When fall comes, I feel an urge to pepper the house with decorations. Pumpkins and hay bales are nice, but so many indoor decorations are cheaply made knickknacks from another country where you can bet the standard of worker care isn’t what it should be. (Not to mention the carbon footprint of toting all that plastic stuff halfway around the world!) Continue reading
Saturday was Mabon, the beginning of fall, and I can feel the change in many ways. It’s amazing how abruptly it becomes obvious that the days are shortening, shadows are longer, the humidity of summer has broken, and that nights now require blankets. Continue reading
Prairies and edge habitat are filled with color and the buzz of life. Continue reading
As you’ll recall from Part 1 of Magical Monarchs, we witnessed the transformation of tiny monarch larvae into fat caterpillars. Ultimately, the caterpillars underwent an amazing metamorphosis and became chrysalises that we transferred into emergence chambers. Once in their emergence chambers they sat in their beautiful green capsules for nearly two weeks. Continue reading
My month has been consumed with monarchs – raising, watching, & tagging them. And if you’re going to be consumed by something, a butterfly is a pretty good way to go. Continue reading
Last weekend, a monarch was feasting in my backyard. As I sat outside watching her flutter around the flowers and amidst the bees, I noticed several other monarchs catching air currents just above the treeline.
These butterflies are preparing for one of the most astounding migrations on the planet — one that is longer than any other butterfly in the world. Continue reading
My aspirations for living life as sustainably as I can probably began when I was a young girl deeply concerned with the well-being of other creatures. Although my interests and understanding of life and nature have spiraled out a great deal since then to encompass many more concerns and observations that I’ve made, I remain fascinated and indebted to the teachings of wild animals.
So when we’re discussing designs for the future, to me, it’s important to incorporate wild animals into (or near) our spaces. Nonhuman animals have many lessons to share with us and are also essential to properly functioning ecosystems. Landscapes designed for wildlife are also beautiful and life affirming.
The peak of summer has crested and now it is time to ride out the remainder of these long days, grateful for the warmth and light as we head closer to Autumn.
I discovered a clutch of tree swallows in a duck nest box in the urban park I’ve explored with you before.
These Light Footsteps 