Category: Tips and Advice
-
Tips for Fall Hiking
We were fortunate this year that our warm, sunny weather extended well into October. We were able to get out into nature without too much preparation. But now the rains have started, bringing cooler weather and snow to the mountains. Our attentions will turn closer to home, as we explore trails at lower elevations. We…
-
Book Review and Interview: A Kid’s Guide to Birding
If you’ve followed my blog for long, you’ll know that we love birds in this family, and we love field guides of all kinds. We have an ever-growing collection of birding guides on our guide book shelves. (Yes, we have multiple shelves for field guides.) So when I first saw this book, A Kid’s Guide…
-
Fun Fall Activities
We’re having a lovely Indian Summer here in the Pacific Northwest. Days stretch end to end with warm sunshine. It’s difficult still to get in the frame of mind for school. Yet even as I sit in the warm afternoon sun, there is the slightest taste of chill in the air. Leaves are beginning to…
-
Book Review: The Young Birder’s Guide, Plus Interview with Bill Thompson III
As I posted awhile back, I recently received a package of books from a publisher to review. One of these books was The Young Birder’s Guide to Birds of North America by Bill Thompson III. We have several birding guides on our bookshelves, but we could see right away that this book is different. It…
-
Tips for Staying Safe in Thunderstorms
When I was a young adult, I got caught in a thunderstorm in the wilderness with a friend. We had hiked all day, the two of us, my first hike without any other adults (I was probably in high school or just in college). We had several mishaps that day, and were exhausted in the…
-
Book Review: The Bluebird Effect, and Interview with Julie Zickefoose
I was recently approached by the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to review a new book by Julie Zickefoose – The Bluebird Effect: Uncommon Bonds with Common Birds. When we opened the package, we all gasped at the beauty of the illustrations. The first thing that struck me was the heft of the book – the…
-
Nature Rocks Summer Activity Guide
Summer is finally getting under way here in our neck of the woods (though we’ve had one of the coldest Junes on record…again…) and we are thinking of how to fill the longer days. Of course we go out hiking a lot, but sometimes we need a little boost of ideas to help us connect…
-
Beach Walking – Info and Etiquette
Spring and summer are prime beach walking times in Puget Sound. Every two weeks, the cycle of the moon creates several days of very low tides during the midday hours. This coincides with warming weather and winter-weary residents, and it seems that everyone flocks to the beaches. Before I worked in Edmonds, I didn’t…
-
Exploring Nature Article in ParentMap
I’ve got another article up in the ParentMap online edition. It’s chock full of great ideas for getting outside when you don’t have a ton of time. You’ll even see a few photos of my own kids mixed in. There is so much you can do even if you can’t take time for a day…
-
Bird Note Podcasts
When we go on long drives, we bring a lot of things along for the kids to do – coloring, books, stuffed animals, paper and pencils. We also like listening to podcasts to pass the time. One of our favorites is Bird Note, a local production on one of our NPR stations. Each 2-minute show…