Monday, December 31, 2012

Hello from B


Hello! My name is B. Today I am going to tell you why I want to start a nature blog.


Cownose Ray
photo by Todd Poling, via Wikimedia Commons

Since I was a little boy (Lu interjects: ha!) I loved nature. I love marine science most of all. My favorite marine animals are nurse sharks, cownose rays, sheepshead and mullet. I have lots of books about fish and reef creatures.





Monarch butterfly
photo by Korall via Wikimedia Commons
(Seriously, we'll start taking our own photos soon!)

I also like lots of bugs. Bugs are really nice because they are colorful and easy to find. I can go on a bug safari in my own back yard! Now I'll tell you my favorite kinds of bugs. Caterpillars are really cool because they change into butterflies. I also like carpenter ants that sneak into my mom's house. I like bees, flies and ladybugs. I like spiders and centipedes, too (even though they aren't bugs!)

Another animal that I really like is the tree frog. I saw a real tree frog before – it jumped on me and freaked me out! But after that I decided I really like them.

While working on this blog, I'm going to share the things I know, the things my mom teaches me, and the things she and I learn together. I want you and your friends to learn about nature with me.

Bye, friends! I'll see you on the blog!

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Pining for nature


I have become a creature of air conditioning.

Now, don't get me wrong – it is a wonderful invention that makes half of the planet habitable, and I really hate hearing stories from my assorted ancestors about how they did just fine without climate control, because I know they suffered. They just forget.

But my life has somehow become an indoor existence, and it isn't right. When I was a kid I was always outside. Usually in the backyard or the beach, or a patch of woods near my house that was probably full of molesters and druggies after dark, but which in daylight was a paradise of hawks and snakes and gopher tortoises.

Now I spend most of my time sitting in my air conditioned room, writing. On the plus side, I'm doing what I love and get to wear pajamas all day. On the down side, particularly in the last half-year when I was on a tight deadline, I spend so much time creating worlds that I don't have much time left to experience the real one. That's bad for me as a writer, and as a person.

I used to have time just to lie on my belly and stare at a patch of grass, at the myriad bits of life in a few square inches. I used to sit and marvel at fungi, for goodness sake. I used to be able to tell a cormorant from an anhinga on sight. What happened? I've become an indoor person, and I'm starting to find these four walls hampering. I have to make time for nature.