I recently attended the 2024 Missouri River Valley Steam Engine Association (MRVSEA) Reunion in Boonville, where I saw many types of power generators used before electricity was available. Generally, this was from the 1870-1930s in this area. I saw huge steam generators that powered city-sized jobs as well as smaller units that ran a farm’s water pump. There was a mix of gasoline and diesel tractors. Engines that helped thresh wheat, baled straw, cut wood, made ice, kept hospitals running, turned on lights in schools and much more. It was a bit overwhelming.

One of the volunteers told me steam and then gas engines began on the east and west coasts, spreading to the Midwest in the way this happens. Cities and businesses had mostly achieved electricity by the 1920s and the Rural Electrification Act (1936) allowed farmers to upgrade their engine-ran tasks. For the next two to three decades, no one wanted the old machinery. Some of those engines were scrapped for the WWII war effort while others moldered in machine sheds. But in the late 1960-70s, people began to notice them, to restore them and to gather with like-minded people to keep the information alive. MRVSEA held their first show in 1963. Read how that came to be in an article from 2009. Continue reading “Steam Power!”

While selecting books for a display on the topic of “Traditional vs Modern,” I was surprised by how many books in the “modern” category seemed decidedly traditional. I found books on modern mending, modern knifemaking, Feng Shui modern and (this one made me laugh) modern cast iron. I have developed a theory, which I hope is true, that people have come full circle on some of their values. In the 1950s, advertisers tempted consumers with the idea of modern pushbutton homes that minimized housework and made daily chores simple. Dishwashers, washers, dryers and countless home gadgets eventually became daily fixtures. I believe people are now able to see the benefits and drawbacks of these developments and are forming a hybrid old/new way of life. Continue reading “Everything Old Is New Again”

Our 2024 One Read novel, “Migrations,” follows Franny Stone on board a fishing vessel as she chases what may be the last migration of the Arctic tern, a species with the farthest annual migration of any bird on Earth. The crew of the Saghani are at first interested in Franny’s promise to find fish while following the birds she’s tagged, but they soon take on her mission as their own, realizing that the fragile Arctic terns are a symbol of hope for the survival of the planet.

One question asked repeatedly throughout the novel is this (paraphrasing): “Is all lost, is it truly too late?” With her focus on the precarious future of the Arctic tern, Franny grasps at small signs for a hopeful future. Bold women like Franny are examples of those who take an unflinching view of the science and are willing to do the work to save our one and only home.

The following titles explore the lives and writings of scientists and activists who shouldn’t be the only voices in the wilderness begging for action, for responsive policies and for environmental justice for all. Is all lost? Is it truly too late? Only if we give up. Continue reading “Celebrating Women Environmentalists”