Spoiled /spɔɪld/ 1. destroyed, damaged, or no longer able to be used 2. someone…who is allowed to do or have anything they want, usually with the result that they behave badly and do not show respect.
Continue reading SpoiledCategory Archives: Nature & Garden
The Tree and the Chipmunk
As the demands of summer have presented themselves, I am becoming rather aware at how infrequent my posts are being written and published – not particularly great for readership. Finding the time and willpower to write while on vacation is not something I’ve yet conquered. We recently flew out to Colorado and Utah and saw so many amazing sites, including Arches National Park, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and went to the Aspen area to hike around Maroon Bells, each of which demands its own post, which I will attempt over the coming days. Today, however, I want to talk about chipmunks.
Continue reading The Tree and the Chipmunk
The Screwiest of Worms
There is so much to be worried about under Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Agriculture that it’s hard to pick which fear to unlock first. Years ago there was a show called “Monsters Inside Me” and I was obsessed. I learned that there is no greater fear than the botfly (for me) and I’ve been terrified of it since. That being said, there are far greater threats than the botfly, so I’m not saying it is a rational fear. But, unlike the botfly, the screwworm uses mammalian hosts to feed their larvae (maggots), while pupating in the soil.
Continue reading The Screwiest of Worms
A Power [Plant] Party
A couple of weekends ago my friend hosted a power point party. In case you’ve not heard of this, this is where everyone puts together a power point on any topic they wish to discuss and presents it at the party. It sounds like work, and it sort of is, but it is also a lot of fun. I won’t detail all of the power points that were presented that day, but there was everything from how beavers are little ecosystem engineers, saving wetlands and forests to musing over what makes something a door or a window to using one’s own acid-fueled dreams to demonstrate the energy and water cost of AI by depicting said dreams as simple AI comics. That last one was both a comedy of comical comics as well as a sad realization to what we are doing to the environment for a few lolz.
Continue reading A Power [Plant] Party
Two Pollinators
Last week, the world around me began to bloom. Mother nature pulled out her paint pallet and began to dab the Eastern U.S. in a thousand different colors we haven’t seen in months.
We aren’t the only ones who are waking up to see the new world. With every bud and blossom that emerges, so does another critter. To drink and feast on the sugars and chomp on the detritus in a dizzy display.
Continue reading Two Pollinators
Transitive Healing in Nature
I’m not sure how to change, but winter is always tough for me, partly because I refuse to go outside unless I have to. The walls and windows are a comfortable barrier between me and the outdoors, keeping me warm and snuggly inside. Unfortunately, warm and snuggly does not necessarily equate a complete, harmonious state of mental wellbeing.
Continue reading Transitive Healing in Nature
Misty Mornings
I’ve no idea why, but fog is one of my favourite weather events. There was always an abundance of fog in Germany where we lived, but seeing it in the heavily populated area of Maryland is rare.
Continue reading Misty Mornings
A Winter Hug
A chill emerges.
The air freezes
Then the Earth disappears.
The ground becomes stone.
Companions stand bare and silent
The Essential Need to Communicate
I think language is a fascinating thing. More broadly, I find how we communicate as we move through this world to be an incredible function of all living systems and beings.
Continue reading The Essential Need to Communicate
We Are Not the First Americans
The 24 hour news cycle has been a source of intentional exhaustion by this current administration. The constant flood of bad news and bad behaviour can drain a person to the brink of emotional fatigue – and yet, we are still likely missing most of what is happening out there.
Continue reading We Are Not the First Americans
One Health Stories 