Today, science is so well established as the path to knowledge via observation, experimentation and the weighing of evidence that it’s hard to credit its roots in the occult alchemy and astrology of times past. But just a few hundred years ago, many of the pioneers of modern science — figures such as Isaac Newton, […]
Life + Outdoors
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Redwood Sky Walk at Night
An extraordinary journey awaits you at Humboldt County’s Redwood Skywalk. Nestled amidst Humboldt’s many breathtaking natural wonders, lies a human-made marvel that promises a remarkable journey into one of Nature’s most awe-inspiring creations: the Californian coast redwood forest. The Redwood Sky Walk at Sequoia Park Zoo presents an almost quarter-mile tour of the forest, soaring […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Year End Potpourri
Mazda: I drive a 1990 Mazda Miata, whose reliability and near-perfect 50/50 weight distribution between the front and rear axles give me hope that it will “see me through,” to borrow a phrase from my late father-in-law. Why “Mazda?” In 1931, cork manufacture Toyo Kogyo was looking for a new company name to celebrate the […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Checking in with the Best Friend of an Amateur Detective Who Stumbles onto a Murder Everywhere She Goes
I guess I should have acted surprised, but when I saw Macy standing over the body sprawled in the snow, the fifth body in as many weeks, I was justifiably annoyed. Like, wow, that charming young ski instructor was blackmailing the resort’s accountant, and that’s why the ski lift malfunctioned, sending him to his death? […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
The Enviably Thick-skulled Woodpecker
This election has left many of us a bit shaken in our beliefs and buffeted by fear and doubt. The yammering and hammering are unrelenting. Never has a bird that smashes its head into wood up to 20 times a second been more relatable. We all could use thicker skulls these days. If only we […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Will Returning to the Moon Prepare Us for Mars?
“If we can put a man on the moon, why can’t we put a man on the moon?” goes the old joke. Fact is, we probably can put someone on the moon but without the threat of Russia getting there first (as was the case in the 1960s), the motivation just isn’t there anymore. Today, […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
The Tasty and the Toxic at the Mushroom Fair
Hundreds of fans of the world of mycology stopped by the 46th annual Mushroom Fair at the Arcata Community Center on Sunday to improve their mushroom identification skills. Attendees checked out tables filled with local mushroom species labeled “Edible” or “Toxic,” and stopped by the bring-in-your-mushroom identification table staffed with experts. They ought to know […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
A Small, Good Thing
The work of being a writer often feels both worthless and pointless. Literally worthless in a culture that does not want to pay for it, literally pointless when fewer and fewer people seem to have confidence that anything they read will tell them the truth. Because what is our — my — job, if not […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
The Woolly Bear Crosses the Road
Recently, I watched a documentary that depicted the Serengeti’s famous wildebeest migration as the animals forded a river in Tanzania. The wildebeests are reluctant to cross the river because of the huge crocodiles waiting to catch and eat them. While the majority safely make the crossing, a significant number are killed. We, too, have a […]