WriterByNature.com

March 29, 2008 9:31 am

This evening at 8:00 PM your local time, turn off your lights for an hour.

This is an event, sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, which grew out of a civil action in Sydney Australia last year. I find a great spiritual comfort in taking one small action to focus on the natural world.

It’s supposed to be a beautiful night, so I plan to take a look at the constellations. Don’t know any? Try this skywatching game. If you want to take skywatching a bit further, I am delighted with Richard Bell’s The Night Sky on Paper.

The days are getting longer and I could choose to fuss about our nutty economy or bizarre leadership choices. But given all I’ve learned this year about earth mentoring, foraging, mycology and given that there are still song birds, trees, and the promise of mushrooms, I plan to focus on the natural world, while I still can make that choice.

January 22, 2008 5:56 am

In addition to waxing and waning in a pattern, the moon rises and sets in a pattern.  Here is how the moon moves in relation to the sun. (more…)

January 20, 2008 5:16 pm

My last three days at Hawk Circle were spent on the survival trek part of their Winter Intensive program. I had the choice to spend the time solo or as part of a group. My decision was based on the quality of snow on the property. I hadn’t used my cross country skis yet this winter.

So, with a good quality sleeping bag, my day pack, eight Larabars, two acorn burgers, three liters of water, two sets of warm clothes, my knife, a compass, a clock, my digital camera, a lighter and my skis, I set off solo for three days. Here are some of my journal notes:

(more…)

December 30, 2007 5:28 am

As I write this, I am on my way to Hawk Circle for their winter survival skills class. I will wake up in a nature setting on New Years Day. I expect to be transformed. (more…)

December 21, 2007 6:08 am

The shortest day of the year is not only the darkest, but often the coldest day. Here are some ways to celebrate the fact that after December 22, 2007 at 6:08 AM GMT, the days will start getting longer: (more…)

December 14, 2007 7:01 am

I don’t spend time efficiently, according to the business models.

I spent weeks scrubbing the hulls of black walnuts, when I could have been marketing myself. I have never looked at the world through conventional eyes; I’m beginning to feel very blessed to have my skewed point of view. (more…)

November 15, 2007 5:33 am

I can’t claim credit for this poem; I heard it from an entertaining nature educator - an “edutainer.” It’s an effective tool for engaging school-age children in studying tracks.

It begins with an “s” and it ends with a “t”.
It comes out of you and it comes out of me.
I know what you’re thinking. You could call it that.
But, let’s be scientific and call it “scat.”

Thanks, Carl.

Now, what can you tell about the coyote scat and the deer track from the above photo?

March 5, 2007 3:28 pm

Nature has been busy this week.

The lunar eclipse was beautiful. It was too cold to watch while holding a camera. The first red-winged blackbird is back, but I was not fast enough with my camera.

This is what the sky looks like when flurries, warm sunlight and rain-sicles (my new word for freezing rain) alternate every 15 minutes. (more…)

February 19, 2007 4:55 am

My snowshoes are still untested. They’ll have to wait for the next snowstorm.

Perfect cross country ski days come along once every few years where I live.

Saturday, I got out early enough to be the first person to ski the trail. Except for coyote and fox tracks, the pristine white trail stretched out ahead of me like fresh linen. (more…)

February 1, 2007 1:38 pm

I got up at first light and hit the trail before sun-up.I’d hoped to capture a glimpse of wildlife. But I’m just as happy to have photos of tracks in a dusting of snow. By the time I finished my hike, many of the tracks were gone.

This photo captures the track pattern of a fox running, the pattern of a squirrel bounding, and if you look carefully along the left, you can see the tracks of a tiny rodent - maybe a shrew or a vole. (more…)