In the old days, like fifteen years ago, learning the whereabouts of rare birds was a different business than it is today. You’d hear about a rare bird through word of mouth, or you’d call a phone number that — through a recorded message — would give an update on the...
The Pulse of the Wild- Mary Reynolds Thompson
We came upon it late in the day, after weeks of downpours. My husband and I were exploring the Loop of the Seven Lakes, north of Bariloche in Argentina, when we turned down a deserted dirt road. Mud pools and potholes transformed our rented Fiat into a cross between a...
The Radical Power of Your Sourdough Starter- Sandor Katz
For fermentation revivalist Sandor Katz, making sourdough, kimchi, and kombucha is about more than eating well at home. It’s a metaphor for creative systemic change, bubbling away from the ground up. Sandor Katz is a fervent devotee of fermentation. “In my home...
Fear and Control in Uncertain Times- Polly Young-Eisendrath in Conversation with Charles Eisenstein
Polly Young-Eisendrath is a Jungian psychoanalyst, a psychologist, and Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Vermont. She is also founder and director of the Institute for Dialogue Therapy and the author of 16 books that have been translated...
Display of Pure Magic – Mary Reynolds Thompson
July 4th. Illegal fireworks shatter the night’s quiet and spark hundreds of fires all over the tinder-dry Bay Area. My husband and I curl in bed listening anxiously, sniffing the air for smoke. The trees outside our window seem almost to hold their breath. Everything...
The Elders Speak: What Indigenous People Know About Health – Lewis Mehl Madrona
I come from a long line of Cherokee people who escaped Andrew Jackson's Trail of Tears and Death, the forced march of our people to Oklahoma which began in 1836.My ancestors hid in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky and slowly assimilated into the white culture...
Keeping a Nature Journal – Mary Reynolds Thompson
During the coronavirus, our daily forays into the natural world have kept us sane, and we’ve been extremely grateful for access to a park, a hiking trail, a meadow or a garden. As our world shifts, we keep returning to the landscape for a sense of solace and of...
Where Are You Putting Your Attention? – by Mary Reynolds Thompson
Grizzly bears make black bears look like lapdogs. Which is why when Bruce and I backpacked the Grand Teton Crest Trail in Wyoming, where grizzly bear sightings are common, we were more than a little concerned. We only became terrified when, upon setting up camp on the...
Joanna Macy and the Work of Our Time- An Interview with Joanna Macy
In recent weeks, reporters, activists, and others have drawn parallels between the global pandemic and the climate crisis. It seems early to say, but we can sense that the two problems are more related than we think, as they are both challenges that we all must face...
Forest Wisdom in the Time of the Coronavirus – by Mary Reynolds Thompson
is the author of Embrace Your Inner Wild and Reclaiming the Wild Soul: How Earth’s Landscapes Restore Us to Wholeness. She is also an instructor for the non-profit TreeSisters, a facilitator of poetry therapy and journal therapy, and a certified life coach who has...