As many of you already know, I’ve been creating native gardens for bumblebees. This project started in February 2023 when I took a course from Pollinator Partnership to become a certified Pollinator Steward. The process ends when I make a community presentation on my habitat and the type of bees it is attracting. I plan…
I love to read, but I will only do it voraciously if a book is truly outstanding. This week, I had the pleasure of reading such a book. Historical Fiction I read “The Women” by Kristin Hannah (2024). If you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend it. Set in the years during the Vietnam…
There was always an indication of the end of summer when I was growing up, and it was our town’s Fireman’s Carnival. All the towns in our area had them, and we went as a family to several. There was always a parade with marching bands and firetrucks from the host town, as well as…
One way that scientists gather information about different species is to engage the public. Monitoring life cycles, sightings, phenological events, and migrations are all ways to find out more about what a particular species is doing and how it’s adapting to our changing world. One such example is the BioBlitz that is underway now for…
Medium is strange. There are many ways to show the writer you like their article. These include clapping up to fifty times per article, highlighting parts of the article, or commenting on the article. Writers can show other writers they like their piece by tagging it. I was tagged this week for an article I…
I posted some updates on my poetry on Wednesday. I’ve been busy writing some other poems for Summer Swaps, and anything else that inspires me. Beyond that, I’m halfway through writing my chapter for a textbook on teaching with awe. It’s due in August, so I need to be diligent on finishing. Summer has finally…
This week, I submitted 8 poems to two different publications. Four went to Rattle, a publication of adult poetry, and four went to High Five, a Highlights publication for children aged 2-6. Through this submission process, I realized that I might be more suited to writing adult-themed poetry. There were fewer restrictions on the Rattle…
Knowing only politics makes us ignorant. My husband was the one who saw the news brief on his phone yesterday morning. He told me that a wildfire had destroyed the lodge at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and that part of the park was closed. Searching my phone and social media, I couldn’t…
Today, I think I am moving toward ending my writing time on Medium. I see signs, which I’ll discuss in a future post, that the platform is seriously struggling. At a minimum, I am struggling on it and have been since January. As a small example, I wrote a post today that I tried to…
How Did You Celebrate Independence Day? I’m sharing an article I wrote and posted on Medium this week. I hope you enjoy it. It does have a call to action, although it is not poetry. I did not write a Poetry Friday post this week. July 4th is a holiday in the United States that…