“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
— L.M. Montgomery
* * *
Posts Tagged ‘nature’
Well and Truly Fall
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, inspiration, nature, Thoughts on October 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Tinged in Red
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, fall, inspiration, nature on September 4, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Nights are cooler, the afternoon sky is a crisp blue, and the outermost leaves of the giant maple tree across the street are tinged in red. It must be time for fall foliage predictions!
Fall foliage map: When and where to expect autumn colors
Click through for animated maps and links to more info, explainers, and a printable coloring book for the kiddos (or you, I don’t judge!).
* * *
Adventure, with Trolls!
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, activism, adventure, art, creativity, inspiration, magic made real, nature, sculpture on July 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »
This is just all kinds of delightful:
Giant Trolls in Detroit Lakes Bring the Public on a Fairy Tale Adventure
The Danish artist has continued to expand his work in America and has just completed his most ambitious project ever with Alexa’s Elixir. Located in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, the exhibition takes people on a journey to solve a riddle and find a Golden Rabbit.
Sculptor, recycling artist and activist Thomas Dambo makes giant trolls and shares them with the rest of us. And when they say “giant,” they mean it!
If you happen to be in the Detroit Lakes area of Minnesota, this looks like a lot of fun.
WHERE ARE MY TROLLS ? LOST 9 SCULPTURES IN MINNESOTA! – YouTube
* * *
The Solstice, Again?
Posted in Holidays, Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, inspiration, nature, Thoughts on June 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Wait, today is the summer solstice already? Not quite sure how that happened but here we are, almost halfway through the year. That’s a little scary (time, it flies!) and a lot reassuring: the world keeps turning, no matter what.
So here we go again!
Summer solstice: Everything you need to know about the longest day of the year
The summer solstice is Thursday, June 20. It’s the longest day and shortest night in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s also the first official day of summer.
Happy summer!
* * *
Some Good News for Animals (Including Humans)
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, adventures in overpasses, animals, conservation, environment, good ideas, human-nature interactions, nature, problem solving, Thoughts, wildlife on June 13, 2024| 1 Comment »
Last year Mr Man and I drove north from Los Angeles. Our goal was San Francisco and points in between, but before we could get there we had to escape LA. Our hotel room faced south and had a view of the pool and a sliver of Hollywood Boulevard, but nothing that resembled nature. We plotted a course out of the city that took us north through the canyons and picked up a rental car.
Heading into the hills, we drove through a landscape that, while studded with the bright flowers of a superbloom, revealed a checkerboard of green growth and canyons sliced into smaller and smaller segments. Hollywood, Beverly Hills, the 101 and the 405 frame the natural world in a rigid network of pavement.
How, I wondered, do animals without wings survive here? The answer is with difficulty.
There is, however, some good news on that front!
World’s largest wildlife bridge will help animals cross California highway – The Washington Post
The 10-lane freeway that slices through this part of Southern California is one of the busiest in the country, ushering more than 300,000 cars across the greater Los Angeles area every day.
For drivers, it’s a nightmare: This stretch of Highway 101 is known as the “highway from hell,” the infamous host of the nation’s worst commutes.
But if the 101 is bothersome for bipeds, it is downright disastrous for the wildlife that also calls the region home. The 101 cuts like a chain saw through a vibrant natural ecosystem of coastal sage scrub and oak trees interspersed with suburban neighborhoods, disrupting the movement of animals and threatening their survival.
Now a massive infrastructure project is underway to suture together the vast tracts of fragmented wildlife habitat that have been separated by the highway for decades. Construction on a key phase of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing — a $100 million structure funded by a mix of public and private money — began last month and is expected to open in early 2026.
One thing the article doesn’t get into is the fact that wildlife crossings, while not cheap to build, actually save money and lives.
Earth Day Success Story: Wildlife Crossings Keep Animals and People Safe – Newsweek
“They are a cost-effective way of addressing the problem from the human side,” she said, pointing out the human toll from collision deaths, injuries and damage to vehicles. “We’ve got structures in the western states where they pay for themselves in less than five years.”
Like, A Lot of money, and A Lot of lives, both animal and human. It’s also not just a problem in highly urbanized landscapes like LA.
Animal crossings over and under highways can save big dollars — not just lives — says new study
WSDOT published a report of its own earlier this year on the benefits of wildlife crossings for road safety. Aside from matters of life and death, WSDOT estimated the average vehicle-deer collision resulted in economic costs of $9,175. Hitting an elk ballooned the average cost per collision to $24,242 and a moose even more, $42,652 per collision.
The good news is that California isn’t the only one getting in on this party. They’re actually a little late to the game. Canada pioneered wildlife overpasses two decades ago, and the idea has spread around the world.
The story of Canada’s pioneering adventures in overpasses for non-humans: As Banff’s famed wildlife overpasses turn 20, the world looks to Canada for conservation inspiration.
