WriterByNature.com

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…)

August 5, 2007 8:29 am

I came home from yesterday’s COMA walk loaded down with new mushrooms to sample.

I actually learned about milky cap (lactarius) mushrooms. I spent the rest of the day photographing them, looking them up in my reference sources and doing what I could to imprint this new knowledge.

I just sautéed the lactarius (hygrophoroides, I think) and it is delicious.

(more…)

April 7, 2007 6:23 am

Any spoken language will change as new inventions, technologies or circumstances change our lives.

I am reading Robert Winkler’s Going Wild: Adventures with Birds in the Suburban Wilderness.

The words suburban wilderness form an oxymoron, a figure of speech which combines contractory or incongruous terms.

I could express my dismay at the need for a term like suburban wilderness, but since humans continue to displace many native plant and animal species, this oxymoron is an efficient and accurate way to communicate how we live.I used to fantasize about going off into the wilderness and living with no pre-fab, manufactured materials. Les Stroud (a/k/a Survivorman) and his wife did just that for one year.

I learned that a metal knife is easier to use than a stone one, thinsulate is lighter and easier to move in than hides or leather, a butane lighter is easier to use than a bow drill, and farming yields more food than hunting and gathering.

What is lost, in this fast-paced world, is the sense of connectedness that comes from walking instead of riding, listening to squirrel’s alarmed chatter, watching patterned snowflakes fall, or breathing in the aromas of a campfire.

I have gone into the woods for weeks at a time. After about a week, my sense of smell and touch is sharper; my presence no longer alarms animals. Several years ago I was squatting, studying a track, when a red fox walked so close, its fur brushed my arm. I used my peripheral vision and had no trouble staying still.

It’s a qualitative difference that is really hard to explain.

I am blessed to have daily woods time, but I really miss those extended stays in a self-made shelter. Maybe I’ll revisit the idea of a woods trek in May.

February 5, 2007 3:08 am

It’s Oscar season. Oscar-nominated film promotions are everywhere.

Coincidentally, I just finished reading Going Wild by nature writer Robert Winkler. His chapter entitled “The Bird Songs of Hollywood” had me laughing out loud.

Whether he’s in the field or at the movies, Winkler is a careful observer. Respected feature film directors, noted for their attention to detail, are apparently oblivious to the natural world. Here’s where Winkler found bloopers. (more…)

October 3, 2006 5:00 am

This is a term coined by a man named Arthur Koestler, author of The Ghost in the Machine.

I haven’t read the book. I go the term from Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, where I also learned the term usufruct. (more…)

September 29, 2006 3:10 am

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan has rocked my world.

As a former anorexic, I’ve spent my lifetime thinking about food.

I’m no longer motivated to starve, but I try to be mindful of what I eat. I “get it” that processed food is filling and tasty, but not nourishing. If more than half the ingredients on a label are words of fifteen letters or more, I know it’s not food.

Pollan shares:

The food additive TBHQ (butylhydroquinone), used to “help preserve freshness” is a form of butane - also known as lighter fluid - YIKES! (more…)

September 20, 2006 2:39 am

SPARC meetings are always fun.

Last night’s presentation by tree-loving botanist, Tom Alford was no exception. He hiked the now completely protected forest - a rare achievement in these times. Giant puffballs (Calvatia gigantea) typically grow in meadows - but there they were on SPARC lands. Did the fact that this forest had been a suburb until 1971 have anything to do with this? (more…)

September 13, 2006 2:18 am

This book made my toes curl.

That happens with excellent writing. Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson use engaging language to explore the sources of food for most Americans. It is more than a nature book for student readers. Schlosser and Wilson are right up there with Howard and Margery Facklam as authors who make complex issues easy to understand.

Food is one of my favorite subjects. I even have a recipe page on this site. This book drives home the point that we are what we eat. (more…)

September 4, 2006 3:38 am

This is another great activity for enjoying the outdoors after dark.

It’s a variation on the theme of Joseph Cornell’s Unnature Trail. During the day have one or two people hide a bunch of objects that may not be seen, but are likely to be heard, smelled, touched or tasted, like the ones on the following list.

At night have one or more people locate the items on the list using all of their senses, except sight. (more…)

July 19, 2006 4:18 am

I have a few favorite waterfalls, one with a perfect swimming hole. When it’s too hot to do anything else, I can sit for hours rapt in the sound of that waterfall.

I learned how to watch a drop of water from one of my favorite nature authors, Edward Duensing. (more…)