Just so you know, I think The Life of Meaning has potential to be the archeological version of what John Hawks is to paleoanthropology or Chris to cognitive psychology. Mark's latest post is titled The War on Trees, which caught my eye in light of this story in The Times that chronicles the expansion of wilderness in much of Europe due to the graying of the populace and the depopulation of the countryside. This waxing of the wild isn't just limited to Europe, here in the United States wolves are on the march again, reflecting both the change in general public attitudes and the diminishing of the rural populace which held the animals at bay with surreptitious hunting. And if you've ever driven through Vermont, you might be shocked to know that one century ago most of the state was farmland, and the rich foliage that characterizes the state today is due to secondary growth as farmlands that were abandoned by Yankees because of competition from fertile large scale operations out in the middle of the country.