I’m so happy to see these guys year after year, so I’m celebrating them again here on LWON.I don’t know why this came out in “verse,” but here it is. I’m no poet, but I had fun regardless. And if you read it right, it really does scan! Upon my feeder yesterdayA cowbird male did […]
This post from years back still makes me smile. I hope you’ll also enjoy it again! Not every juicy morsel works in every recipe. As a writer, I often come across something meaty, think, HUH! and then drag the link to a rarely visited desktop folder because, you know, I’m not writing a piece about […]
Nobody wants to go with me to the shitty behind-the-mall carnival, for some reason. It’s one of those ride-packed parking-lot joints, set up and pulled down stunningly fast with less than a week in between. You, too, went to one like it as a kid, didn’t you? Between rides you filled your belly with overpriced […]
Hey Alexa, how long can a beaver hold its breath? I’m asking because I was kayaking last night at Totier Creek off the James River and I spotted a beaver swimming from one bank to another, his little head sticking up like a thumb and his body and paddle of a tail cutting a V […]
When I’m thinking about the evolution of animal forms, as one does, mostly I’m considering animals that exist, or that previously existed, and wondering what conditions and adaptations led to their rise and persistence. Which beak shape gave that bird an advantage where seeds were like stones? Which wing length made sense for a bird […]
I had the honor of chatting with my friend, colleague from Nat Geo magazine, and fellow LWON contributor Neil Shea, whose first book, Frostlines: A Journey Through Entangled Lives and Landscapes in a Warming Arctic, is now out there in the world! It’s a lovely book. In it, Neil journeys through the Arctic seeking out […]
This is the worst time of year for me, for all the reasons. The weather, for one. In January, the length of time until warmth settles seems unbearably long. The prolonged dark (and yes, I know the days are getting longer now, but still) feeds on energy, saps the will to do things. The gray […]
Dreading the coming face-plant into January? I am. Cold, dark mornings followed by cold, dark evenings, chintzy decor strung up well past its prime, dirty snow (if any snow at all) heaped under dreary parking lot lighting, long gift-return lines. Nature brown and bare. Plus, the state of the world. THE STATE OF THE WORLD. […]
