The Blog
Updates, Field Trips, and Other Meanderings
“Everything in the universe has a rhythm. Everything dances.”
“Three Keys” by Laura Pritchett: A Book Review
Ammalie has no idea she is adorable. Whether she is combing her hair with a fork on a Nebraska freeway, rearranging her homemade first aid kits on a borrowed living room floor, or sending cryptic postcards, she is not aware of her charms. Her readers are though, from...
You Can Take the Woman Out of the Watershed, but You Can’t Take the Watershed Out of the Woman
Recently I went out west and visited my old stomping grounds: the west slope of the Sierra Nevada. For most of my life I lived there in the South Yuba River Watershed. I came to learn a lot about my watershed, as I think every one should. Our watersheds, literally and...
Welcome Sawyer, Our 2024 Intern!
This year’s intern is Sawyer Stribley. Sawyer lives in Ann Arbor and attends Washtenaw Community College. He’s an honor student majoring in Mathematics and Natural Sciences with a focus on Public Health. When he leaves us this fall he’ll be a sophomore. After another year at WCC, he plans on transferring to University of Michigan to get his degree in Public Health Science.
Seeds and Spring in SE Michigan
We are calling it the "winter that wasn't" here in SE Michigan, so it's no surprise that spring like weather came to us in late February and early March. Even more than usual, gardening was on everyone's mind. Those of us who knew better refrained from cleaning up our...
Tour Zone Three: The Industrial Zone
As the plant debris decomposes, we’ll add more twigs, leaves, and plant cuttings. The rain and humidity will help stew the plant material into soil. Yes, it takes time. We’re not in a hurry.
Lent
It starts on Ash Wednesday, when I am again besmudged with the ashes from last year’s palms. Every year I beg my mother to spare me. For some reason, the ritual humiliates me. That’s the point, she says, and up I go, in between Mom and Dad.