Happy Friday, and welcome to another edition of PeaceLinks, where I gather up themed links about peace, cooperation, and the middle ground. Before I went traveling last week, I had squirreled away a few Notes and posts with a critter theme. When I got home yesterday and sat down with my file of possible links for this week, I realized that hidden in the animal posts was a pattern of pairs: canine and feline, human/non-human, domestic/wild, broken/whole, wanted/unwanted.
In this handful of pictures and words about pairs, the first authors caught my attention with a single compelling picture and scene - though clicking through to their Substacks opened up more.
If this canine-feline silhouette from
of — a new Substack launch — isn’t a picture of peace, I don’t know what is:(Welcome to Substack, Ben!)
I noticed two Substackers recently commenting about the beautiful and awkward interface of life with critters.
of replaced her lawn in Glasgow and attracted butterflies, one with a torn wing:(Also from Lindsay, read about mothers folding everyone into their care.)
of caught on video another injured critter — a gecko missing a tail, hanging out in her home in Italy. Inspired by Albert Schweitzer’s respect for animal life, she is trying to shoo a houseful of lizards out of doors without hurting any feelings. Start with her philosophical June post about the Nobel Peace Prize winner. Follow her for more updates on the evolving gecko story.
Inspired by Jan and Lindsay, I felt sure that
of would have something to say on the subject of cohabitation with critters, maybe even pollinators. The author of a hand-illustrated newsletter on sustainable urban futures did not disappoint. (Note: There is a newer Substack with the same name. You can’t miss Patrick’s hand illustrations.) Here’s a charming post from way back in 2021 about a home with indoor/outdoor insects:
I couldn’t help but think that yesterday’s issue of
by Andrew Smith was also relevant here. Andrew has been thinking about creative collaborations with Artificial Intelligence, and his latest post called “Collaborations” provides a gateway to his method of making peace with AI, as well as a list of his Substack collaborations with other writers on creativity and technology. The interface with bugs and animals isn’t the only perplexing one.
Humans may have been living a lot longer with animal companions, but isn’t AI a bit like a hatch of geckos in the house, a little bit wanted, and also unwanted?
Oh sure, it’s a crazy idea. Like Gene Kelly dancing with a mop. (See 1:47-2:50.)
These lists are nice! Rewilding lawns and butterflies, makes me want to do more of that here. Thank you!
PeaceLinks! I love the idea for this. Honored to be included in such great company. Thank you!