The New York Times features the Villa Charlotte Brontë, 17 co-ops overlooking the Hudson River. With the winding staircases and sidewalks, ivy overgrowth and organic structure, you’d think this the Rivendell imagined for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings series. But it’s in the Bronx.
Tags: Villa Charlotte Bronte
As we learn more and more about climate change, we are stunned by its bizarre effects. In one of the oddest effects of climate change that I have heard, recent studies and anecdotal evidence have uncovered that lands once burdened by the weight of glaciers actually rise when the glacier melts. From the New York Times:
The geology is complex, but it boils down to this: Relieved of billions of tons of glacial weight, the land has risen much as a cushion regains its shape after someone gets up from a couch. The land is ascending so fast that the rising seas — a ubiquitous byproduct of global warming — cannot keep pace. As a result, the relative sea level is falling, at a rate “among the highest ever recorded,” according to a 2007 report by a panel of experts convened by Mayor Bruce Botelho of Juneau.
Greenland and a few other places have experienced similar effects from widespread glacial melting that began more than 200 years ago, geologists say. But, they say, the effects are more noticeable in and near Juneau, where most glaciers are retreating 30 feet a year or more.
This Times article tells the story of a man who was able to build a golf course on land that was once underwater. While the anecdote is charming, the news isn’t all that great.
As a result, the region faces unusual environmental challenges. As the sea level falls relative to the land, water tables fall, too, and streams and wetlands dry out. Land is emerging from the water to replace the lost wetlands, shifting property boundaries and causing people to argue about who owns the acreage and how it should be used. And meltwater carries the sediment scoured long ago by the glaciers to the coast, where it clouds the water and silts up once-navigable channels.
A must read for anyone interested in the complexities of the climate crisis.
Tags: Alaska, climate crisis
I have been interested in furniture craft as long as I can remember. In recent years, as I’ve become more interested in antiques and Americana, I have been exposed more than ever to the art of furniture-making. Learning about all things furniture has become a private hobby of mine.
Last year, I found a series of woodshop classes online at a place called 3rd Ward in Brooklyn. I was originally going to start an introduction class in February but I sat on it for a while and then never set it up. Caitlin and her family bought me the class for my birthday and today I had my first class.
There are two objectives to this class. First, to create a mallet which I will then use to fit joints, etc. Second, to create a small end table. The mallet is a good introduction it seems because it introduces you to all the basics: reading specs, tools, electric saws, safety, sanding, fitting joints, glue, etc.
Here’s my mallet so far…
We’re using a hardwood, red oak. Those two pieces of wood represent my first experience lowering a saw to make a cross cut and pushing a long plank through a table saw. (This was my goal for the day: to overcome the fear of saws.) I got a little further than this picture. I sanded soft corners for the handle of my mallet and I used the table saw to carve a mortice in the head of the mallet.
I also got some good reading tips and a whole lot more perspective on furniture. The folks at 3rd Ward were really nice. The class was very casual. And we were invited to hang back for the place’s 3rd Anniversary party and have some lunch and a drink. There was a class in a half hour about reclaiming lumber but I decided to head home.
I’ll continue writing here about my woodshop experience.
