Introducing Arcol-o-Gist

Arcola: my hometown.

Gist:

effect: the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work

kernel: the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

But this blog will wander far afield. I can't look at the central themes of life in Arcola without noticing their dependence on the course of events in the wider world. Trends, trajectories.
Arcs.
Arcologist.

Sounds pompous, doesn't it? Well, feel free to comment.

Sounds close to "archeologist," a title which definitely doesn't apply to me. (But I do love to dig things up, especially the really interesting ideas that get buried in old news.)

I actually came up with the name by messing around with, among other things, "Arcola" and "ecologist." If there was ever any "-ogist" title that I could claim, "ecologist" would be the one. But I have too many interests, and hence too few credentials, to really measure up. Besides, I'm too many miles from a university library, and too many years from my general ecology training.

And I'm happy here. I have a slightly different view of the world than I might have as a "real" ecologist.

I hope you enjoy it.