A C. T U. A L. L Y

On April 25th we went to Cerda for the 38 th annual Sagra del Carciofo , the artichoke festival.   Cerda bills itself as the artichoke capital of Sicily, and who am I to argue?   This little town, population 5,214, sits at the base of the Madonie mountains about 45 kilometers southeast of Palermo.   On a clear day, you can see the Mediterranean from town.   In addition to its artichokes, Cerda is famous for being the start and finish line of the Targa Florio, the world’s oldest open road endurance sports car race.   The course tears through the Madonie , down to the sea, and back, covering some 72 km of breathtaking scenery, various micro-climates, and 800 to 900 curves, more than a few of which are hairpin.   To put that in perspective, most modern purpose-built circuits normally have between 18 and 20 corners.   So, a hair-raising experience!  Below you can see that the original course was twice as long as today's.  The race w...

Jules Julien for The New York Times “You really can’t let people’s need for hope get in the way of the telling the truth.”   Ta-Nehisi Coates, American journalist and comic book writer “It’s the greatest fight in human history, one whose outcome will reverberate for geologic time, and it has to happen right now.”   Bill McKibben, climate activist and writer                                           Greta Thunberg at Brandenburg Gate Psychology plays a role in people's perceptions of climate change and their ability to deal with it.  Emotional reactions , both in the individual and in society at large, can run the gamut from denial to panic.  You might say there are six stages of climate grief:   dismissal, doubt, disengagement, caution, ...