January 27: Good Bye Tooth #18.

Old dentist equipment similar to when I was a kid.

Steps: 4,958

Activity: None

Book: Coyote America by Dan Flores

Another one of those horrid, awful days where I was unable to take a hike. Saw a client this morning and then off to the Dentist (oral surgeon) where I had my second (and hopefully last) tooth pulled. I lost my 12 year old molar, tooth #18, which gave me 44 years of valiant service before succumbing to a crack. Not fixable, so out it goes.

I went to the Dentist exactly twice between ages of 18 and 55. A dental phobia due to all my fillings having been done without Novocain. Dentistry has changed since those barbarous years, but, well, people aren't rational.

So after having the beast removed, I was under the directions to go home and rest for a day. Gonna jump on that one when I can.

Finally finished E.O. Wilson's Half Earth. I am all for the idea. In fact, I used to dream about such an arrangement back in high school. Wilson makes the argument that in order to save the millions of species (and he figures around 6 million haven't been discovered yet; with two million having been discovered). The book jacket claims it is a "how to" but really, it is more of a "this is why we have to" sort of book.

Can we really set aside half the Earth? Wilson seems overly optimistic when he states that technology makes things smaller and smaller, so that even with 10 billion on the planet by 2100, our footprints will be less. Seriously?

No. We still design cities poorly; and humans live where the habitat is best. For example, northern Nevada has about one decent river. Most of the space by that river is increasingly being taken up by housing. The critters are pushed out. I watched the houses and sprawl go up around Reno, especially around the Truckee River, and it broke my heart knowing that migration patterns of deer would be damaged forever.

Morally, we need to set aside half the Earth. A worthy pursuit for the rest of my life.