The Importance of Death

The Importance of Death

By Sarah Hatfield We think of autumn as a time of harvest and brilliant color, a time when we can start to read more books and slow down and not feel so guilty doing so. Some might think of it as the ‘waiting room’ of the holidays, anxious to put up their lights and...
Masters of Disguise

Masters of Disguise

By Katie Finch This is the time of year we dress in costumes. We disguise ourselves as characters and take on different roles for the pleasure of being something or someone else. It’s a form of play. In the natural world, there are many animals that use disguise as a...
A Pup’s Nose view of the Neighborhood

A Pup’s Nose view of the Neighborhood

By Jeff Tome There are things in life that shake everything up. These events hit your life like an earthquake, shaking things apart and rebuilding life in unanticipated ways. For me, those events included marriage, having kids and, now, getting a puppy. If you are one...
Smells hold Memories

Smells hold Memories

By Emma Roth A few days ago, I was walking down the street when suddenly I was suddenly transported to my grandparents’ house. I wasn’t there physically; my grandparents lived a few hundred miles away from where I was standing and sold that house over a decade ago. In...
Elusive Animals

Elusive Animals

By Chelsea Jandreau There are plenty of animals I have never seen in real life, including many that call Western New York home. In most cases, I am absolutely fine with this. Life goes on and if I ever happen to come across a new plant, fungus or animal, it is just an...
A Gentian Conversation and Conservation

A Gentian Conversation and Conservation

By Sarah Hatfield “Oh! That’s Closed Gentian! I haven’t seen that in years.” I was at a workshop recently, and there were four of us taking our time and walking at the back of the group, which was already fifty feet ahead of us. The session was focused on wildlife...