While reading The Practice of the Wild, a book of essays by Gary Snyder, I came across his ode to leaf litter: Living activity goes right down to and under the ‘ground’ – the litter, the duff. There are termites, larvae, millipedes, mites, earthworms, springtails, pillbugs, and the fine threads of fungus woven through. ‘There […]
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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 […]
Reverence for the forest cathedral
I’ve been reading field guides from the 1960s, focusing on several that Annie Dillard references in A Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. After finishing The Strange Lives of Familiar Insects, I moved on to “The Great American Forest” by Rutherford Platt. When I mentioned to a friend that I was reading old field guides, he noted […]
Bobcat search yields everything but …
Hoping to get a photo of the bobcat Sunny and I saw a few weeks ago, I set up a game cam near Dove Cottage. No bobcats. But I did capture dozens of deer images (though no bucks), shots of Sunny lumbering past during her daily walks, and a quick glimpse of a fox that […]
An avian diversion
The Deer Hunter
I rewatched The Deer Hunter the other night (magnificent film) and it reminded me I shot this last weekend. I was exploring the forest around Innisfree when I heard a small herd of deer heading my way, giving me time to blend in with the trees and film as they passed. Does and fawns …
The Sullen Possum, the Damned Bobcat and Yonder Sycamore
Flush with the knowledge of a daylong tree identification class, I was determined to walk out to the White Whale of my micro-forest, a few vertical brushstrokes of light slashing skyward amid the autumn rust that’s encased the rest of the hollow. That tree catches my eye every time I lumber down the driveway during […]
Alpha Oak at sunset
Norwegian Wood … Isn’t it good?
“My mind is never so pleasantly empty as when I’m chopping wood.” — Arne Fjeld, quoted in ‘Norwegian Wood’ When I moved into Innisfree, there was a cast-iron beast brooding in the center of the cabin. I was both terrified and intrigued by it. I’ve lived in numerous houses with fireplaces. Never one with a […]
Seeking shagbark on a sublime autumn evening
Three things during an incredible fall evening at Innisfree. 1. I realized I have a shagbark hickory just outside the cabin. I hadn’t noticed it previously because a massive white oak obscures it from the deck. As a bonus, I discovered the tree next to it is a mockernut hickory. I wasn’t certain on the […]