Often, we hunted or fished on underused farm or ranch land owned by one of my Dad’s clients — usually with a field lying fallow or a lightly grazed prairie. There would be old buildings we could peer into, watching for snakes and other nasty critters. Hand-dug wells, dangerously covered by rotting boards, offered an […]
Category Archives: old houses
“The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.” ~ Unknown My small town enjoys tree-lined older neighborhoods that are pleasant to walk through and front porches that are nice to sit on. The combination of shade trees and other vegetation keeps the local climate comfortable, even if […]
Edinburgh Castle rises above craggy heights in the middle of the city, part castle and part palace, the home of Scottish royalty. An ancient hill fort dating to before the seventh century, Edinburgh’s steep cliffs and rocky slopes preclude entry or attack from all but one side. Today the Royal Mile is filled with buildings […]
Our house was built around 1872 and the surrounding neighborhood dates to a similar time. At the time, the town was becoming a bit of a commercial center due to its position at the mouth of a creek that penetrated the Front Range. The railroad down to Denver began here, only later replacing the wagon […]
“We should design man-made objects and products in such a way that we’re not destroying the resources, but that we’re basically borrowing them for a certain amount of time … And that we can take them out in their pure form and put them back into the system.” ~ Professor Dirk Hebel, Karlsruhe Institute of […]
Little boxes on the hillsideLittle boxes made of ticky-tackyLittle boxes, Little boxesLittle boxes all the sameThere’s a green one and a pink oneAnd a blue one and a yellow oneAnd they’re all made out of ticky-tackyAnd they all look just the same ~ Pete Seeger, Little Boxes Suburbs get a bad rap environmentally — spreading […]
“Edge effects are the changes in biodiversity that occur inside the space surrounding the shared edge of two or more distinct ecosystems. This transitional zone rich in biodiversity is known as the ecotone; examples are between woodlands and plains, forests and mountains, and land and water.” ~ Gia Mora I live in a small […]
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 