Seasons don’t fear the ReaperNor do the wind, the sun, or the rain –Blue Oyster Cult It’s hard for post-industrial humans to take winter seriously. We spend more money to heat our homes. We complain on the way to the car. Sometimes we bundle up and go outside. While it’s not enough for most of Read more

There is a time when leaves are fallin’The woods are gray the paths are oldThe snow will come when geese are callin’You need a fire against the cold -The Dillards As September and October reach Michigan, there is more food and resources in the forest than any other time of year. There’s fruits, nuts, roots, Read more

“Since you could sing all summer, you can dance all winter.” –The Ant to the Grasshopper At the end of July, I drove down a dirt road forested on one side and a clearing on the other. This was the same clearing I wrote about before where there was a burn and the grass in Read more

Unto every man the creator gives 100 blissful days. It is a sin not to celebrate each and every one. –Alekos, A Brief Candle, Stargate SG-1 ______________________________________________________________ On a weekend in mid-May, I lay awake under a tarp as the rain fell around me and the lightning illuminated my surroundings with quick bursts of light. Read more

I’ll sleep with one eye open, ‘neath God’s celestial stars. –Tom Russell On a June weekend I walked by the remnants of a concrete foundation on the banks of the Au Sable river.  Without the historical marker, I wouldn’t have thought much otherwise, as old foundations aren’t uncommon in northern Michigan’s forests.  But this was Read more

Raindrops on the treetopsWaiting there to fallI know how they’re feelingBut I’m only, yes I’m only, halfway down –Patty Loveless On the weekend before the official first day of spring, I was outdoors listening to the wind swinging the branches of the trees. Springtime is famous for its strong winds, probably due to temperature changes Read more

Now the animals sleep as the world holds its breath The woods are as still and silent as death -Chris Ledoux We have quite a fascination with the weather and the passage of seasons, despite the fact that neither present modern humans with much more than a minor inconvenience or a passing treat. In fact, Read more

If you’re a wildlife biologist, you probably want to know everything there is to know about species of animals you are interested in. You are also probably not reading this blog post. For the rest of us, we might settle to learn the ‘Cliffs Notes’….at least at first. Lucky for you, you can understand more Read more

Michigan is famous for many different things including the auto-industry, the assembly line, and post-manufacturing blight in places like Detroit. However, Michigan’s landscape is best characterized by Great Lakes, rivers, and forests. It was these that brought the French to our region using waterways to skirt the edges of the vast woodland to trade for Read more

When a pine needle falls in the forest: the eagle sees it, the deer hears it, and the bear smells it. –Saying commonly attributed to Native Americans The American black bear is probably the second most widely distributed large mammal in North America behind the white-tailed deer. This is especially true when one considers the Read more