Hollis
MY BLOGS
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In the Company of Plants and Rocks
http://plantsandrocks.blogspot.com/
Natural history blog focusing on botany, ecology and geology ... from the field as much as possible!
LATEST ARTICLES ( 431 )
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Goodbye, Jan Conn—legendary Rock Climber, Caver, Musician & Much More
Jan Conn (center) with her woodworking group.Jan Conn passed away in May at age 99. She was a valuable part of my life, following a lifestyle to which I aspired... Read more
Posted on 01 July 2023 OUTDOORS -
Blue Sailors & Brown Pelicans at Surf, California
Surf BeachSurf is an unstaffed Amtrak rail stop on the California coast west of Lompoc. It's part of Vandenberg Space Force Base, but there's public access to... Read more
Posted on 25 June 2023 OUTDOORS -
Tree-visiting at Mission La Purísima
Fountains and olive trees. Olive oil was one source of mission income back in the day.Rather than trying to visit my Rocky Mountain Junipers between... Read more
Posted on 12 June 2023 OUTDOORS -
California's Central Coast, Through a Lens
"I gazing at the boundaries of granite and spray, the established sea-marks, felt behind meMountain and plain, the immense breadth of the continent,before me th... Read more
Posted on 02 June 2023 OUTDOORS -
Tree-following: What to Do on a Windy Wyoming Day?
Mid-photo are the two Rocky Mountain Junipers I'm following, at the base of the Laramie Mountains.The approach was not a problem.A few days ago I made a short... Read more
Posted on 13 May 2023 OUTDOORS -
April Tree-following—about That Lichen
Several days ago, we headed off to visit the trees I'm following this year. It was a warmish sunny day that felt like spring, finally. And it was very windy,... Read more
Posted on 14 April 2023 OUTDOORS -
Seeing the Craton
Granite quarry near Milbank, South Dakota, in the southwest part of the Superior Craton."Craton" comes from the Greek word κράτος, meaning strength. Read more
Posted on 28 March 2023 OUTDOORS -
Tree Following in March ... Almost Spring!
Eastern Laramie Plains, Laramie Mountains in distance, my junipers circled.Mid March is here and spring is approaching, even in Laramie at 7200 ft elevation.... Read more
Posted on 13 March 2023 OUTDOORS -
Cartographer Joseph Nicollet's Eponymous Plant
Nicolletia, Hole-in-the-sand Plant. Van Loon photo.For those who missed my recent posts about cartographer Joseph Nicollet (here and here), he figured... Read more
Posted on 28 February 2023 OUTDOORS -
Glacial Beauty in South Dakota
"[The Coteau des Prairies] is a most beautiful tract of land, diversified by hills, dales, woodland, and lakes; the latter abounding in fish" (Joseph Nicollet,... Read more
Posted on 23 February 2023 OUTDOORS -
Tree Following: New Tree(s) for 2023
Arrow points to our destination—a Rocky Mountain JuniperEvery year about this time, we tree followers are out searching for a new tree. Unfamiliar with tree... Read more
Posted on 14 February 2023 OUTDOORS -
Mssr. Nicollet & I Consider Glacial Theory in Northeast South Dakota
Courtesy NASA.During my visit to northeast South Dakota last fall, I bumped into the great surveyor Joseph Nicollet and discovered we had similar goals. Read more
Posted on 25 January 2023 OUTDOORS -
Sica Hollow—whoo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oooooooo!!
Tree Spirit?Before my visit to Sica (shee-chah) Hollow in northeast South Dakota, I was warned by the State Parks website that "Sioux legends of Sica Hollow... Read more
Posted on 08 January 2023 OUTDOORS -
Tree Following: Tree in a Tree & a Geography Challenge
Where was I?The large trees on the shore of this small shallow lake, one of many such lakes in the area, are Plains cottonwoods. Note they have green leaves in... Read more
Posted on 14 December 2022 OUTDOORS -
Devil's Playground—another Intrusion, This One with Wildflowers
Late afternoon at the Devil's Playground in northwest Utah—my kind of #vanlife.I ended my tour of Utah and Nevada last May with a stop at the Devil's... Read more
Posted on 08 December 2022 OUTDOORS -
Tree-following Therapy
Quaking aspen near Pole Creek, Laramie Mountains, November.It's November, and in the Laramie Mountains much of the color is gone. We're left with black, brown,... Read more
Posted on 12 November 2022 OUTDOORS -
House Range: More Than a Tertiary Fault Block
Sun sets on the House Range, west central Utah. Thanks to Mike Nelson for photo and info.Last month I wrote about my stay in the House Range, a large mass of... Read more
Posted on 25 October 2022 OUTDOORS -
For the Times They Are A-changin' (tree-following)
Autumn is hardly as revolutionary as the Sixties, but Dylan's words still come to mind as nights lengthen, days cool, the outdoors goes silent except for the... Read more
Posted on 09 October 2022 OUTDOORS -
Haunted House Range
Camping in a Paleozoic sea in the House Range (#notvanlife).Last May I visited part of the great Paleozoic Sea that covered much of today's Great Basin for... Read more
Posted on 21 September 2022 OUTDOORS -
Trees Are Our Silent Partners ... (tree-following)
"Trees are our silent partners, sensing us as we move about, providing shelter, offering us beauty, and nurturing and protecting the earth. Read more
Posted on 09 September 2022 OUTDOORS