The Wannabe Naturalist Magazine Edition 2021-3

The Wannabe Naturalist Magazine Edition 2021-3

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

The third issue of 2021 of The Wannabe Naturalist magazine (Edition 2021-3) is available now. Inside this issue we look at the relationship between photography and storytelling, and nature, the environment, and life.

In this Edition:

• Gardeners Know the Dirt: Pollinators at work
• Adam Graham, jeweler and phenomenal amateur nature photographer
• Spending summer in Wintergreen, VA
• Planting irises at Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge
• Nature photography – adjusting shutter speed for effect
• What to Read: Nomadland

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Hello and Welcome!

Valley Center, a small rural area fifty miles northeast of San Diego, was home for my wife and I, and our three dogs and two cats, for more than a decade. On ten acres we grew avocados and protea flowers commercially. We custom built a South African Cape Dutch house with the distinct characteristic of an ornate gable. With the exception of the horrible commute to San Diego (a three-hour round trip, 3-4 times a week, and forty-five minutes to the nearest grocery store), life was great. Then the wildfires started. Receiving a “reverse 9-1-1” call at 2 a.m. telling you to evacuate is a terrible experience.

Ten years later in 2021, across the western United States fires have become bigger and more frequent, threatening the lives and livelihoods of the people who live there and disrupting the plans of many visitors who flock to the region for its spectacular national parks for outdoor fun, scenic views, and crystal-clear rivers and lakes.

Wildfires

In southern Oregon, the Bootleg Fire has burned more than 400,000 acres. The Dixie fire in California is the largest in the US in 2021, burning through 432,813 acres. Even Hawaii and Alaska are battling a wildfire surge. Russian emergency services have reported an abnormally high number of fires in the Omsk region of southwest Siberia. Wildfires are raging in Greece and Turkey as southern Europe faces one of its worst heat waves in decades.

In an interview with the New York Times, Dr. Katherine Lee, assistant professor at the University of Idaho, is quoted: “Climate change has been slowly realizing itself, but this year, a lot of us have been saying ‘Climate change is here.’” Dr. Lee’s work at the university’s Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology considers how to use natural resources more sustainably. (Concepción de León, “Reconsidering Outdoor Travel in the West,” New York Times, August 6, 2021)

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the people around the world dealing with this devastation.

It’s up to the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations and companies to determine which path to take. Limiting temperature rise requires big structural changes to the way the world produces electricity, heats buildings, provides transportation, and produces food. We’ve waited and watched long enough, it’s time for action.

Smokey Sunrise

The onslaught of smoke from numerous wildfires in the western United States created eerie looking sunrises and sunsets in many parts of the country, including the East Coast.

Eugene Brill,
Publisher of The Wannabe Naturalist Magazine

All Magazine Editions

• The Wannabe Naturalist Magazine Edition 2021-1
• The Wannabe Naturalist Magazine Edition 2021-2
• The Wannabe Naturalist Magazine Edition 2021-4
• The Wannabe Naturalist Magazine Edition 2022-1

Articles of Interest

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