Parks that deliver, parks that don't
Judging small parks by the stakes they set
Letter of Recommendation: "Less Wrong"
Hello hello! Fall is here, with its colors and its yardwork. This week I spent quality time raking leaves off our pavement and into flower beds. Last year...
New poem and a Loess Hills walk
Hello again! Intermittent dispatches are all I seem capable of these days. Right now most of my spare energy is going into home improvement projects (we...
Hello again! Here's a poem about redcedar
Redcedar trees Hey there! It's been years since the Possum has sent a Note. In that time, I've taken on new roles at work, gone on parental leave, moved...
Washington State Park over the years
Reflecting on the outdoor legacy my grandfather leaves us
Operation "Embrace the Gloom"
Leave those leaves, Kooser's "Winter Morning Walks," and plant of the week
Escape from Barnstable
Finding my way alone on a bike, slime mold, trees changing color, and plant of the week (a fruit!)
A virtual return to Washington State Park
Biking for the birds, Indigenous resistance to oil pipelines, what I'm reading, and plants of the week
Priya explains all the fuss about mountains
A revelatory trip to the Green Mountains and plant of the week
Can I offer you a fox in these troubling times
Fox of the week, hurricane of the week, essay of the week, new hobby of the week, plant of the week
Fixing the bike
Hidden potential in a 40-year-old steel beast, the IPCC report, and plant of the week
Some great new podcasts about the lives of birds and how to protect them
Turning over the mic for a bit and plant of the week
Waiting for Dickcissels
A quest to see an ordinary bird and plant of the week
The island of terns
Learning how to kayak at sea and plant of the week
Wait, he was doing what when he got gulped by a whale
Provincetown's lobster-diving Jonah and plant of the week
Reader question: the alien anemones of an orange fungus
The birds are singing and the spores are in the air: it's summer. Plus, plant of the week
Black Birders Week, hiking the West Bank, and plant of the week
The second annual Black Birders Week, Raja Shehadeh's "Palestinian Walks," and a globetrotting pea
A run-in on an old runway
A crappy encounter while looking for birds. Still got a plant of the week for ya
Birding til we drop
Bird-a-thon, changing bad bird names, new chances for land conservation, and plant of the week
A goodbye walk on Buck Hill
Reflecting on living beside the Blue Hills, calls for a national park in Georgia, and plant of the week
A brief reflection on dunes at Sandy Neck
Getting the COVID vaccine, returning national parks to Indigenous peoples, and plant of the week
Meditation on skunk cabbage
There's no wrong time to see a warm, pungent flower
Film noir landscape writing
How to light a scene in prose, another look at Bears Ears National Monument, and plant of the week
Courting turkeys, a beefy climate podcast, and plant of the week
A new "How to Save a Planet" episode explores how beef and other foods factor into climate change solutions
New Bedford's Pacific connection, Willa Cather and Midwestern landscapes, and plant of the week
Also: Vijay Iyer on listening and composing with the spine
Drumming woodpeckers, blazing brushfires, and other charming signs of spring
Resources to support Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the South following the hate crime in Atlanta + news on unionizing efforts at Audubon
Local climate fronts, snow trails, and plant of the week
Super-pollutants down the street, a sub-snow habitat, and a tentative sign of spring
The squirrel that cried hawk
Small mammal banter, flammable trees, and plant of the week
Odd bark and a feral cat tale
Why eucalyptus bark sheds, Eve the one-eyed cat, and plant of the week
Preventable disasters, safety in the field, and plant of the week
The power failures in Texas and a reckoning with sexual assault in birding
Sarah M. Broom on her family's home
How the meaning of a place can change over time + a many-colored plant of the week
The weirdest bark in the woods
Racism on the Appalachian Trail, Keystone pipeline cancelled, and plant of the week (a tree!)
Burning trash and breeding birds
An incinerator's landfill that also hosts uncommon birds + plant of the week (a fern!)
The beach in winter
Looking for a snowy owl + plant of the week
How hemlock holds a forest together
An evergreen plant of the week and an essay by Major Jackson
Reader question: What's going on with this forest?
Aimee Nezhukumatathil's new book, forest transitions, and plant of the week
Serviceberry economics
Robin Wall Kimmerer on gift economies
Watching a nor'easter on top of a hill
Storms as social distancing, Rep. Haaland for Interior Secretary, and plant of the week
Shark chat with Claudia Geib
Lessons from Cape Cod on living with sharks + plant of the week
Enjoying the end of fall
Seasons on the turn, a despicable sentence from the governor, and flower of the week
Why do trees change color from the top down?
A colorful investigation, the Landback movement, and plant of the week
The hyper-specific nostalgia of Instagram places
The pros and cons of Insta's location specificity, plant of the week, and more
The case of the Parisian berries
A berry intriguing mystery, climate change and the Cabinet, and flower of the week
Tuesday, part four
Weekend reading suggestions for after all this + flower of the week
What a seabird finds in southern Illinois
The pelagic wonders of an artificial lake, preparing for Tuesday, and flower of the week
Dreading winter? Not me*
*Except in its effects on the pandemic. Also, flower of the week
In praise of wasp architects
Commending yellowjackets for surviving two storms, Indigenous Peoples' Day, and flower of the week
The beach as public forum
What Wollaston Beach means to Quincy, flower of the week, and more
Finding stories that matter down the street
How to depict the interconnectedness of nature, flower of the week, and emergency shutdowns at a natural gas compressor station
What an abandoned airfield means to birds
Local grasslands part 2, flower of the week, and more