Pine needles baking in the sun, the sweetest smell on earth. The silvery glint of a dragonfly’s wings. A painted turtle basking on a log; a bulgy-eyed green frog leaping off a lily pad. Wouldn’t you rather be out in a canoe right now? I learned long ago that spending time in the woods, beside a lake or river, is the best thing you can do for your nervous system.
We need wild places, the peace that settles in when we’re not caught up by life and world events. On those frazzled days when we can’t even get out for a walk, we need to know there are green spaces we might escape to, if only in our dreams. With its endless abundance and resilience, nature is the best reliever of stress, an antidote to angst.
I love nothing better than going out exploring this luminous world of ours and learning its secrets. Getting to know some of the amazing creatures we share it with. Then writing about them—in newspapers, magazines and children’s books, and now online, where no trees are felled to make paper. The more at home we feel in the natural world, the more we want to protect it.
My credentials? Having nearly 5000 species on my life list of birds, and baskets of rocks I picked up along roadsides in far-off lands and carried home in my pockets. That and curiosity.
Thanks for reading, and for caring for beautiful Earth!
Why subscribe?
Nature is priceless, and free to everyone. As are these stories. Donations through subscription would be welcomed if you feel moved to support my efforts, and a portion of all I receive will go toward preserving threatened habitats across our precious planet.
