Nature Noticings

I recently read a quote by Gary Paul Nabhan that said, "Our society's token nature-lovers are treated as overgrown but harmless juveniles, dillydallying away their time and money on matters underserving of serious attention by mature adults." (1) I know that Nabhan is critical of this viewpoint, but I can feel the truth behind it when I am caught examining slime molds or galls or similar by other responsible adults.   Over the Fourth of July, we went tide pooling on Orcas Island.  When we went to Obstruction Pass State Park, I did notice that I was the only adult without children in tow. The other adults largely just stood around as the children explored. Much has been written about the importance and benefits of getting children out into nature , and of course I agree, but the same benefits accrue to adults as well. Why should we deprive ourselves of these slices of joy? Why are the words "enthusiasm" and "wonder" so often connected to the word ...

I understand from the internet that there is a thing called a "haul video," where one displays all the stuff bought on a shopping trip. I'm not so into shopping, so if I made haul videos they would be after hiking, and show all the cool insects, birds, fungus, etc. seen along the way. For example, at Cougar Mountain recently we ate ripe osoberries and salmonberries, we saw a predaceous diving beetle and tadpoles, we heard western tanagers ribbiting and the spiraling songs of Swainson's thrushes, we found bird's nest fungus and amanitas . . .  But those things are not what I want to write about today. Today is for the slime molds. June has been mostly cool so far (Junuary, they call it in the Pacific Norwest), and the slime molds in the woods have been loving it. So here is my slime mold haul! My haul begins at Seward Park in Seattle with a new species for me, Arcyria obvelata . The more I learn about slime molds, the less sure I am with my identifications. With th...