Fancy study with many long paragraphs and detailed mitigation case studies but here’s the really interesting bit: It can actually cost less to build a crossing than to do nothing. As an example, it’s estimated that the annual cost of animal collisions at $232 million (in 2021 dollars, which is like a million bajillion now).
And finally, here’s a page with a handy chart summarizing the average “Direct monetary costs of ungulate-vehicle collisions” (as a Pennsylvanian/Canadian I know such collisions are a big deal, but it’s even more dramatic to see the difference between the cost of hitting a deer ($6,617 and a moose $30,760 (in 2007 dollars, no less)!)
In conclusion, I love the idea of animal crossings for a number of reasons. Not only does it save animals and ecosystems while costing less in the long term, it also safeguards people. I love solutions that are smart, sensible, and just make sense.
Win win!
* * *
Happy World Bee Day!
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #LifeisBetterWithBees, bees, nature, poetry, world-bee-day on May 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »
I received an email this morning wishing me a Happy World Bee Day.
“What’s that?” I asked.
Exactly what it sounds like, as it turns out. And that’s exactly the sort of holiday I like to support.
World Bee Day 2024| Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
We all know the bee basics. They’re important pollinators. They make honey. They make buzz. They like to join you at picnics.
But did you know that they also provide us with medicines and even help keep our planet beautiful and healthy?
As I head out to maintain my pollinator lawn, I leave you with this excerpt from “A More Ancient Mariner” by Bliss Carman:
The swarthy bee is a buccaneer,
A burly, velveted rover,
Who loves the booming wind in his ear
As he sails the seas of clover.
* * *
Rejoice!
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, inspiration, nature, Thoughts on April 30, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.”
— Eleonora Duse
* * *
Hoot Hoot
Posted in Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, Avian Truman Show, birds, nature on April 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Despite the last-gasp storm a few days ago, spring is very much underway and nature is rising to the challenge. That means babies. One of our local bird shops set up a nesting box, complete with cameras. Curious about the family life of the barred owl? This one’s for you!
WBU Barred Owl Cam | Interior and Exterior Owl Nest Box Camera Views | Wild Birds Unlimited
Our live streaming video feeds are up and running, ready to immerse you in the enchanting world of these magnificent creatures.
The view outside the nest:
Rude but fascinating view inside the nest:
* * *
Open de Deur
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, Europe, fish, nature on March 25, 2024| 2 Comments »
Three weeks ago I made a note in my calendar: “fish doorbell.”
What is it? A clever way for the people of Utrecht, in the Netherlands, to help migrating fish navigate the city’s Weerdsluis boat lock.
Every spring fish migrate upstream, in search of places to spawn. They swim through the centre of the city of Utrecht. Unfortunatly, the boat lock is closed during spring. You can help the fish.
Do you see a fish? Press the Doorbell!
I planned this post for March 1st but when I checked the feed, no fish were to be seen. I decided to wait a few days until the migration was well and truly underway but then… forgot.
Sorry fishies!
Thankfully, I saw a recent cartoon in The Guardian and remembered. Here’s the cartoon: Constant bad news doing your head in? Why not read about the fish doorbell instead.
Excellent idea. So excellent, in fact, that the livestream is often full. If you can’t press the doorbell, you can still watch the livestream or check out select archives at the Fish Doorbell News Report.
And please, little fishies. Do come in.
* * *
Forest and Chill
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, forest-bathing, mindfulness, mini-break, nature, relaxation, shinrin-yoku, Thoughts, Writers on January 25, 2024| Leave a Comment »
After a number of technical issues, overlapping assignments, and a mashup of meetings, I’ve finished a big day-job project. I’ve got to say, it feels good.
Not “go out and party” good, more like “take a deep breath and shake off all that accumulated stress” good. Forest bathing good.
What’s that, you may ask?
Essentially, forest bathing (or shinrin-yoku in Japanese) is a walk in the woods designed to reconnect you with nature in ways that are beneficial for your health.
Healing in the forest: a guide to forest bathing
Spending time in nature and experiencing reduced stress levels allows you to think more clearly and creatively. It can also increase your mood, focus, and energy.
Sounds good, right? Except that there’s a coating of ice on everything thanks to last night’s storm and I still have work to do and (let’s be honest) it’s freezing out there!
So instead, I will find another way to spend a few moments in the forest.
How, you may ask? Meet Tree.fm: Tune Into Forests From Around The World.
Want a map of global forest sounds? Check out Sounds of the Forest.
Want even more chill? Do you have ten minutes or eight hours?
* * *
-
Recent Posts
She Said, He Said
-
-
Favorite Posts
Archives
Categories
It’s All So Random
What I’m Reading
J.R. Johnson 
You must be logged in to post a comment.