Wild Earth Integration

(Courtesy: Bill Watterson. Who is The Man.)

“Simplify, Simplify” – Henry David Thoreau

THEN: sandbox

NOW: sanitizers

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THEN: conversation

NOW: American Idol

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THEN: Tag

NOW: Teletubbies

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THEN: Sunshine

NOW: Vitamin D tablets

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THEN: Homework

NOW: www.allfreeessays.com

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THEN: reality

NOW: virtual reality

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THEN: farms

NOW: factories

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THEN: grass-fed

NOW: hormone-fed

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THEN: Books

NOW: e-books

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THEN: soil

NOW: landfill

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THEN: tree-climbing

NOW: corporate climbing

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THEN: Salad

NOW: Snack Size Fruit & Walnut Salad – Apple slices and red grapes [apples, red grapes, calcium ascorbate (a blend of calcium and vitamin C added to maintain natural freshness and color)] Vanilla Lowfat Yogurt [cultured pasteurized Grade A reduced milk fat, sugar, food starch-modified, fructose, whey protein concentrate, corn starch, kosher gelatin, natural (plant source) and artificial flavor, potassium sorbate (added to maintain freshness), artificial color], candied walnuts [walnuts, TBHQ and BHT added as preservatives) sugar, peanut oil, dry honey, salt, wheat starch, maltodextrin, xanthan gum, soy lecithin, natural (plant source) and artificial flavor.]

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THEN: leg warmers

NOW: global warmers

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THEN: Pad of paper

NOW: iPad

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THEN: filling minds

NOW: filling houses

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THEN: off-the-clock

NOW: ’round-the-clock

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THEN: coffee

NOW: double decaf latte with mocha sprinkles

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THEN: green space

NOW: no space

“I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived” – Henry David Thoreau

I can’t take credit for this photo – my better half was out there braving the flurry to get it.

This bad boy was originally chasing down a sparrow, but gave up and decided instead to just look regal. (I wish I could look that regal just by sitting and turning my head.)

Another good reason to keep lookin’ up, no?

Keep it wild, world!

I’m rebelling. We got another lashing of snow last night and I’m currently dreaming of green grass, T-shirt weather and ice cream.

Ok, so I’m pretty much always dreaming of ice cream, but that’s another matter.

In one of my last posts How to Teach Snow a Lesson, we learned that you can show snow who’s boss by pretending it isn’t there. In the spirit of ignoring snow, I thought I’d tell you a spring and summer secret. My lovely readers residing in the southern hemisphere can use this one right now.

Crickets are handy little fellas. They serenade us for hours in search of a mate. Summer nighttimes become busier than Lava Life on Valentine’s Day. But you can use their love songs to do something pretty cool – cricket songs tell you how hot it is. That’s more than you can say for, oh… Justin Timberlake’s songs.

To get the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit, count the number of chirps in 14 seconds. Add 40 to this number and voila, you’re done. So for 35 chirps, we end up with 75 degrees.

For us Celsius lovers, count the number of chirps in 25 seconds. Divide this number by three, then add 4. For 45 chirps, this gives you 19C.

Make sense?

Try it out on your next outdoor adventure and you’ll impress people so much, you’ll have no need for Lava Life.

Keep it wild!

Oh, hiking boots.

We’ve been through a lot, you and I.

You’ve kept me company on a plane across the Pacific Ocean.You’ve kept me dry on the Atlantic sands and hoisted me up yet another tree branch.

For over 7 years now, you’ve been going strong.

Remember the days of wildlife rehab? You were clawed at, peed on, bitten and covered with mud.

At least I’m pretending it was mud.

What about New Zealand? Don’t pretend you weren’t afraid while clamoring over rocks with 80 degree inclines while planting trees. Speaking of trees, I wonder how many shovels you’ve helped propel into the dirt?

You took me to 5 years of University labs and classes. You even showed up the day I defended my thesis, even though you tracked a bit of dirt into the fancy room. That carpet needed a good cleaning anyways.

You’ve been in whitewater rafts (and got soaked), canoes (ditto), horse stirrups (smelly) and snowshoes (frigid). You’ve taken me through snow, sand, mud, water, grass and even a little bit of magma. As a result of all those adventures, you’ve also been in the wash. At one point, you were even told by family to ‘stay outside on the deck’ because you looked ‘questionable.’

Hmph.

