Field Notes

There is a pine needle on my kitchen table. There is a pine needle in my soul. If I could only put that on paper.

As the days grow shorter and nights turn cooler, I find myself drawn outdoors at sunset.

As I watched these mountain bluebirds, likely catching those pesky mosquitoes for their dinner, I felt a familiar comfort in their presence.

Fireweed’s vibrant flowers provide sweet nectar to native bees, flies, butterflies, and even honeybees, if their hive is nearby.

Oak gall ink was the most popular ink in Europe from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. The Book of Kells from A.D. 800, the Magna Carta, and the Declaration of Independence were all written in gall ink.

My eyes slowly followed the tree down to the base when I saw that my dog was carefully pulling the berries right off the branches and swallowing them down.

This amazing place has seen it all, from a giant sea to volcanoes and glaciers to today’s semi-arid desert.

Clueless as to what this was, I relied on a phone app for identification. Curlycup gumweed? Who came up with that creative name?

On the suggestion of an experienced birder, I bought a wire wreath and stuffed it with unshelled peanuts. The magpies spent hours skirmishing with each other to grab a peanut. I reveled in the mayhem.

There were tulip poplars, also known as yellow poplars or tulip trees. No tulip maples. I’d thought I’d seen the real thing in Washington, DC. No such beauties adorned my backyard.