So, I did what I usually do when I’m grumbling to myself and arguing with people in my head: I went for a walk to the riverside park to watch ducks dabble, wiggling their butts in the air. Today’s air was remarkably warm: it was almost 60 degrees here and sunny, the perfect day for a dog walk.

The ducks were feeling feisty in sun. One male mallard and his lady were being tailed (ha!) by a bachelor. Mr. Mallard was not having it. He’d wait until the bachelor got daringly close – then turn on him, lower his head, stretch out his body, and give chase. Well, by “give chase” I mean he swam at the bachelor at a mildly faster clip then he’d been perusing for food. It’s not as though duck chases are like the kind you see on the Serengeti. Still. After the bachelor got away, the two performed a comical mirroring of each other’s manly display: one duck shook his head; the other did too. One duck waggled his tail feathers; the other did so too. One duck stood up tall and flapped his wings; the other did too. The dance was followed by a few more head shakes and butt waggles before they went back to ignoring each other. Bachelor stayed close.

Off in the distance, a whole flock of ducks were performing the same antics, although there was a great deal more tussling since the crowd was large. The girls looked non-plussed; perhaps even slyly appreciating all the attention and momentary chaos. As I watched the ducks chasing each other, heads down like  bikers trying to win a race, I realized that displays like these, like those of most other animals, are harmless shows of bravado. No animal truly wants to come to blows. But what if they did? Ducks have blunt bills and entirely silly feet. They certainly can’t grab at anything with their wings, and although they have pointy little teeth, they also have a nice thick coating of oiled feathers. I do know from working with raptors that the wrist joint (in human terms) of the wing is pretty powerful; maybe they’d bash each other with those. I think I’ve seen them trying to stand on each other awkwardly while afloat when the dancing doesn’t work.

I love the ducks. There’s a bench that I sit on to watch them and even in small moments you can see a great deal of the “wild kingdom” in their interactions with each other. Sunka sits on the bench next to me, but facing backwards; he knows that in the towering pines of the park there are many tiny tree monkeys just waiting to antagonize him. I watch the ducks, he watches for squirrels. People give me big toothy grins as they walk by, seeing him seated so politely next to me on the bench.

After the ducks, we walk to a small grocer and I give in to the months-long craving I’ve had for fried chicken. And potato wedges. Those, and the latte I’ve already had are counteracted entirely by my outing to the gym this morning. No, for real.

Sunka gets a potato wedge and one tiny hunk of fried chicken, and his day is made ten times over.

It’s unseasonably warm for December here in Central Oregon, and this is one naturalist that is not complaining. (Though I have to keep my mouth shut around the skiiers, they’re a testy bunch.) To celebrate the sunshine, we’re going to look at some decidedly warm-timey articles that focus on pollination. Because, dammit, I need flowers in the winter.

Thanks for reading. Away we go!

The Old Drone (love the name!) wants you to know just how fascinating it is that tomatoes are self-pollenizing. Which is different than self-pollinating!

Bug Girl kindly gives a review of the new app for selecting plants for your region, developed with pollinators in mind.

Zen at the NeuroDojo reviews a paper that looks deeper into the idea of flower color as a necessity for pollinator attraction.

Slugyard helps us understand lupine pollination and even gives us a video to watch! Wah hoo!

The Carnivorous Plant Blog shows us a beautiful image of Darlingtonia‘s bits and a brief, simple method of pollinating the little darling. (Har!)

And finally, this post over at the Field Notebook just made me completely lose touch with reality and drift off into a daydream of spring, blooms, and the buzzing of bees and hummingbirds.. zzz.. bzzzz…

[blink] Anyway! To contribute something of my own, here’s a pic of a happy little bee getting a face full of lavender that I took two summers ago. Mmmm, summer.. flowers.. bees.. sunshine..

IS IT SPRING YET?!

Be sure to visit Berry Go Round’s main page, and, just for fun, I’ve added a few extras to get your springtime spirit bouncing around. Enjoy and happy blogging!

Web Exhibits explores the relationship between butterflies and color.

Longwood Gardens offers a fun, interactive site for you (or your children) to build their own flowers and learn about pollination.

The US Forest Service has a lot of great info, pics, and ideas on their Celebrating Wildflowers site! Check it out!

xo

(Also, big fat YOU ARE AWESOME to TEDtv – these videos are so affirming. Check out the others if you have time, you’ll be so glad you did.)

