Look at the insect footprints surrounding this wasp, which is making some of its own, then notice how many there are in all. Some from wasps. Some from others who need mud. […]
Tiny Footprints in the Muck
The Red Shift of the Sun on Earth
As the sun nears the horizon, the grassland reveals itself. Note the shift of colours towards red. That’s largely because cheatgrass, which has now gone to seed, dominates for a few weeks, […]
Síya? Arrives
In slow motion, Síya? berries are bringing themselves down to us. This isn’t a fanciful idea. They really are. It’s exciting to watch. The excitement mounts!
Needle-and-Thread Grass in Flower
You know there is a little bit of the grassland left when you find some needle-and-thread grass on a hill. It’s almost invisible, but when the light is right, in the low […]
Speed Gardening!
One of my neighbours up the hill built a house a couple months back. Garden is in already!
The Power of Shadows
Butterflies are shadows. Simple to prove. Here’s a leaf shading rock. And a whole flock of shadow butterflies. They’re not the only shadows. The Síya? twigs below are shadows of the past. […]
The Thing About Leaves
Leaves don’t hang from trees and trees don’t look like this: They look like this: Cottonwood Leaves are drawn out of the trees by the sun. Gravity might pull them down … […]
Holding on to Our Water for Dear Life
It’s fun to go out and read the weather by looking down, too. It gives a longer term view. For instance, the really poor shape of the early season cheat grass below […]
Sagebrush Shares Her Water and Builds a World
Have a look at this sage brush: Like all plants, she gathers most of her water from the top surface of the soil, where it is most quickly lost to the dry […]
Towards a New Cartography 8: Robin Did It
Maps are power. We could look at the hill in the snow. And map the slope angles and relationships of the hill (not the contours but flat planes), or those parts that […]
