I set up my game cam in the north hollow a few weeks ago and was eager to retrieve the images on it. Overall, disappointment. Lots of squirrels. A few interesting canine type critters. Raccoons. And my favorite of the bunch: a wild turkey.
Category Archives: Assorted Bob
Leaf Litter: My first morel of the season
Leaf Litter: Marking my territory
As part of a forest land tax reduction, I had to mark the property boundaries and create a 10-year plan for my land. I hired a consulting forester to help assemble the plan and learned a hell of a lot in the process. While I was out doing that, I also planted ramp bulbs and […]
‘The Earth’s natural Internet’
“Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World,” Paul Stamets (2005) I ordered this book shortly after seeing “Fantastic Fungi.” I was a bit leery of the title, which seemed to drift toward hyperbole. But after reading the book, I’m wondering if the title might be understated. Paul Stamets, the author of Mycelium Running […]
Leaf Litter: Turkeys on the wing
Walking with Sunny in the pre-dawn hours yesterday morning, we both stopped dead in our tracks at the sound of frantic flapping in the trees above us. Barely discernible, a blob lumbers out of the branches and glides down the hill. Then several other trees start rustling with similar results. Sunny doesn’t get excited over […]
‘But when war come, Hunkie good enough to fight’
Men and Steel, Mary Heaton Vorse, (1920). This is a fascinating, in-the-trenches look at the 1919 national steel strike, with particular emphasis on Braddock and the pastor of the Slovak Catholic church there who stood by his congregation in the face of threats and intimidation from the steel bosses. Mary Heaton Vorse is a wonderful […]
Jane Swisshelm was a total badass
I’ve been tinkering again with The Book, and one of the rabbit holes that research dropped me into prompted the discovery that Swissvale (where I attended high school) and nearby Swisshelm Park were named after Jane Swisshelm, journalist, abolitionist, and all-around bad-ass. The Wikipedia entry on her notes she wrote an autobiography called “Half a […]
A few photos from a fading 2019
Searching for ‘shrooms
Ever since I participated in a fungi hike at Rural Action, I spend a lot of my time watching the forest floor for interesting mushrooms. I’m going to use this page to keep a running list of the ones I’ve found and identified. The iNaturalist app has been invaluable in helping me keep track of […]
Bunnies and goats and Yinzers on bikes
I spent last weekend in Pittsburgh visiting family and meeting my niece’s amazing baby boy. While I was in town, I also wanted to do a little research on The Book I’ve been grappling with, but time was short. To make the most of it, I took my bike along for the trip and rode […]