Tag Archives: Nature

The Old Man and the Boy

Posted on January 11, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Old Man and the Boy© 1957 Robert Ruark303 pages Of the various titles on my Classics Club Strikes back list, The Old Man and the Boy is something of an outlier; I’d venture to say that most people haven’t … Continue reading →

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You are not so smart, and animals are not so dumb: a science twofer

Posted on December 10, 2020 by smellincoffee

Last week I read You Are Not So Smart, an often interesting if sometimes trivial review of how mental shortcuts get us in trouble. My reading of Suspicious Minds led into this, and they shared some common ground. The shortcuts … Continue reading →

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Selections from “Becoming Wild”

Posted on September 16, 2020 by smellincoffee

“Until now, culture has remained a largely hidden, unappreciated layer of wild lives. Yet for many species, culture is both crucial and fragile. Long before a population declines to numbers low enough to seem threatened with extinction, their special cultural … Continue reading →

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Resist Much, Obey Little

Posted on September 14, 2020 by smellincoffee

Resist Much, Obey Little: Remembering Ed Abbey© 1996 James Hepworth & Gregory McNamee254 pages To the States or any one of them, or any city of the States, Resist much, obey little,Once unquestioning obedience, once fully enslaved,Once fully enslaved, no … Continue reading →

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Aerial Geology

Posted on June 26, 2020 by smellincoffee

Aerial Geology: A High Altitude Tour of North America’s Spectacular Volcanoes, Canyons, Glaciers, Lakes, Craters, and Peaks © 2017 Mary Caperton Morton 308 pages   It was love at first sight, me and this book. There  I was, cruising BooksAMillion … Continue reading →

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The Thing with the Feathers

Posted on May 28, 2020 by smellincoffee

The Thing with Feathers: The Surprising Lvies of Birds and What They Reveal About Being Human © 2015  Noah Strycker 304 pages One of the blessings of living in a semi-rural area like myself is the daily sightings of birds … Continue reading →

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What the Robin Knows

Posted on May 24, 2020 by smellincoffee

What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World © 2012  Jon Young 277 pages I don’t envy people for their boats,  wardrobes, or  wine collections, but if I meet someone who can ‘read’ the natural … Continue reading →

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Quotes from the Ground Beneath Us

Posted on March 5, 2020 by smellincoffee

“Quotations to follow tonight,” I said. I didn’t expect AT&T to have another network outage, though mercifully this one wasn’t as long as the twelve days (you better believe I counted) of February. But enough telecom griping! On to the … Continue reading →

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Of murder and meaningful ground

Posted on March 4, 2020 by smellincoffee

A friend recently introduced me to the terms lentic and lotic, referring to stagnant and fast-moving bodies of water, respectively.  My Lenten series has so far been very lentic,   as I’ve been distracted by life’s goings-on.    I have done a … Continue reading →

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Where the Crawdads Sing

Posted on January 24, 2020 by smellincoffee

Where the Crawdads Sing © 2018 Delia Owens 368 pages ‘There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot.’”  – Aldous Leopold, The Sand County Almanac They called her the Marsh Girl. Abandoned in a decaying … Continue reading →

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