Friday, December 20, 2019

Photographs of Minnesota Wildlife by N.G. Carlson




This past spring and summer, I took photographs of wildlife at Silverwood Park and Long Lake Regional Park north of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Other locations were outside the Bell Museum of Natural History, near my residence and at a woods north of the Twin Cities metro area. 

Spending time in nature during weekday mornings and on weekends made the spring, summer, and fall a wonderful experience. In the book you will meet Scruffy and Blue two Great Blue Herons who glided from one fishing spot to another stopping long enough for me to watch them groom themselves and patiently fish. 

A doe and the fawn on the cover of the book surprised me more than once on my morning walks. The wood duck and hooded merganser families spent time with each other raising their ducklings together. Turtles played tag under water and covered up the available logs on cool sunny days. 

I enjoyed listening to the sounds of songbirds and the hammering of the woodpeckers. I watched bluebirds diving on the grass to pick up insects and the osprey fishing for sunfish. Butterflies, bees, and dragonflies enjoyed the flowers and time on the lake.   

Photographing the wildlife was a walking meditation and an opportunity to capture the beauty in nature. It was a chance to observe and enjoy the dance of life. The book, Photographs of Minnesota Wildlife is available from Amazon in a paperback and kindle version. 

I appreciate the support from the Silverwood Camera Club and my editors Betsy Salvatore and Tammy K. Smith. 


Red Bellied Woodpecker - 21 seconds


Chipmunk - 51 seconds

Friday, November 15, 2019

Addiction is an emotional response to pain


From the BBC News IDEAS Studio: Author Gabor Mate suggests that dealing with trauma is the key to dealing with addiction.  Do not ask what is wrong with you. Ask what happened to you? If we can address the underlying trauma we can get at the reason for the addiction.

Dealing with trauma is addressed by Dr. James Gordon in his book The Transformation: Discovering Wholeness and Healing After Trauma.





Healing after trauma with Dr. James Gordon - 25 minutes




Monday, June 10, 2019

Laboratory Ergonomic Experiences Article

Long pipettes cause wrist poor wrist posture - N. Carlson
Mike May interviewed Sivonne Suraj and me for an article on laboratory Ergonomic Experiences that appeared in Labcompare.com on June 3, 2019. I appreciated the opportunity to work with Mr. May and I picked up some useful ideas from Seuraji. 

As noted in Mr. May's article, some relatively straightforward changes can reduce the potential for injury laboratory personnel.  Please view some additional tips from the Mayo Clinic below. 


Lab Ergonomic tip #1 from the Mayo clinic - 2 min. 



Lab Ergonomic tip #2 from the Mayo clinic - 2 min.



Lab Ergonomic tip #3 from the Mayo clinic - 1 min.

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Get Britain standing web site

Get Britain Standing.org an excellent website packed with helpful information about the hazards of prolonged sitting and ways to get moving and reduce the sedentary lifestyle.

There is a summary of European regulations on a safe office environment

The website also highlighted a recent January, 2019 article in Occupational Health and Wellbeing notes that replacing sitting time with activity reduces the onset of early death by up to 35 %. 



Dancing at work - On your feet Britain - 4 min. 



How to be healthy sitting at your desk - 3 min. 


Stand up for health in your office - 21 minutes