“It is reported that this Fruit (avocado) provokes to Lust, and therefore is said to be much esteemed by the Spaniards” ~ English explorer and naturalist William Dampier, 1685 As a kid in Texas, I was exposed to lots of vegetables and fruits that we didn’t see in the TV shows. For example, we […]
Author Archives: stevetarlton
Van Gogh, Starry Night The area so dark, I could watch the champagne fizz of shooting stars from my bedroom window; catch a glimpse of the harvest moon while brushing my teeth. Every evening, the night pressed in against my windows in a way that felt visceral, like a velvet blanket tucking me in. […]
“ I’m a country mouse, easily overwhelmed by humanity on the scale of cities, even those much smaller than this one (Kinshasa) … It struck me that the culture gap between city and country mouse might be wider than any other I’ve known.” ~ Barbara Kingsolver I grew up in the suburbs of a […]
“At last, they reached the summit, a view she (Katharine Lee Bates) took in, she later said, in ‘one ecstatic gaze’: below, a bedspread of green pine; in the distance, peaks capped with white; above, a sky the blue of a robin’s egg. She wrote one line more in her diary that day: ‘Most glorious […]
Every summer, the Golden farmer’s market opens in the lot next to the library, a few blocks from our house. Early in June the selections are somewhat limited, focusing mostly on the breads, canned items, herbs and spices, root crops, leaf veggies and fruits and veggies imported from Arizona. By the end of June, though, […]
“By reusing something once flushed away, they say, they are taking a revolutionary step toward tackling the biodiversity and climate crises: Moving away from a system that constantly extracts and discards, toward a more circular economy that reuses and recycles in a continuous loop.” ~ Catrin Einhorn At some point in their lives, […]
“Every particular in nature, a leaf, a drop, a crystal, a moment of time is related to the whole, and partakes of the perfection of the whole.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson “The tides are in our veins, we still mirror the stars, life is your child, but there is in me, older and harder […]
To this day, its origins remain a mystery. But somehow, amid the chaotic meeting of the so-called New World and the Old, two plants from continents thousands of miles apart — an American sycamore and an Oriental plane – met and reproduced. ~ Zaria Gorvett One of the nice things about the old neighborhood […]
“I think idly about maybe, just maybe, this year I might just walk the talk and grow a natural yard, my own version of rewilding. Let nature have its way and see what evolves. After all, nature was here first and maybe she knows best what to do here.” ~ Steve Tarlton Every spring, […]
Keep only those things that speak to the heart, and discard items that no longer spark joy. Thank them for their service — then let them go. ~Marie Kondo We’re doing some painting and drywall repairs in our upstairs bedrooms, including a couple of closets. Of course, that required the shuffling of furniture and […]
Writes of Nature 