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Author Archives: Andrea Jones
Winter Pasture
There’s a distinct pleasure in being able to make someone else happy. Sometimes their pleasure persists even as your own memories of the effort involved in said happy-making fade, tipping the scales of your satisfaction even further toward the positive. … Continue reading
Posted in animal communication, horses, winter
Tagged Colorado, feeding horses, horses, winter
4 Comments
Top Twelve Books of 2019
No, that’s not a typo. I know this cusp-of-the-new-year timeframe is a popular time to spotlight favorites and best of’s and top tens from the year about to pass, but I’m in the mood to look forward, not back. A … Continue reading
Posted in books, reading
Tagged Alan Jasanoff, Amy E. Weldon, Andrew Shtulman, C.M. Mayo, Coyote America, Dan Flores, Dave Eggers, Jennifer Case, Known and Strange Things, Maryanne Wolf, Ordinary Light, Reader Come Home, Robert Michael Pyle, Sawbill, Scienceblind, Susan Orlean, Teju Cole, The Biological Mind, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, The Library Book, The Writer's Eye, Tracy K. Smith, What is the What, Where Bigfoot Walks
8 Comments
Not an Owl
Having fresh snowfall is a bit like getting a local newspaper delivery: I learn about things going on in the neighborhood I wouldn’t otherwise know. Tracks on the fresh sheet of snow spread across the arena last month were like … Continue reading
Posted in animal communication, birds, ravens, wildlife encounters
Tagged raven tracks, ravens
8 Comments
Thought About
I thought about writing about these fall days: the glossy blue skies, the serene air, the landscape golden and splashed with umber and gilt. The temperature hovers in that curious cool-mild zone, so you go out wearing a jacket but … Continue reading
Posted in animal communication, birds, fall, gardening, horses, procrastination
Tagged Colorado autumn, fall foliage, horses, juncos, late season gardening
11 Comments
Summer Got-away
I promised myself last spring it wouldn’t happen again: the summer, this year, would not spiral out of control. I would manage my time, balance my obligations, ride herd on my expectations. But the summer got away from me. Again. … Continue reading
Curse-Worthy
In the normal scheme of things, I wouldn’t consider it a weed. Western sticktight (aka Lappula occidentalis, (or ledowskii), flatspine stickseed, flat-spine sheepburr…all variations on the theme) is a native plant, and as a general rule I have a bias … Continue reading
Out of the Background
The fear that a bad fire season would be in the offing come summer lurked in the background for months. The prickle of anxiety persisted through the windy days of March and April. It lingered while I planted the garden, … Continue reading
Posted in precipitation, wildfire
Tagged Colorado wildfires, fire mitigation, forest fires
4 Comments
Parched…and Yet
I knew these days would come. In late spring for the last several years, I have nagged myself to remember—and be grateful for—the luxury of going into summer with moisture in the ground. How pleasant those days were. I didn’t … Continue reading
Posted in color, humans and wildlife, summer, weather, wildfire
Tagged Colorado wildfires, Colorado wildflowers, fire danger, wildlife in Colorado
2 Comments
Back to England
Thirty-five years ago, in June, 1983, I traveled to England as part of a 4-H exchange. I no longer remember exactly how I came to sign up for the program, but what’s clear in retrospect is how much that summer … Continue reading
Posted in home, travel
Tagged Beachy Head, England, Housesteads Roman Fort, London, Northumberland, Talkin Tarn, University of Lancaster, Weymouth
4 Comments
Pesky Wildlife
“…Rural development encroaches on the traditional habitat of coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, prairie dogs, bears, mosquitoes and other animals that can be dangerous and you need to know how to deal with them.” from “Code of the West,” created … Continue reading
Posted in birds, spring, wildlife encounters
Tagged Colorado wildlife, country living, mountain bluebirds, Sialia currucoides
10 Comments
