rmcnair-huff@qwest.net
Special sections
- Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge visit, March 2001
Rob's books
Nature writing sites
Environment news
Resources
Rob's other Weblogs
Other stuff
- Nature Close to Home
- Creeping with Utah Nature Study Society
- The Nature Web
- Nature.net
- Nature writing references
- Nature writing
- Tidepool
- eNature.com
- Olympic Park Institute
- North Cascades Institute
- Orion Society
- Open Spaces
- Second Nature
- The World as Home
- Association for the Study of Literature and Environment
- Mac Net Journal
- Rob's Resume
- Natalie's Resume
- Rob's Portal
- Picture Album
Sunday, April 22, 2001
It is a good thing that I spent time working out in nature yesterday, because on the official Earth Day, it was rainy, breezy, and cold here in the Puget Sound region. Ironically, the rain is something to be thankful for in a year that is marked by the worst drought in decades. But in between showers I took a few minutes this evening to wander around the yard and find a new photo for today. I am not even sure what the flowering border plant that I took a picture of really is, but I had to choose between this shot, one of a newly flowering strawberry plant, and the budding flower, still green but soon to be white, on the snowball bush in our side yard.
Happy Earth Day!
Today's interesting links:
Groups of 'cultural creatives' are finding ways large and small to lessen their impact on the planet - An article from the Seattle Times shows how the small efforts of many like-minded people can have a huge impact...CNN takes a look at Earth Day celebrations
Saturday, April 21, 2001
On this day before Earth Day I spent my morning working with a group of students from Stadium High School. Today's shot was taken by Natalie and it shows me and a few of the students working to plant Douglas Fir trees on a steep, barren hillside as part of a soil stabilization project at the upper end of Puget Park. Natalie and I spent about four hours exhausting ourselves at the park today, then ended the visit to the gulch with Scott Hansen, director of the Puget Creek Restoration Society, pointing out some small coho salmon fry swimming around in one of the small ponds at the lower end of the park.
Friday, April 20, 2001
Puget Park is a little less than a mile from our home in North Tacoma, and it is slowly becoming a mainstay of my nature encounters in the city. I returned to the park briefly this evening around 6:30 p.m., when the damp smells of skunk cabbage, grass, and heavy sweetness from the many rhody blooms bursting open in hues of red, white, orange and purple. And nestled among the flowers and near a pond that has just been worked on during a work party today is the fern I snapped for today's photo.
One interesting thing is that I will be back at Puget Park tomorrow. Natalie and I are helping with a volunteer creek restoration project down there again, this time fittingly on the day before Earth Day.
Today's interesting links:
Big Quake Forecasts Bolstered - The Earth is moving under Puget Sound...under this house here in Tacoma, at a high rate, and scientists believe it is priming the mechanisms that could unleash one of the worst earthquakes in recorded history. Sobering news...
Thursday, April 19, 2001
I took a mini-tour of Tacoma parks today in search of the shot of an orchid above. M and I wandered around town after lunch and stopped at Wright Park, where the orchid lives inside an arboretum run by the Tacoma Park Department. After wandering through the plants inside the glass, we then spent time at Puget Park, wandering along the creek and checking out the blooms...
Today's interesting links:
An Alaska man makes the most of half an acre - This story from the Anchorage daily news takes a look at a Palmer area man and his quest to be as self sufficient as possible on a half-acre city lot...Power Trade Offs - The Christian Science Monitor takes a look at how to tackle long-term energy shortages, dealing with both the California power crisis and oil issues...
Wednesday, April 18, 2001
I just can't resist the colors of spring. Today's shot of this detailed purple flower along the south side of our house drew my eyes because of the fine veins of color in the petals. I snapped the shot after returning home from my first bike ride in months. Here I am, the guy who last year rode more than 300 miles of mountain bike trails and updated a mountain biking book, and I hadn't been on either of my bikes since last October, when I did a ride in the hills above Renton to wrap up the last of Mountain Bike America: Washington. And it has been even longer than that since the last time I hopped on my Italian road bike. Needless to say, I am sore tonight. But as a friend commented to me in chat tonight, it is a good sore.
I had a tough time choosing the photo for today. Despite the brilliant purple hues of the flower above, I also found two of the first poppies on our small city lot to bloom this spring today, and one is an equally brilliant orange. Maybe tomorrow...
Today's interesting links:
Trawler nets methane ice mass off the coast of Vancouver Island. Scientists are studying methane ice as a potential energy source...New imaging technology reveals evidence of the Seattle Fault, evidence that has been buried under trees and shifting soils up until now...
Tuesday, April 17, 2001
As the small droplets of water on this bright pot of gold plant blooming along our front sidewalk today shows, it has been a typically wet spring day today. This was one of those days when we saw rain while the sun was shining, or rain, hail and sunshine at the same time in a couple of instances. We get a few of these days every spring here in Tacoma. The only thing missing today was a good thunderstorm. A few of those passed to the north, and I thought I saw a couple of flashes outside out of the corner of my eye as I worked to finish the final editing on the last chapter of our book, the Insiders' Guide to the Olympic Peninsula. Once and for all, we are done!
Monday, April 16, 2001
Natalie and I took a walk along the waterfront near our house this evening, and despite a number of good shots I snapped of a tug boat pulling a raft of logs on Commencement Bay, this closeup of a spider that we found along our walk stands out as the best shot of the day. The tiny spider was a bit camera shy though...right after I snapped the shot it moved down the tree where we found it and hid partially behind a peeled back bit of bark, where the pattern on the spider matched nearly perfectly with the bark.
The walk was a nice break from the rest of the day's activities - work finishing our book about the Olympic Peninsula, paying taxes, and digging through online work with Lycos. Tomorrow promises to be more laid back, although Natalie is heading out of town in the afternoon...
All rights reserved.