You’ve steadied me across makeshift bridges of rotting wood – your tread gripping while I wondered aloud ‘how in the hell did I get in this situation again?!’ You don’t seem to mind that I attract heights that would give a mountain goat a run for his money.

It hasn’t all been carefree meadows with daisies and immaculate landscapes. In fact, I remember your first wound. A dog got a hold of you and used you as a chew toy. For shame. You never complained once while I stitched you back up, without drugs no less.

After all this time, you’re still relatively in one piece. Indiana Jones says, ‘It’s not the age, it’s the mileage’.

If that’s the case, I’d say you’ve earned your stripes.

So, boots – where should we go today?

Happy Friday everybody! I hope you (and your footwear) are ready for weekend adventures. Keep it wild!

**Winner Update! Congrats to Mel and Adrienne for winning The Great Goodall Giveaway! I’ll be in touch for addresses to mail out your prize!**

Winners were chosen by random number generator, because all of your answers were so awesome. Thanks to everybody for entering!

Happy Friday folks!

In the spirit of the end of the week, I”m going to keep it short ‘n snappy today. Consider it Fish Friday!

Animals can do some pretty incredible things. Recently the stingray has been in the news for its ability to use water as a tool to flush out its prey. Back in the day (now I sound like an old woman), tool use was a trait that only humans were thought to have. We couldn’t have been more wrong, and I’m loving that we’re starting to open our eyes to the amazing feats of animals.

But stingrays aren’t the only fish out there to use water as a tool. There’s another species out there that uses water in a way that just might blow your mind. You have to see it to believe it.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, the Archer Fish.  Words don’t do it justice, so grab a cuppa and enjoy watching the sniper of the fish world.

For those of you who haven’t yet entered my Great Goodall Giveaway, swing by here to check it out – only one week left! Who doesn’t like free stuff?

Stay wild and I’ll see you Monday!

Well, winter is full swing around here and the temperatures have quite literally been dipping to what I call ’20 degrees below cold’. Brrrrr! But cold or not, there’s always something to be learned out there.

As I don my ever-so-classy fingerless gloves, I thought I’d let you in on some of the things that wintry nature has taught me. Relax, grab a cocoa and read on, winter traveler.

• Walking the dog: Make plans, but be flexible if something unexpected pops up. Follow your nose in all circumstances – all roads lead to new smells.

• Climbing Trees: You’d be surprised of what you can accomplish when you’ve got good footing. Start with the basics and go from there.

• Snowstorms: Sometimes the landscape of life is never more beautiful than after a storm. Stay hopeful, no matter what the forecast says.

• Icicles: Over night success is overrated. Slow and steady acts can bring dramatic change.

• Longjohns: It’s what you have closest to you that matters most. Don’t waste your time on things that don’t warm your heart.

• Watching the Birds: Life is too short to eat shoddy food. Go for the prize, even if others think it’s out of your league.

I know we’ve got a lot of winter explorers out there, so on this fine and chilly Monday, I’d love to hear what winter has taught you. Bundle up out there!

P.S Stay tuned for the next post – I’ve got a giveaway up my sleeve!

On my recent trek (which you know as Planet of the Ducks), we also came across some 60 pound rodents. Don’t worry, we weren’t being taken over by giant rats. Nope, we were in beaver territory.

I was floored by how many trees they had taken down. Judging by the forest, beavers must have a pretty spectacular work ethic, if I do say so myself. In fact, if there’s one animal that makes everyone feel guilty about how little they accomplish, it’s the beaver.

Think about it – these guys waltz onto the scene, looking relatively unassuming, bat their big, brown eyes at you and then quietly carry on with their task of taking over the world.

What’s the secret behind nature’s architect? Read on, brave adventurer.

• Beavers have a flap of skin behind their teeth. That doesn’t seem to impressive until you realize that this means they can chew underwater. And here we are wasting time breathing air like suckers.

• Beavers have a built-in kickstand. Also a built-in rudder to help them steer while swimming. One tail, many uses. Score 2 for beavers.

• Four words: Free-running circadian rhythm. You’ve heard people complain about wanting more hours in the day. Well, beavers are too cool to complain. Instead, they do something about it. In the winter, they stop leaving their lodges at sunset and returning at sunrise. By staying in more, they don’t see the sun. This allows them to set their own biological clocks. For beavers, the day actually has 29- hours. Booya.

So, now that you feel completely inferior to a rodent, how’s work going?

Another week already! I hope you folks aren’t suffering from a case of the Moandays. Just in case, this might cheer you up!

