans of Japanese ancestry in internment camps during World War II. “They were accused of a crime, sentenced without trial and[Read More…]

by — 21/02/2017 — 1 comment — World