Nature Discovery Series | November 2024
A series highlighting randomly selected artists and writers from the HOME | Nature Directory
This post begins a new series to explore fresh corners of the HOME | Nature Directory on Substack. Each month, I’ll ask my computer to generate five random numbers, which I’ll match to the auto-assigned numbers in my list of publications that have signed up to be part of the Nature Directory. (It’s free! Submit your listing info, if you haven’t yet!)
For each publication, as long as it qualifies as a SmallStack, i.e., it has fewer than 1000 subscribers, I’ll poke around in the archives and pick one of my favorite pieces to share with you here.
I’ve found some real gems for this first edition, if I do say so myself. Please give these wonderful artists the gift of your time and attention!
Myconeer
by Joseph Pallante
Joseph is a “mushroom hunter, traveler, and photographer” whose gorgeous photos and write-ups bring the coolest fungi to armchair explorers like myself. This post describes an encounter with fairy lanterns, a group of fungi with a very interesting life history and an otherworldly appearance.
The Earthmonk Journal
by The Earthmonk
Each piece in the October blog series “I Am Earth” explores the human connection to nature in the form of a conversation with a wise mystic or monk who leads the reader on the same journey the writer has followed. This piece explores the path through confusion toward clarity when considering a reflection of the self in the natural world.
Crafty Green Poet
by Juliet Wilson
I love a good actionable post, and this one is full of actions! Based in Scotland, Juliet gives tons of information on how to identify species and where to share the information you’ve discovered. Is it a thistle or a burdock? Juliet shows you how to figure it out. Got a rare wildlife sighting? There’s info here on where to send your data to do some good. Really great info for UK readers.
Heather in the Blue Mountains
by Heather Dickinson
Heather, self-described as “somewhat feral” (me too, Heather!), roams the Blue Mountains of eastern Washington State, U.S., sharing musings and art from her Christian perspective along the way. Something in this piece really spoke to me; I love learning about a new-to-me species such as the snow buckthorn Heather meets here, but I also felt moved by her reflections on how much life can be concealed within the appearance of death. Really lovely photos, too.
Protozoa Princess
by Kate Solbakk
This Norway-based microbiological artist and textbook illustrator shares the wonders of the tiny creatures that are at the core of all our ecosystems with an infectious joy that is only surpassed by her fantastic illustrations. I loved this post describing her process for bringing these images to life.
And that’s five! See you all next month with five more nature ‘stacks that may just introduce you to an entirely new world,
🌲🦉
The HOMEbound Nature News and HOME | Nature Directory are labo(u)rs of love. It is important to me that these resources remain free in perpetuity. And yet, they represent many long hours of work, so any contributions are received with great gratitude.
You can subscribe for free below, or choose a paid option. Alternatively, feel free to drop a tip of any size in the tip jar! Many thanks.
💌 Please, if you have a moment, send this newsletter to a friend, share on your site, or put a link in Substack Notes or another social media outlet. These actions go a long way toward helping our Nature community grow!
Thank you so much for including me in the directory! Your wonderful work here is so appreciated 💕
Wow! Thank you for the feature!