Hollis
MY BLOGS
-
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 )
-
Northwest Nebraska During Peak Mammal
A Paleocastor walks into a phone booth … (already heard this one?)Take Nebraska Highway 29 from Mitchell north to Harrison and you will drive through miles and... Read more
Posted on 14 June 2016 OUTDOORS -
Pixelmator-ed Trees
Early June is the time for a tree-following report but … once again I’ve neglected my service berry. It’s become obvious that I picked the wrong tree. It’s too... Read more
Posted on 09 June 2016 OUTDOORS -
Geo-challenge in Space and Time
The American Serengeti. Where are we ... and when?Be forewarned, happy scavenger—good times never last.The rolling land is covered in grass, for as far as the... Read more
Posted on 03 June 2016 OUTDOORS -
Geopoetry: Counter Currents, by Danny Rosen
What lies on the counter does not lie, utters no false word, speaks volumes …The edge of an indurated ash spear point says, 100,000 years ago some man he sat... Read more
Posted on 30 May 2016 OUTDOORS -
Rock Gardens at Scotts Bluff
Scotts Bluff mid-distance, viewed from the Wildcat Hills in northwest Nebraska.Between 1914 and 1918, concerned citizens of Nebraska contacted the Department... Read more
Posted on 25 May 2016 OUTDOORS -
A Mysterious Contact (Letter to the Earth)
Scotts Bluff in northwest Nebraska, viewed from the Wildcat Hills where I recently camped.It hadn’t been dark long when a loud wailing awoke me. Read more
Posted on 20 May 2016 OUTDOORS -
Tree-photography, in Lieu of Tree-following
Cottonwoods in spring; Laramie, Wyoming. The middle tree has a magpie nest.I’m a tree-following slacker, with no monthly report. Read more
Posted on 09 May 2016 OUTDOORS -
The Great Aquifer is Leaking
“Visit Nebraska. Visit Nice.” (more here)Nebraska is nice, as the Nebraska Tourism Commission says, but why are they so modest? It’s more than nice—spectacular... Read more
Posted on 03 May 2016 OUTDOORS -
Citizen Scientists Awake—We Have Wildflowers!
Laramie botanists are emerging from hibernation, hungry and irritable, in critical need of floral sustenance. But while other plant lovers are gaily posting... Read more
Posted on 26 April 2016 OUTDOORS -
Re-reading John Muir
John Muir in his mid-30s, ca 1875. Source.In 1969, the exciting ideas transforming the public consciousness finally reached my small conservative working-class... Read more
Posted on 21 April 2016 OUTDOORS -
On the Road in Nebraska (geo-challenge Answers)
Where on Google Earth (click on image to view).Lynn David met all three of the recent geo-challenges:"Obviously Nebraska.... cannot mistake that bend in the... Read more
Posted on 15 April 2016 OUTDOORS -
On the Road Again … but Where? (geo-challenge)
Where on Google Earth? (click on image to view)Here’s a special deal to celebrate the start of 2016 geo-tripping: three geo-challenges for the price of one! I... Read more
Posted on 12 April 2016 OUTDOORS -
Juneberry Surrogates
Tall, taller than we knowbur oaks to be out West, wherethey’re scrub-like orbigger and low-branching, butnever sixty, eighty,a hundred feet tall!No wonder I... Read more
Posted on 09 April 2016 OUTDOORS -
Bad Water, Sweet Water, and Greasewood
Healthy greasewood—dig here! (photo by Cory Maylett)While traveling up the Missouri River through today’s northeast Montana, the great American explorer... Read more
Posted on 31 March 2016 OUTDOORS -
Of Woolsacks, Witches, Cheesewrings & Tors
Baa baa black sheep,Have you any wool?Yes sir, yes sir,Three bags full.One for my master,One for the king,One for the GeologistWho likes such things! Read more
Posted on 17 March 2016 OUTDOORS -
James and Jamesia—a Man and His Shrub
Cliffbush, Jamesia americana. Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center; photo by Alan Cressler.“Cliffbush” and “Jamesia” … a plant could hardly be more appropriately... Read more
Posted on 04 March 2016 OUTDOORS -
Where the Juneberries Grow
I zipped up my jacket, put on my pack, pulled the camera out of the case … and was hit by that sinking feeling that still surfaces even though we humans left th... Read more
Posted on 01 March 2016 OUTDOORS -
See the Wind?
Stopping for dinner at the Antelope Truck Stop, near Burns, Wyoming.See the Wind?(inspired by Christina Rossetti)Who has seen the wind?Neither I nor you:But if... Read more
Posted on 19 February 2016 OUTDOORS -
Geological Mementos
Memento (n.): an object kept as a reminder of an event or person.My knick-knacks are dominated by rocks. But they're not just rocks. Read more
Posted on 12 February 2016 OUTDOORS -
Old Friends (tree-following)
My circle of close friends includes two trees. This may seem odd, but it’s impossible to follow a tree for a year without become friends! Read more
Posted on 08 February 2016 OUTDOORS