by Saber Slate | Apr 21, 2023 | Writing, Writing & Art
GENRE – Prose Poem
I stood alone, in the center of the forest, on the long, winding, concrete trail. I listened to the trees bristling in the gentle breeze, the leaves scraping against one another as they ebbed and flowed with the wind, along with the chirping of the birds high up in the treetops. I felt the wind through my hair and along my limbs as it flurried around my body. I looked around the forest, spots of sun filtered in through the canopy and dappled the ground, highlighting the earth, the leaves that lay on it, and the trunks of fallen trees. Each trunk was different in shape, size, color, and age. It was almost as if I was standing at the center of a battlefield from a war waged long ago, between earth and sky. For a moment, there was peace, calm, and serenity. Slowly, the smell of petrichor gathered in my nose as the sky gradually darkened and the chirping of the birds died down. I heard the rain begin to fall as the sky became darker, like an early sunset. Through the canopy, I witnessed a bright flash of light from the sky, followed shortly thereafter by a thunderous boom. It was then I realized that the battle was not over, and that this forest was a lone soldier in the eons long war between the kingdoms of earth and sky. I was merely a beetle on a tree, a spectator to the earth’s majesty and the sky’s power, and yet, I felt as if I was home. I was not in control, and yet I had no fear.
by Saber Slate | May 23, 2022 | Column
This piece is by Morgan Weckman as part of her Civic Action Project:
Do you need ideas for NHS hours? Or are you looking for a volunteer experience that would benefit the Milwaukee area? If so, you should consider looking into pollution cleanup opportunities around Lake Michigan. It is not commonly known about the effects of pollution in the Great Lakes, but the reality is that pollution, especially plastic, is negatively affecting the ecosystem. Pieces of plastic are being found in animals, and microscopic pieces are even being found in treated drinking water.
According to the Rochester Institute of Technology, upwards of 22 million pounds of plastic end up in the Great Lakes every year. The problem with plastic is that it doesn’t decompose; it just breaks up into smaller and smaller parts, eventually forming microplastics. These microplastics then circulate around the environment, and can even evaporate into the atmosphere. They can also absorb a variety of chemicals, many of which are toxic. This leads to many concerns about possible effects on humans and animals as plastic makes its way into the food chain. According to a study that took fish from the Milwaukee, St. Joseph, and Muskegon rivers, about 85% of those caught had ingested microplastics. Without preventing and cleaning up pollution, this number will continue to rise and pose an even larger threat to the ecosystem. Many experts worry about the rise in animal deaths from ingesting toxins and suffocation (resulting from mistaking litter for food) and rightly advocate for cleaning up pollution before the ecosystem collapse.
This is where you come in. The most effective method of preventing pollution is reducing the use of plastic, especially single-use plastics such as plastic straws or water bottles. However, this won’t solve the problem of millions of pounds of plastic and other pollutants currently in Lake Michigan. We need to clean up what’s already out there. Many organizations throughout the Milwaukee area hold cleanups along shorelines, many of which accept volunteers. Not only one thing will solve this problem, but any little bit helps.
Check out these organizations:
Milwaukee Riverkeepers: an organization whose “mission is to protect, improve and advocate for water quality, riparian wildlife habitat, and sound land management in the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic River Watersheds.” They hold a variety of events and programs, their most well-known being the adopt-a-river program. This program allows anyone to “adopt” a part of a river in the Milwaukee River Basin, and pick up litter at least two times per year.
View their website at milwaukeeriverkeeper.org.
Alliance for the Great Lakes: an organization committed to keeping the Great Lakes clean. They do a lot of advocacy and cleanup around the Great Lakes. There are many volunteer and event opportunities throughout the year, including an Adopt-A-Beach program.
View their website at greatlakes.org/get-involved/.
by Saber Slate | May 28, 2020 | News
Megan Wallrath: “My name is Megan Wallrath and I am a Freshman student in the InRoads program. We have an end of the year project with a problem-solution theme. I have chosen to make my problem about how students (in particular) don’t know that much about OCD and don’t treat it with the severity that they should. My solution to this problem has been researching about it and informing the community. ”
Check out the link to Megan’s amazing website and learn a thing or two about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
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by Saber Slate | May 4, 2020 | Opinion & Reviews
Quarantine is a lot of stress for some people. Many businesses are closed, but a few essential ones are still open, such as fast food, grocery stores, gas stations, hospitals, and more. Probably one of the most popular forms of business right now is takeout. While dining rooms in restaurants may be closed, drive thrus are still open, very much so. So popular in fact that they wrap around buildings and onto roads. Today I’ll be rating takeout. This will be a rating based on wait times, food quality, and price.
I’ll start with Culver’s. Culver’s is one of the most popular Wisconsin based fast food chains. But it’s not really fast food, per se, because they make everything fresh. But it’s good stuff and they have good custard as well. The price of quality is a bit higher so expect to spend a bit more when you’re here. Since this place is popular, expect a bit of a wait time. But in my opinion, it’s well worth it.
Next up is a bit of a contrast from the first one, McDonald’s. It’s like how the Krusty Krab is to the Chum Bucket in Spongebob. One is genuine, quality food, and the other may as well be actual garbage. But it’s cheap and fast if you’re looking for something to eat and fast. Their coffee isn’t too bad either. McDonald’s is popular however, so drive thrus may be busy. But since this place is fast food, the line will move pretty fast, and you won’t pay too much.
On the topic of coffee, let’s talk about Starbucks. This is probably the most popular cafe in the country, with hundreds of locations located around the continental United States. But the fact that it’s popular means that it’s busy. And it feels like it’s always busy. When I talked about the drive thru queue wrapping around buildings, this is what I meant. People will wait forever to get their coffee fix. To be honest, it’s not even worth the wait. In the time it takes to wait in the line at Starbucks, I could already be finished with my own coffee at home. Lately I’ve been digging that whipped coffee recipe that uses instant coffee mix, it’s good stuff. I gotta give props to the Starbucks workers though, you deal with a lot of people and it can’t be easy to keep everyone happy, especially during a pandemic.
This article’s getting a bit long, so I think I’ll start a part two sometime. Let me know in the comments which fast food/takeout place to review next and I’ll get on it. I’d like to give a huge shout out to all the workers in fast food and retail, you’re keeping us going.
