Mayan Ruins. Photo courtesy Bob Smith.

Have you heard? The world is coming to an end on December 21, 2012. It must be true, because Hollywood’s made a blockbuster movie about the impending disaster titled 2012 starring John Cusack.

What are the claims that people are making to back up their end-of-times date of December 21, 2012? The biggest one is that the date marks the end of a 394-year period in the Mayan calendar. This interval of time, known as a “long cycle,” has been named Baktun 13. As a cycle, it repeats itself just as our modern calendar ends and repeats itself. Mayans counted their cycles from 1 to 13, which means that at the end of 13, the cycle begins again, not that time suddenly ends all together.

Photo courtesy Jenny Coyle.

Freedom which does not lead to fixed phases of development, representing exactly what nature once was, or will be, or could be….Freedom which merely demands its rights, the right to develop, as great Nature herself develops.

              —Paul Klee, On Modern Art, Faber Paperbacks.

This freedom Klee describes is what I think is at the heart of good poetry.

Is there such a thing as a “nature poet” or even nature-based poetry? I don’t think so.

Those labels assume that we know what Nature is, and that others like human beings and the urban environment are distinctly separate.

They also assume that the content of poetry defines the deeper issues that poetry wrestles with, and the ineffable ones it intimates.

This month’s SIERRA magazine has a great discussion on eco-friendly coffee, in which coffee experts picked some of their favorite growers, distributors, and roasters around the world. The panel picked coffees that were “planet-positive” based on a number of factors, like social responsibility, organic growing techniques, and fair-trade practices.

So, sure, we all want to be well-caffeinated with eco-friendly coffee -- but what does that have to do with birds? Well, although the contributors to that article don’t mention it specifically, many of the coffees they picked (including from Taylor Maid Farms and Counter Culture Coffee) are shade-grown, which is an essential element to a coffee being “bird friendly.”

Here's what you need to know. You might also want to read the more-detailed Contest Rules.

Once you've joined the group, you'll see the option on the left to "add a picture" to the group gallery -- that's how photographers submit their entries. Be sure to give your photo a title and caption!

Here's how the judging works:
-- Members of the Trails Monthly Photo Contest group will vote by leaving a positive comment (or even "I vote for this photo") on the best photos based on this criteria: 10% conformity to theme, 40% originality, and 50% artistic quality.
-- Voting ends on November 20 at noon. The photo with the most positive comments is the People's Choice Winner (though there is no prize for that distinction).
-- The top five vote-getters will go on to our panel of judges -- comprised of Sierra magazine and Sierra Club website designers, who will pick a Grand Prize Winner based on the criteria.

The winners will be announced on Trails on November 24.

What are you waiting for?! Join the group and enter your best shots. Then let your friends know that they, too, can join the group and submit their own photos or vote for other entries.

Questions? Leave a comment on this blog post.

                                                           -- Tioga Jenny

Image of the Witch Head Nebula, Credit: NASA/STScI Digitized Sky Survey/Noel Carboni

One of my favorite nebulas in the Universe is the Witch Head Nebula, or IC 2118. The nebula looks strikingly like a Halloween hag seen in profile, and it rises late on the evening of October 31, a wonderful treat on a night known for its tricks.

The Witch Head Nebula lies next to Rigel, the brightest star in the constellation Orion. Bluish Rigel marks the bottom right corner of the constellation and is sometimes described as Orion’s left knee. The gas and dust of the Witch Head Nebula is reflecting the light from the blue supergiant star, which is off the image to the right. In larger images of this scene, the “eye” of the witch appears to be looking at Rigel.

The nebula itself is quite enormous, more than two degrees across, or four times the size of a full moon. The star that appears near the ear of the witch is 65-Psi Eridani, shining at magnitude 4.8. Even though the Witch Head is identified as being close to Orion, technically it lies across the border in the constellation Eridanus the River. The Witch Head Nebula is approximately 1,000 light-years from Earth.

This year on Halloween, another interesting astronomical sight lies in the east late at night. The reddish dot that marks Mars can be found at the center of the Beehive Cluster for this evening only. It will make a hauntingly beautiful target for astrophotographers, who are sure to capture an image to die for as the God of War enters a hive full of swarming bees.

Don’t forget you’ll have an extra hour to stargaze on Halloween night because November 1 marks the end of Daylight Saving Time.

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Kelly Kizer Whitt loves clean, clear, and dark skies. Kelly studied English and Astronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and worked for Astronomy magazine. She is currently the Feature Writer for Astronomy and Space at Suite101.com. You can follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/Astronomommy

Photo courtesy John Gould.

We, the mortals, touch the metals,

the wind, the ocean shores, the stones,

knowing they will go on, inert or burning,

and I was discovering, naming all these things:

it was my destiny to love and say goodbye.

                  —Pablo Neruda, “XV,” Still Another Day

Nothing is more satisfying, I think, than to read an accomplished poet nearing the end of his life, with no sign of slowing down, intellectually or spiritually.

When I first read Pablo Neruda’s Still Another Day, I was struck by a poet who knew he did not have long to live, and by a body of work with no indication of backing down, or fading into the sentimental or romantic. In two days in 1969, Neruda wrote 433 verses of a sustained and fierce poem that squarely meets nature and the human condition.

Life is fleeting, and nature is both in and beyond us. Neruda gave me a profound insight, and left the mystery still intact. That’s what I want from poetry.

You know it's a cardinal by sight. But would you recognize it by its song alone? Photo © by Motorrad67

If you’ve ever gone on a birding walk with a local expert, you might have been amazed (and jealous) about his or her ability to pick birds out that you can’t even see. Many good birders use their ears as much as their eyes, having spent years refining the art/skill of birding “by ear”, or the ability to find and identify birds by their song or their simpler call notes.

I’m the first to admit that I’m not at all good at birding by ear; my wife (who also has an uncanny knack for remembering song lyrics) is much better at it than I am. But I certainly appreciate how it helps and enhances your overall birding experience. And you don’t need to be like some of our friends who can stand outside at 4 a.m. during fall migration and identify the chip notes of warblers and thrushes flying overhead. Talk about jealousy!

I once read a great piece of advice about how to get better about birding by ear.

Eagle Cliff on Cypress Island, British Columbia. Photo by Ann Kruse.

Something that struck me as I watched the National Parks series on PBS last month was how much John Muir loved being outside. He also loved getting other people out there, so they could experience the same joy he felt. And there were also times he took them along so they'd be motivated to help protect wild places.

I'm proud to say that, thanks to Muir and other early Sierra Club leaders, our Outings program has 100 years of experience as an outfitter for environmental travel. We've got it nailed -- and you don't have to believe me. Sierra Club Outings has been named one of the "best adventure travel companies" by National Geographic Adventure, and is in the "50 Tours of a Lifetime" listing (see Camp Glacier) by National Geographic Traveler.

What I like is that there are trips suited for those who want to stay in a lodge and take short hikes during the day; paddle in  to tropical climes or near glaciers; backpack in extremely remote corners of the U.S., or in exotic international locales.  There are trips that focus on birding, art and writing, women-only backpack trips.

Here's a sampling.

• Snow: ski, snowshoe, or dog mush in Alaska, Canada and the Lower 48
  
• Backpack: trek through untouched wilderness with a team of hardy explorers
  
• Lodge: enjoy the outdoors by day and return each night to the comforts of home
  
• Service: mix work with play on a fun and rewarding volunteer vacation
  
• National Parks: see the best of our spectacular national parks
  
• International: visit exotic locales from Central America to the Far East

With more than 350 trips to choose from, I'm betting you'll find something that calls your name.

Tioga Jenny