The Tangled Nest is still breathing! Sort of. Like an amphibian breathes through its permeable skin in a frozen pond. I am plotting the best ways to integrate this blog with my upcoming email letter Wander but since so many of you have been writing with kind, curious, generous questions (thank you!) I think a […]
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Like all of us, chickens are creatures that respond to the seasons, to cycles of light and dark. Many breeds of chickens will lay eggs throughout their first winter, but once they get a little older, their egg-laying will usually dwindle and then stop completely as the winter darkness falls. Some people install lights into […]
Sometime last year I began to have recurring dreams of walking on forested pathways, wandering off the large path onto smaller, hidden paths. And in most of the dreams, I was wearing this hood. I couldn’t stop thinking of the dream, and I am a believer in following obsessions, so: I read every academic article […]
I have spent the last ten days at Whiteley Center on San Juan Island, a residency for writers, academics, artists—anyone trying to do focused work on a project (I call it my Beautiful Writer’s Prison). I am here to almost-finish a draft of my next book. There are deer and otters and seals wandering around, […]
A few years ago I began the personal tradition of celebrating the New Year in early February. Getting it all together before January 1st is just too much pressure: reflection on the past year, dreams for the new one, resolutions, intentions. Yule tree down, calendar up, house cleaned/heart cleaned, all in readiness for the Fresh […]
Instead of making excuses for the fact that I have not made the tiniest appearance here at The Tangled Nest for, um, five months, I’m just going to jump right in with this: Ophelia, one of my beautiful Buff Orpingtons, is broody. She’s been sitting stubbornly in the nest box for days on end and bristles […]
(This post was originally published in December, 2012.) Every year we see articles on “staying sane during the holidays”–advice for dealing with unruly inlaws while maximizing cookie production and shopping efficiency. I follow some of this advice. But here’s a confession: I love the inner dimension of this season. I love advent, the dark days […]
My new book, The Urban Bestiary, hits shelves today. I look forward to seeing its pretty, sky-blue cover tracking its way into the world, and into your hands. Every one of you has my never-ending gratitude for your support during the writing and release of this book. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now let’s […]
Please try entering https://graph.facebook.com/10151765185022920/photos?fields=source,link,name,images,album&limit=1000 into your URL bar and seeing if the page loads. Thanks to everyone who submitted your urban wildlife photos! (Submission is now closed. One submitter chosen at random will win a copy of my new book The Urban Bestiary: Encountering The Everyday Wild.) The photos are wonderful, and I uploaded the first […]