WriterByNature.com

September 29, 2007 6:23 pm

I just played the consumer consequences game. Thanks to my friend Abby for sending me the link.

My score was 1.9 I’m pretty good, but as frugally as I live, it would still take two planets to support my lifestyle. (more…)

September 28, 2007 8:12 pm

It’s been hot and sunny for a couple of weeks. A significant weather front passed by, but my area got virtually nothing in the way of rain.

What we did get, was a brief thunderstorm around 5:15 EDT. I haven’t seen a rainbow in almost three years. Actually there are two rainbows.

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September 26, 2007 9:55 pm

It’s a warm, clear night and this month’s full moon, the full harvest moon, dominates the sky. I see no stars.

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September 23, 2007 6:05 am

This is one of two days in a calendar year when the length of day and night are the same. In my neck of the woods, the official time is 5:51 EDT this morning. From here on, the nights will be getting longer. (more…)

September 20, 2007 6:06 am

Ever since I bought Gary Lincoff ’s National Audubon Society Field Guide to Mushrooms, I’ve been looking for an opportunity to meet him. I got my chance last night. (more…)

September 19, 2007 1:27 am

This recipe is one of my favorites.

Follow my acorn preparation instructions, then add venison. Venison is farmed in many places, so even if you don’t hunt, this is a treat. (more…)

September 17, 2007 7:29 pm

Black walnuts are nutritious and well worth the effort to gather. This is a messy activity, so be sure to wear old clothes, old sneakers and cover your hands with gloves, unless you want to be dye-stained for several weeks.

Here’s what the tree looks like:

Here’s a closeup of the branch and the nut:

If you have a paved, flat driveway and an area with a picnic table, it’s easier to clean a large quantity of nuts.

These instructions come from my foraging buddy, George Johanson, who not only works hard to harvest these treats, but shares them with everyone he meets. (more…)

September 11, 2007 6:06 pm

In the past two weeks, my ceiling collapsed and my refrigerator died, taking all my frozen wild edibles with it. I feel blessed. I’m alive. And these problems have solutions.

Having lived in NYC for 20 years and worked in the twin towers, it’s hard not to think about what happened on this day six years ago.

On September 11, 2001, I owned a home outside of NYC and had been running my Virtual Assistant business for a little over one year.

In the ensuing six years I don’t feel spiritually, emotionally or financially better off. We have lost many of our civil rights and we have made life so much worse for people in other parts of the world.

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September 10, 2007 9:29 am

I love watching flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus) on a warm summer night.

They really should be called gliding squirrels, because what allows them to be airborne is a loose flap of skin called the PATAGIUM. (more…)

September 5, 2007 11:21 am

Here’s an excerpt from my journal notes while attending the COMA Foray.

Spending three days with mushroom enthusiasts involves a great deal more than finding, identifying and eating the edible ones. In the last 24 hours I have learned more about the lives of mushrooms than I ever imagined.

In the animal world, there are males and females, but in the world of fungi, there are four genders or mating factors. Mycologist Leon Shernoff defined them as A, a, B, b. So that A mates with a, and B mates with b. (more…)