For years I was a habitual procrastinator when it came to holiday shopping, but this year I’ve finally kicked the habit. Kind of. All of my money-spending is finished for the most part, and I plan to spend December hand-making the rest of the gifts I have in mind. Getting creative and gifting the unexpected is a skill that anyone can master, and I’ve put together a little holiday shopping guide to give you wonderful folks some ideas if you’re tapped out.

Because I don’t know if you know this about me, but, well..

I. Love. To. Shop.

Which is typical for someone of my financial standing. Being low on cash doesn’t stop me though – I’m honing and mastering my thrift-store skills and drinking a lot of coffee instead of seeing a therapist for how much suffering the trial-and-error of crafting causes me. I hate blatant consumerism, I hate the culture of spending we’ve developed, and I hate how “Christmas” is more about going into debt and crying a lot over your mulled wine than celebrating with loved ones. I don’t do Christmas necessarily; I like to welcome in the new season, winter, which is about withdrawing to do some inner work and prepare for the renewal of spring. That being said, I also love giving presents, and have an impossible time waiting to give gifts when I already have them. (I recently had to wait FOUR MONTHS to give one of my bestest friends her birthday present and I almost had a seizure.)

That’s why I love the holiday season. It’s an excuse to give your loved ones – all of them at once! – a little something to tell them how special you think they are because, to be honest, when the hell else do we think about it? We don’t. Or if we do, not nearly enough. The holidays are an opportunity to stop, consciously focus on someone, and present them with something as a token of our love for them. Giving gifts is as old as our species, and it doesn’t have to bankrupt the whole damn nation (or cause shoot-outs in parking lots or pepper-spraying in crowded lines).

Anyway, I’m done with the hypocritical ranting; I know I’m telling you not to get caught up in the hype of consumerism WHILST presenting you with a holiday shopping guide. But I hope you take this holiday to enjoy finding or making that special something for that special someone, and manage to avoid the unnecessary stress of it all. Focus on how much you love the person you’re trying to gift something to, and don’t worry about what the gift is. Do it from the heart and the rest is cake. Take the leap to see my recommendations for this year!

“What comes from the heart, goes to the heart.” – Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Pumpkin Caramel chocolate by Yeti Chocolates.

Yeti Chocolates will always have a special place in my heart, mostly because I lived alongside its chocolatier shortly after moving to the West Coast. Which meant she made chocolates in our kitchen and let us “test” them out (which also meant I stole a lot of them when she wasn’t looking). So I can verify for the absolute awesomeness of these chocolates – this girl is good. And yes, it’s a one-woman-wonder-show. She’s got her craft down and your chocolate-loving loved ones will not be disappointed. Here is her holiday menu – be sure to get your orders in before Dec. 12th. My favorite chocolate is the Smith n’ Wesson. Probably always will be.

Juniper Ridge has soaps, incenses, teas, room sprays, and an awesome business ethic.

As a forthcoming article will articulate, I think pretty highly of Juniper Ridge. Soaps, incense, room sprays, teas, sachets, and more, to bring the majesty of the wilderness into your home and body. Juniper Ridge makes big donations to conservation organizations and is committed to sustainability, and I heart them so much. Favorites of mine include anything White Sage, Steep Ravine soap, and Cascade Glacier room spray (or, as I like to call it, Christmas Tree in a Bottle).

Angelina Organic Skincare's Dark Chocolate Sugar Scrub. Guaranteed to make you feel like you're at a spa.

Angelina Organic Skincare is a small skincare company based out of Bend, near where I live in Central Oregon. I’ve been using her products for four years and my skin has never been so happy and healthy. Angelina is serious about healthy skin and happy lifestyles and I highly recommend trying the small sizes or trial sizes if you don’t want to jump into a big financial commitment. My favorite product is her Vanilla Aphrodesia or Mandarin Heaven Sugar Scrub because it makes me feel like I’m at the spa when I’m really just rushing through a shower because I’m late for work. It exfoliates but immediately remoisturizes your skin thanks to the fair-trade shea butter prepared by a women’s co-op in Africa. I also recommend her Ayurvedic Facial Oil line, which is flat-out magical. Each oil is prepared for a particular skin type and works to balance the skin rather than just pacify it. I use Kapha for oily skin.

La Petite Savonniere is the best soap I’ve ever used. The woman behind these soaps is a master at scenting with essential oils. I used to be a liquid-body-wash-only person before using Dawn’s soaps and I now have about ten pounds of them in my little naturalist’s restroom. If you need more convincing, these soaps are the only thing my mom (3000 miles away on the East Coast) ever asks for when the holidays roll around. The website isn’t fancy-pants, but that’s probably because she’s raising two daughters and works in an emergency room when she’s not making soap. So there’s that. Personal favs include Stocking Coal Soap, Vanilla Noir, and Magdala. My mom’s favorites are Rose Santal and Repose. (She’s also got a scent for the boys – “Earthy Man,” in blue and brown.)

