All human societies have had to reflectively deliberate on the relationship they have with the ‘more than human world’ (David Abrams’ phrase). Hunter-gatherer or pastoralist societies, with their rites and rituals, expressed their awe and subjugation in the face of personified natural forces. Monotheistic religions gathered that personification into one…

(or is there one?) It won’t surprise those of you who know anything about my philosophy that I don’t see a role for ethics in the ecological emergency, nor for morality. We are in and of this emergence and emergency as surely as everything else. …

If you could only understand how powerful it is to be alive right now, how much power there is in the words people say, how much power there is in the things, living and more than living, with which we interact. If only we could open our minds a bit…

From some perspectives, there is no emergency whatsoever to view: the so-called emergency has been exaggerated, hyped up or even invented. From others, we are doomed no matter what we do. I referred to Richard Watson’s observation: perhaps we are an evolutionary cul-de-sac, destined to be burned up in our…

A reflection on memory, personhood, and grief My mother always had an amazing sense of direction. I inherited it, to a lesser degree, but even now, if you put me on the side of a hill, here in Lanzarote, I can generally make my way, following signs like wind direction, water courses, and growth patterns, down towards…

We are all appalled at the forced migration crisis here in Lanzarote. Refugees from all over Africa, with huge numbers particularly from Senegal, make the long and dangerous crossing in wooden boats either directly, or sometimes with the help of the authorities in Morocco or other jurisdictions, who allow people…

I’m spending the winter in Lanzarote. It’s beautiful. We are in Guime, which is a little village about five miles inland from Playa Honda. We are here for a few weeks, and then we will move down to Playa Honda where we will spend the rest of the winter. It’s…

There are only around 600 Houbara Bustards left in the Canary Islands, and yesterday we were exceptionally fortunate to spot at least ten of these, in a flock, as we walked down from San Bartolome to Arrecife. It was extremely hot, and we hadn’t intended to walk that far —…

Today I finished George Monbiot’s book, This Can’t Be Happening. I will leave it here in Guime, on the shelf of books that people leave behind in the Bed and Breakfast, the crime fiction and Marian Keyes, James Patterson and Maeve Binchy, fainting blondes and murders and other assorted holiday…