June 17, 2010 3:16 am
I’m really proud to be included with people I respect and even more delighted to have these last words in Wayne Hall’s Times Herald Record column:
“The fact that the animals make it this far is a testament because the odds are very daunting,” says Highland Mills wildlife expert JJ Murphy of www.writerbynature.com. Still, she adds, spring is “a lovely time of birth and renewal.”
It feels good to be affirmed.
Living in the 21st Century, it’s easy to forget that, when dealing with the essential issue of survival, so much depends on luck and skill.
The days are still getting longer and at least I do not need a car to embrace woods time. That’s a good thing, since the $2000 I spent to fix up my now dead car is more than what the insurance company thinks the car is worth. As for the injuries I sustained, at least I have access to health care. In a survival situation, I’d be in very big trouble.
I am truly blessed as baby animals, having no idea what kind of critter I am, get closer than they should. Sometimes I get a great photo. Sometimes I just focus on the moment. I am deeply grateful to live in an area yet undevastated by human greed and incompetence.
I have a place to pray and meditate. I hope my prayers are heard.
May 28, 2010 6:26 pm
Years ago, when I began observing the natural world while hidden in a blind, I used to set out bird seed, which attracted more than birds. The squirrels would typically startle the birds and then ravage the feeders.
It took me a very long time to realize that a naturalist cannot interfere. Every time I tried to discourage the squirrel “invaders” I created my own physical and mental obstacles to blending in and really seeing, not just observing.
Over time the actual squirrels have become a metaphor for writer’s block. (more…)
April 5, 2010 6:02 am
This is the story of how my younger sister Mindy “vanished” temporarily when she was a toddler.
One year, during mud season Mr. Maybeck’s truck got stuck after picking up a load of 250 cases of eggs from our chicken farm. The truck was finally liberated, leaving deep ruts in the earth. By summer, the grass had lined the ruts, making these depressions a perfect place for wildlife to curl up and take a nap.
When I was growing up, most kids spent summer days outdoors from daybreak to dinnertime. One of the places we played was an open area in front of the chicken coop on our family farm, where honeysuckle and wild berries grew all through July and August.
Human toddlers are a lot like wildlife. When my mom called us to wash up before supper, no one could find my three-year-old sister, Mindy. For the next hour or so, our neighbors scoured the neighborhood calling and looking for my sister.
Who knows how much longer we would have searched, but Mindy, fully rested, woke from her nap and popped up out of the hole, like a woodchuck. She had been in such a deep sleep, or perhaps shielded from sound by the earth, that she never heard anyone calling. She had also been so well camouflaged that she was, in fact, hiding in plain sight.
No two members of my family recall a shared experience the same way. Except for this memory. Years later, my Dad, Mindy and even my Mom, for whom the retelling of most tales made them taller, have told this story the same way.
February 23, 2010 8:14 am
In my quest to improve my skills as a naturalist and a writer, I have been blessed to develop friendships with many respected nature writers, including Jim Capossela.
Writers like Jim often send written, rather than spoken messages. In our first email exchange, I learned that we have both adopted “Happy Trails” to sign off our correspondence.
Do brilliant minds think alike? (more…)
February 16, 2010 8:37 am
I have been a Michael Pollan fan since I read The Omnivore’s Dilemma
. In his current book, Food Rules
, Rule Number 31 is: Eat Wild Foods When You Can. I want to hug him. He gets it.
This latest book follows In Defense of Food
which suggests we: “Eat food. Not too much Mostly plants.” Ironically, Pollan’s complete book titles are longer than the core message. His skillful writing keeps me reading.
I aspire to Pollan’s mastery of word conservation and his diplomacy. What he calls “edible foodlike substances,” I call “corporate chemical concoctions.” (more…)
January 17, 2009 8:27 am
I love to play with words, which motivates my 20th Century brain to attempt to follow the ever-changing 21st Century rules.
When brain is composting, I often make lists of baffling English words. Years ago I came up with a list of paradoxical words that had opposite meanings. Among my favorites were:
- Clip –what you do to a coupon, or what you do with a paper clip
- Note –what’s written on paper, or a specific tone a musical instrument makes
- Sanction – which can mean either to permit or to penalize
- Seed – to plant them for food, or to remove them from food
- Seeded – added to the bread’s crust, or removed from fruit or vegetables
- Shade – a color’s hue, or refuge from the sun under a tree or large object
- Trunk – what grandma packed for a voyage, or a tree’s stem
Context is crucial to the meaning of these words. If you teach English as a second language, you have my deepest respect.
Apparently I’m not the only writer to ponder this baffling ambiguity. My clumsy keyword search did lead me to this website: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~cellis/antagonym.html.
The writer claims to have created the word ANTAGONYMS to describe this group of words. That works for me. The author was also kind enough to create a longer list than my few examples, including slang circa 1999.
November 25, 2008 6:50 am
“A chorus of our differences,” Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Booker said in a recent interview.
Do you ever wonder why metaphors work? Or more important, how to write a powerful metaphor?
Let’s start with what a metaphor is:
A well-written metaphor forms a bridge connecting two apparently unrelated things, providing logical balance to both sides. A poorly written metaphor distracts the reader.
When they efficiently create an image in the reader’s mind, metaphors also help develop the theme.
Consider how Barbara Kingsolver masters this technique in ANIMAL DREAMS:
“The man had a compass needle in his cerebral cortex. And for all that, he’d still in the long run declined to be the guiding star I needed.”
Try this exercise to build your metaphor-writing skills: (more…)
November 21, 2008 8:01 am
This is one of a series of articles designed to equip any naturalist with words that enhance learning and make field observation easier. Whether you’re a forager or a gardener, it’s useful to have a common vocabulary when talking about how plants grow. Here is a list of the more commonly used words for:
Flower Parts (more…)
October 25, 2008 9:21 pm
This is one of a series of articles designed to equip any naturalist with words that enhance learning and make field observation easier. Here are the botanical terms for:
Plant Parts Below the Soil
Root – supports the stem and stores water and food for the plant.
Rhizome – a stem growing underground, often horizontally.
Tuber – a swollen, fleshy part of an underground stem.
Bulb – an underground leaf, which stores nutrient reserves.
Corm – an underground stem, which stores food.
(more…)
October 15, 2008 6:47 am
As if harvesting blueberries and acorns simultaneously isn’t surprising enough, I was really shocked to see this blueberry plant flowering. Yes, the climate is changing.
In the autumns of my childhood, blueberries were no longer ripening in September, color was past peak by mid-October, and witch hazel bloomed after their leaves and nuts fell in November .
I’m tempted to stress out over the political decision-making that has contributed to climate change (not to mention our economic woes), but it’s leaf season and as long as there are autumn displays, I will honor them.
(more…)
