Wild Earth Integration

It’s official, mother nature has kicked winter’s arse and spring is in full swing. And I’m loving every minute of it.

Open windows, jackets that don’t weigh 40 pounds, things that are green – everything ‘spring’ pretty much rocks socks.

To celebrate, I’ve compiled my five favorite spring activities. (I’ll take any reason to celebrate, really).

The weather’s nice, so let’s get crackin’.

1. Two words: Rubber boots. For my friends in the UK, I believe you call these ‘wellies’. Learned this the hard way when asking a brit for ‘rubbers’. Rubbers to a brit are just not the same thing. But I digress – grab some foot wear and go splash in the inevitable puddles that are spring.

2. Bird. I mean both the noun and the verb on this one. Get your bird on and go birding. The problem with birds is they can fly and you can’t, so I suggest a good pair of binoculars, or in the very least one of those piratey-type telescopes. Arr…

3. Walkin’, yes indeed. Grab your dog and get your legs moving. Winter walking isn’t as fun (at least where I come from), because you’re too worried about frostbite and/or succumbing to to the evil elements. Spring is a whole other ballgame, so no more excuses. If you don’t have a dog, grab your friend/kid/significant other. Leash optional.

4. Sun. Wait for one of those eerily hot spring days (you know, the kind that make you think you’ve completely bypassed into summer?) and put on your shorts. I *know*, nobody wants to see those pasty winter legs – but that’s the point! Knowing the state of society right now, we could all probably use with a little extra Vitamin D. A great philosopher once said “bare your legs and you shall bare your soul.” Ok, that isn’t really true but it sounded good, didn’t it?

5. For the love of God, think of the children. I don’t just mean human kids – although they’re quite nice to think about too. Spring is the time when a lot of animals arrive into the world. In other words, there are a lot of orphan babies in about mid-April. Stop by an animal shelter or wildlife rehab centre in your area and see what they need. Places that care for spring wildlife/soaring pet populations can always use volunteers, newspaper, garbage bags, blankets and various animal food. Be kind this spring and you’ll probably find that summer treats you extra special.

There you go – plenty of spring things to keep you occupied.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to find a pirate.

Keep it wild, world!

Sometimes, you can see patterns in nature when you look at the bigger picture. Stepping back, widening your view and taking stock from afar can elucidate a lot of nature’s secrets.

Then, there are times when looking very, very closely can help open your eyes.

This is one of those times.

I hope you enjoy this video, all about the nature, numbers and grace.

Keep it wild!

Have a wild St. Patrick’s Day everybody!

Where oh where have I been? Writing!

I’m currently working on two books right now and the whole literary gauntlet has gotten me thinking about the nature of writing.

While staring aimlessly out the window slaving away at the computer, I realized that nature has a lot of lessons to offer, even to the big, bad world of publishing. So for my fellow writers out there (or readers, we’re all friends here), here are a few thoughts on writing, and nature.

• Great things take time. Even the best books out there started with a first line. If you really want to see how important they are, grab some classics and read only the first sentence. Call me Ishmael, indeed. But the point here is that everything starts small. A great example of this is the butterfly. Everybody’s favorite flying tapestry started out first as a little grub, then a caterpillar, then a chrysalis and then and only then the beautiful butterfly we all recognize. Go easy on yourself during your grub stage.

• Go with it, but don’t go crazy. You wouldn’t expect a cheetah to run 70 clicks an hour without stopping. The writing process has its ups and downs – sometimes you’re off with a vengeance, clicking away on the keys like a hummingbird on speed. These moments normally arrive after percolating for minutes, hours or even days. But inevitably, they end and you’re left with either a piece worth keeping or a rant. The cheetah doesn’t know if it’s going to catch the gazelle, but it runs like mad when it can anyways. If it doesn’t, it saves its energy for the next run. It’s all about taking the chance when it’s there without overdoing it.

• Rest. This is one of the most important yet overlooked parts of the writing process. Everything needs time to recoup after working hard. What the hell do you think winter is? You may not realize it, but when you’re ‘resting’ you’re also taking in ideas, forming new ideas and practicing phrasings in your head. In the same way winter incubates new life for the spring, your mind incubates new ideas when you’re chilling!

I hope you’ve all been doing well out there – keep it wild!

It’s getting sunnier. And staying sunnier. Even as I write this, my normal winter backdrop of frosty dark morning is now replaced with a beam of sunlight in a bright blue sky.

Spring is sooo coming.

I’ve had a lot of people ask how Gerry, my resident squirrel neighbor, is doing. As you can see, Gerry has taken to napping on our back porch. This is, of course, after gorging himself on birdseed which he faithfully receives everyday.

What better way to enjoy the last of winter than with one last seasonal catnap? Sorry, squirrel nap.

I highly recommend them.

Keep it wild!