They are scattered around town in vacant lots or overgrown, undeveloped tracts: The characteristic white box, about three feet square and maybe somewhat taller, is spotted where there’s plenty of sage or other floral shrubs. I never know whose hives they are, but most seem to be well tended. A couple of times over the […]
Category Archives: trees
11. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was […]
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,We learn from all your beauty;O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,We learn from all your beauty.Your bright green leaves with festive cheer,Give hope and strength throughout the year.O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,We learn from all your beauty. ~ George Strait Tales of sacred plants — and their keepers […]

“A young tree has the cooling effect of five room-sized air conditioners working for 20 hours a day.” ~ Former London Councilor Jon Burke “… the net cooling effect of a young healthy tree is equivalent to ten room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day.“ ~ U.S. Forest Service The small town in northern Arizona […]

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, […]
In one of the most used and abused states in the nation, a small but growing number of conservationists have advanced a radical theory: Iowa is ripe for rewilding … “The solutions exist,” restoration ecologist Leland Searles said. “It’s a matter of allowing the solutions to happen.” ~ Stephen Robert Miller It’s spring and […]
“Traditionally, reforestation and agriculture have not sat well together, both requiring land that has sufficient nutrients, rainfall and temperatures conducive to growth. And agriculture, of course, poses its own environmental challenges, being responsible … for around 23 per cent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.” ~ Bianca Nogrady Planting trees is the response of choice […]
And so, remember this, life is no abyssSomewhere there’s a bluebird of happiness ~ Sandor Harmati Twenty-five years ago, we made a major addition to our house that expanded the kitchen and featured a string of large windows overlooking the back yard with a view to the mountains on the north. Originally, I put up […]
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides nowFrom up and down, and still somehowIt’s cloud illusions I recallI really don’t know clouds at all ~ Joni Mitchell Climate change is bringing worrying uncertainty to our weather patterns. We try to minimize or eliminate carbon emissions to reduce the greenhouse effect, but we’re taking too […]