nature

The Bees | Botany (Adjacent) Book Review

The Bees | Botany (Adjacent) Book Review

The book is described as a mix of The Hunger Games and The Handmaid's Tale, but with bees and while I've not read either, from what I have heard and seen that would be accurate. The story itself was engaging and well written. However, while it is well written and engaging, describing insect society in a manner that you would a human society gets rather grim, incredibly fast.

DIY Bee Bath / Waterer (Tutorial)

DIY Bee Bath / Waterer (Tutorial)

Today, we’ll be going through how to make a DIY watering hole at home for your bee friends. I have seen this popping up occasionally on Pinterest and other sites and decided to make one of my own and share the process.

The Praying Mantis Egg Case and the Shrubbery

The Praying Mantis Egg Case and the Shrubbery

Today, we’ll be talking about the praying mantis, species diversity, and ecological niches.  All photographs and video were taken by me at the local arboretum and are indicative of a sort of capsule environment you might find in such a locale.

Garden Helpers: Awesome Arachnids

Garden Helpers: Awesome Arachnids

There are many people who have some level of arachnophobia, or a fear of spiders.  While most keep to themselves, there are some that are highly aggressive when disturbed.  Generally these species rely heavily on web cues and have rather poor eyesight. 

NOTE: There are images of spiders in this post.  If that is something that disturbs you, you’ve been forewarned.

Breathe

Breathe

Sometimes, we all need to remember that.  Sometimes, whatever we're going through can seem so exciting, so daunting, so terrifying (not mutually exclusive, I've checked), that we have to take a moment and just breathe.

The Power of Growing Things

The Power of Growing Things

Getting out in nature is therapy, a form of self-care.  People often say that they need to "go be in nature."  Where is this nature?  Is it the mountains, tall trees a sheltering canopy overhead?  Is it the violent waves crashing against a battered rocky shoreline?  Perhaps "nature" is the expansive park in your town square, home to childhood games and Sunday picknicks. 

The Turning Seasons: Plants, Death, and Rebirth

The Turning Seasons: Plants, Death, and Rebirth

Today is Easter, the time when in the Christian tradition, someone who was once presumed deceased is reborn into a new, but strikingly similar form.  Yesterday was World Transgender Awareness Day, celebrating a community so often misunderstood, harassed, or ignored--a community whose very nature calls out in an expression of change, ideally able to embrace the individual's truest self.  On the Spring Equinox, March 20, was Ostara, the transition between the hibernation and death of winter into the rebirth and new life of spring.  I find it apt that all three of these events occur during a liminal period, not entirely one or the other--the dusk of one season and dawn of the next.