friendlynaturalist

[friendlynaturalist]

Musings on being a tree hugger I've been working on bringing my tree-hugging self into my whole world. When a friend asked me to write something for Braided Way Magazine, the words flowed. The result can be found here.

[friendlynaturalist]

Call for submissions

F/friends, I’m collecting pieces for an upcoming issue.

I’m interested in your creative responses to nature: drawings, poems, essays, adventure ideas, invitations, crafts, book reviews—whatever the spirit moves you to express.

Send me your work by February 10, 2019 to if you’d like me to consider including it.

Email to friendlynaturalist at gmail dot com.

I’m looking forward to seeing what you…

[friendlynaturalist]

So, I’ve been reading my way through Lyanda Lynn Haupt, who has written a few gems including Crow Planet and Pilgrim of the Great Bird Continent. I do love her work, but there are a few hints every now and again that feed my imposter syndrome. She wants to encourage us to think of ourselves as naturalists, but there is a sense that it must include putting pencil to paper and keeping methodical notes. I’m not sure I can live up to her definition of a naturalist.

    It can be a challenge, but I think we should each approach the natural world on our own terms. Mother Nature will certainly meet us where we are. Follow where the spirit leads.

We are all meant to be naturalists, each in [her] own degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things.

~ Charlotte Mason

  Call yourself a naturalist if you want So, I've been reading my way through Lyanda Lynn Haupt, who has written a few gems including…

[friendlynaturalist]

Anyone can join.

“Join the society for the preservation of tangibility. Anyone can join. There are no dues, no meetings, no fund drives, no newsletter.” There is only a state of mind, a desire to preserve what’s authentic, what holds substance, what aspires to the whole.

~ Wendell Berry, from an interview in Garden & Gun with Erik Reece

[friendlynaturalist]

Invitation: Learn the history of the land Victor Temprano has created a tool that shows you data on the Indigenous history, original language, and tribal ties of the area you choose. Native-Land is a valuable resource. Thank you to Laura Grace Weldon for drawing my attention to it.

[friendlynaturalist]

Nature savvy children

So, I’m very much an interdisciplinary thinker and learner. What that means in practice is that I’ve wandered through nearly every department on the campus at UNCG and sampled a class or two. Not so good for my student loan balance, but I’m finally finding comfort in knowing that the pieces all fit together. It only took my entire adult life, but whatever, who’s counting?

As a graduate student…

[friendlynaturalist]

Citizen Science Resources

So, you want to do phenology beyond your journal. There are scads of projects awaiting your data, so you can identify and count to your heart’s content. First stop is CitizenScience.org for the basics. Get acquainted with what’s happening. Then watch Dr. Caren Cooper’s Ted Talk here at SciStarter. She’ll inspire some action. Scientific American has an archive of interesting projects to browse.…

[friendlynaturalist]

Learn about the Old-Growth Forest Network

Learn about the Old-Growth Forest Network

I’ve gotten on board with a little-known organization called the Old-Growth Forest Network. Our mission is to identify and preserve at least one old-growth or future old-growth forest in each county of the United States that is capable of sustaining a forest. As a local coordinator for Guilford County, I’ll find a forest here to add to the network. A spring visit to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial…

[friendlynaturalist]

The Friendly Naturalist turned 5 today!

[friendlynaturalist]

Call for submissions

Small, local, and hand-bound, the Friendly Naturalist journal contains writing and art in response to the natural world.

Some of the themes and topics I'm interested in are: the upcoming total solar eclipse, wildflowers, plant identification, herbal tea recipes and growing tips, edible flowers, coywolves, local field trips, stories about picnics, recipes, shifting phenology, or really anything you come up with that you want to send in.

Prose should be under 600 words, and verse under 40 lines. Shorter is better. Send short essays, poems, recipes, crafts, articles, book reviews, drawings, photos, or ideas to: friendlynaturalist (at) gmail (dot) com

I will take submissions for this summer issue until May 15.

Thank you for your support of the Friendly Naturalist!

[friendlynaturalist]

We have 8 journals traveling around Greensboro. Here are some gems from one of them, courtesy of Don Morgan.

[friendlynaturalist]

Fall journals are ready! You can download the file and make your own, or look for one circulating around town. I’ve got 6 round-robin journals started -- let me know if you’d like to start one.

[friendlynaturalist]

[friendlynaturalist]

I came across this gal yesterday on the Evergreen Trail -- the loop that runs from the parking lot at the Kathleen Clay Edwards Library. You can see her head in the top left of the coil. She didn't mind my observations, so long as I didn't get too close. She lifted her head after about ten minutes to let me know she was aware.

After a bit of research, I've concluded she must be a black rat snake. Here's more info on rat snakes in NC.

[friendlynaturalist]

A day in the life of a peony, part the second

After spending the morning opening and the afternoon in full bloom, our lovely wide-open peony witnessed the kindness of strangers. A woman in our neighborhood had seen my son fall on his bike, and she bandaged him up, put his bike in her car, and brought him home with his bike. What a sweet lady! I thanked her, we introduced ourselves -- she told me her name was Innie (like the belly-button).

A while later, after the bike had been put back in the shed and the boy had been attended to, it occurred to me that I had flowers to offer her. So, I went to the garden and cut three flowers, one was the first bloom of the season. Into a mason jar they went. I packed up some freshly made lavender mint goat's milk soap, and headed off in her general direction.

Once on her street, I drove slowly looking for a white minivan. I turned around and made another sweep, a woman out mowing her lawn gave me a few nervous glances. (I was wearing my crazy Wizard of Oz sunglasses, oops, I guess I was a bit suspicious.) I stopped at a house with a white minivan and got out with my gifts. Rang the doorbell.

A man answered and I told him my mission. He said, "I've got a wife named Annie."

I latched on to that, put the clues together, and said, "I must have heard her wrong, then. She just helped my son, and I wanted to thank her."

"Oh, no, that couldn't have been my wife. She's been deceased for over a year now." Silence. Wrong house.

"Here, sir, you enjoy these flowers in honor of your Annie. And have a good rest of your evening, sorry to bother you." He looked at the jar of flowers, a bit surprised, but took them and smiled, thanked me. I watched the peonies go with him into the dark house.

I did end up finding Innie, and she loved her soap.

[friendlynaturalist]

Openings ~ or ~ a day in the life of a peony