Delicious Kama soap, spicey and luxurious, by La Petit Savonnerie.

Mountain Rose Herbs may not seem like the most obvious place to get holiday gifts, but they offer a wonderful selection of organic herbs, including lavender, rose petals, and chamomile. They also have natural health supplements, teas, gifts, and all the kitchen spices, salts, and more. An awesome holiday gift is as easy as metal tin or opaque glass jar (check your thrift stores) full of delicious tea like Vanilla Roiboos, or a sachet of lavender buds, wrapped in a ribbon (also available at thrift stores) with a loving note attached.

Oh, is that too much skin care stuff? I’m kind of obsessed. Here are some other of my favorite goodies:

Hilarious bird art from Mincing Mockingbird; her magnets grace my fridge and get giggled at by everyone that sees them.

Perhaps a state-shaped cutting board (or, in my case, wall-hanging) by A. Heirloom?

The most unique jewelry you might ever see, by Star of the East in Greece.

Animal goodness – jewelry, notebooks, and more – by le animale!

Printed textiles for your home by Oregon-based Moontea Artwork and South African Skinny Laminx.

And last, but certainly not least, fun, funky goods produced from vinyl bound for the dumpster at Bird vs. Bird. Love that girl.

Bird vs. Bird recycled vinyl pouch I bought in honor of the Brothers Jay.

Or, alternatively, you could make some stuff.

This white yarn wreath from Better Home & Gardens is kind of spectacular. I haven’t gotten around to making one yet, but I think they’re beautiful and definitely different than the usual holiday wreaths we’ve been seeing since the 1800s. The materials are pretty inexpensive and a stop by the local thrift shop will probably give you nearly everything you need.

Make lip balm! It’s easy and everyone needs it this time of year. Recipe courtesy of Mountain Rose Herbs. Here’s another, from the craft-master at Not Martha (which is a woman after my own heart, because I hate how much I love Martha Stewart. It’s true. I glare at all of her items in the craft store while thumbing through them for ideas to steal. SCORPION WOMAN).

How about simple homemade notebooks, like these from papernstitch? Something for the baby, kids, or moms-to-be, like these awesome tutorials from Homemade By Jill?  Handmade stationary with food, like this celery print by Maureen Cracknell Handmade?

Thanks for reading folks and happy shopping/crafting! Remember, what is given from the heart goes to the heart! :)

I have no idea where this was taken, but the birds sure look happy and healthy, which pleases me substantially. Enjoy!

Here are a few so far.

12/28/11: “corn of the naturalists” Just.. what? ; “egg, to a naturalist” Breakfast?

12/27/11: ”photos of small naturalist”  oh hai!; “cruisers entering lisbon” wtf?

12/5/11: “i have a fear of lake monsters” OMG!! ME TOO!!!

11/26/11: “hugging cacti in the snow” Sounds like a terrible idea. And unlikely. “ugly ass animals”

11/19/11: “why is ikea fashionable?” If you’re asking this question, there is no help for you.

11/13/11: “would you feel pain getting hit by a train?”; ”rattlesnake symptoms” Include inability to move limbs, heightened sensitivity to temperature, and the desire to find a warm rock.

11/02/11: must nonfunctional womens wear

from last year: “why are loners naturalists?” This is an excellent question. It goes the other way around, too – mostly because nature makes more sense than humans do. 

At any rate, I wanted to share with you these incredibly beautiful satellite photos I discovered while scrolling all over our northernmost state. I have no idea where any of them are, as I just took a few quick screen shots. And now, regardless of the weather, the dog has made it very clear that there will be a walk on this cold November morning before I leave for WORK ON BLACK FRIDAY.

Happy Friday everyone! If you’re out shopping today… please be nice. :)

November is stupid.

In happier news, I’ve been elected to host an upcoming edition of Berry Go Round , which is CRAZY exciting because I LOVE it, AND I officially got accepted into a craft show three weeks from now.

In lieu of having anything educational or remotely interesting to say because I can’t see through the haze of pain pills I’ve been taking and all the sewing I’ve been doing (I’m afraid to even go into the studio and see what happens when someone on pain pills uses a sewing machine at midnight), today I will leave you with this. Which made me laugh so hard I almost choked on my sandwich.