To celebrate the New Year, my man and I decided to check out some new nature spots on the weekend. After traveling for about an hour, we found this little gem of a waterfront spot, right along some bluffs.

For some reason, it felt like finding a teeny piece of Ireland in Canada (minus the green, the sheep and the leprechauns of course.)

The first thing we came across was some wicked sticky mud that is now permanently adhered to our boots. The next thing was some animal evidence. Check out the size of this print compared to my little paw. Awesome. Little did we know what lay around the corner.

After exploring and doing our best to ward off the pesky frostbite (who needs fingertips, really?), we were just about to head home. Then we heard a commotion. Honks, squawks and water splashes. It sounded like a water park gone mad.

Ever the zoologist, investigate I did.

Suddenly, there were ducks. And I’m not talking about a ‘quack-quack’ here and a ‘quack-quack’ there. I’m talking ‘Lookout Old MacDonald, these ducks are going to take over the farm’. More ducks than I’ve ever seen in my life. It was like Planet of the Ducks. I heard the Hitchcock theme to ‘Birds’ in my head.

Apparently this spot was a communal feeding ground for ducks, swans and Canada geese. We watched as they battled it out for food and generally caused a rumpus.

Eventually, we noticed something in all the madness. Can you see anything weird in the picture above? How about this one?

I’ve never seen a duck with this coloring before and I think it might be an albino. Any duck experts out there care to weigh in here?

Of course, no post about a great duck caper would be complete without a Wild 5. So without further adieu, here are your wild 5 duck facts. Bring ‘em up at your next cocktail party. Really, be that guy.

• It takes about 2 months for a young duckling to learn to fly. During that time they’re dabbling in the water, learning from their parents and generally being adorable.

• Ducks (and other birds) have 3 eyelids. The top and bottom lids have little bristles on them that look like eyelashes. The third eyelid is called a nictitating membrane. This eyelid is blinked about 35 times a minute. If you threw something at a duck (please don’t, this is just a hypothetical), then it would blink its nictitating membranes to protect its eyes.

• Mallard ducks (like the ones above) have less than 500 tastebuds. To compare, you’ve got about 10,000. Compared to a duck, you’re a super taster.

• A group of ducks is called a sord. Not to be confused with a sword. Ducks will not help you defeat dragons.

• Mallards are by far the most abundant species of duck on the planet. They’re even more popular than Donald.

Thanks for stopping by!

*No ducks were harmed in the making of this post*

Birds. They’re cute. They’re spunky. They’re probably eating from your feeders right now. Whether you live in a snowy climate right now (guilty) or not, chances are you’ve doled out some cash to feed the birds in your backyard. But what do you really know about your avian neighbors? Today on ‘Science with a Side of Awesome’, I give you 5 things worth knowing about the birds. (No, not the birds and the bees, you’ll have to figure that out for yourself.)

• Okay, so you’re probably not actively feeding this guy, but I had to include him because he’s just so awesome. And really, he will eat birds and rodents from your backyard, so indirectly, you’re feeding him. Along with having talons like nobody’s business, hawks have eyesight that is 8 times stronger than a human’s. Seriously, a hawk could read a newspaper from seven stories high. (If you are a hawk and reading this, congratulations on learning to read.)

• Birds don’t have diaphragms. You know what that means? They can’t get hiccups. Which really, is too bad, because I think they’d be hilarious to watch if they did.

• Many birds have hollow bones. Inside them are criss-crossing tresses which help support them. This helps keep the weight down so they can fly, but not get crushed easily.

• Have you ever noticed how birds reach their heads around and preen from the base of their tail? This is because there is a special gland there called a uropygial gland. This gland secretes oils, which help waterproof its feathers. A bird will rustle feathers at the base of its tail to collect some of the oil, then spread it all over its body.

• There isn’t a single blue feather in the world. No, I’m not just messing with you. The reason some birds look blue is that there are 2 optical illusions going on in your brain. Feathers that look blue to us are really showing off a series of deformed prisms and iridescence. And to think, those blue birds are probably walking around thinking they’ve got us all fooled…

If you’re a bird fan (and who isn’t, really?), one of my twitter pals @KerriFar has a lovely shop set up with all sorts of bird-related goodies. Pop on by here to check it out!

She also has a great blog at www.thesunriseofmylife.blogspot.com. Need incentive? Check out this gorgeous shot of hers!

That’s all for today. Happy Friday!