Category: Nature

When Wild Animals Misbehave

This article appeared first at Outside Magazine: Culture

When Wild Animals Misbehave
Every day, critters all around the planet break human laws. They steal food and destroy our stuff. They kill. And, naturally, humans take it upon ourselves to intervene—often with all kinds of unfortunate consequences. For this episode, fearless journalist Mary Roach shares wild tales from her new b...

Read More - Source: Outside Magazine: Culture

Nature Is Medicine. But What’s the Right Dose?

This post appeared first at Outside Magazine: Health

Nature Is Medicine. But What’s the Right Dose?
The corporate origin story is almost perfect. Once upon a time, a data guy, a software guy, and an environmental physiologist met on a hut-to-hut ski traverse of Oregon’s Three Sisters Wilderness. Snowy chutes under bluebird skies by day, then starry nights in rustic huts stocked with Bend’s finest ...

Read More - Source: Outside Magazine: Health

The Unexpected Joys of a Shabby Wildflower Guide

This post appeared originally at Outside Magazine: Adventure

The Unexpected Joys of a Shabby Wildflower Guide
I first heard of the book seven years ago from Jack Turner, a bioregional essayist and retired Exum Mountain Guide living in Wyoming, at the foot of the Teton Range. He was talking about Henry David Thoreau—specifically, how climate scientists utilize Thoreau’s two-million-word journal from the 1850...

Read More - Source: Outside Magazine: Adventure

How Cancer Helped Transform My Relationship to the Outdoors

This article appeared first at Outside Magazine: Culture

How Cancer Helped Transform My Relationship to the Outdoors
I have hiked and run the trail that leads up Animas Mountain, just a few blocks from my home in Durango, Colorado, many hundreds of times. But one afternoon this past winter, ambling under clear, slanting sunlight, it felt different. The switchbacks were caked with week-old ice and mud. The colors o...

Read More - Source: Outside Magazine: Culture

In British Columbia, the Fight for Old Growth Rages On

This post appeared originally at Outside Magazine: Adventure

In British Columbia, the Fight for Old Growth Rages On
The image on the photographer’s camera could be a scene from a dystopian film. In the muted light of dawn, an environmental activist sits chained to a tractor with a bicycle lock around his neck. A hand-painted banner strung across the machine reads “Stop Killing Old Growth.” Several indigenous wome...

Read More - Source: Outside Magazine: Adventure

A Soldier’s Long Road Back from Afghanistan

This post appeared originally at Outside Magazine: Adventure

A Soldier’s Long Road Back from Afghanistan
When Army captain Luke Bushatz returned home from the war in Afghanistan, he was seemingly in one piece. Yet he was struggling far more than either he or his wife, Amy, realized. The first signs of a problem were lapses in his short-term memory. Soon, though, he found it impossible to connect with o...

Read More - Source: Outside Magazine: Adventure

Open-Water Swimming and Other Acts of Civil Disobedience

This article appeared first at Outside Magazine: Culture

Open-Water Swimming and Other Acts of Civil Disobedience
“You can’t swim there.” The lifeguard addressing me was just a teenager. It wasn’t his fault. I should listen to him and go home. But I was already up to my hips in the water. He cleared his throat. Please, don’t say it again, I thought. God, he was going to say it again. “Sir,” his voice cracked. “...

Read More - Source: Outside Magazine: Culture

Lorde’s ‘Solar Power’ Is All About Reconnecting with Nature

This article appeared first at Outside Magazine: Culture

Lorde’s ‘Solar Power’ Is All About Reconnecting with Nature
In June, when pop star Lorde released “Solar Power,” the first single from her new album of the same name, many people wondered if there was some deeper, hidden message to it. The acoustic guitar was so straightforwardly sunny; the lyrics were about simply having a nice time at the beach. Was Lorde,...

Read More - Source: Outside Magazine: Culture

I Thought I Was a Lifelong New Yorker, but Found Happiness in Reno

This post appeared first at Outside Magazine: Travel

I Thought I Was a Lifelong New Yorker, but Found Happiness in Reno
I was hiking along a dusty trail on the outskirts of Reno, Nevada, surrounded by rocks and desert shrubs, when a lizard scurried along a rock and then froze, in classic lizard fashion. He was notably plump for a small reptile, and the end of his tail was missing, blackened. Now, I see my fair share ...

Read More - Source: Outside Magazine: Travel

The 25 Best Fall Trips in the World

This post appeared first at Outside Magazine: Travel

The 25 Best Fall Trips in the World
Few seasons are as packed with as much travel potential as fall. Leaves light up forests, summer crowds are gone, and the heat gives way to crisp air, making it perhaps the best time of year to get outside and explore. Americans are understandably ready. Road trips have never been more popular, and ...

Read More - Source: Outside Magazine: Travel

Best Survival Books – 7 Titles Handpicked by a US Marine

I’m (Mike of Military Backpack Guide) a former US Marine and IRAQ veteran, and this is my list of the absolute best survival books.  Books you can learn from, and live by.  The problem is that there are a ton of books about survival but lots of them are, well, junk.  Not junk in the sense that the author didn’t try, just more like books that tend to be a compilation of other books, original works that have been consumed and regurgitated, and every other “not that great” reference in between. That’s one of the reasons why this is the “top 7” and not “top 10”.  I refuse to stuff this thing with unnecessary entries just to make a number.  This is officially  the best collection of survival books this side of Mars– neatly organized, and updated for 2015.  Of course, if you’re not a book learner, there are plenty of survival schools throughout the world too.

Source: Best Survival Books – 7 Titles Handpicked by a US Marine

The 15 Best Survival Books Ever Written | Outdoor Life

Not everyone’s a Navy Seal or an Eagle Scout. So for those who haven’t received hands-on training in survival skills, studying a quality survival manual is your next best option. Whether you have a full library of self-preservation books, or you are looking to buy your first survival guide, check out our some of our favorite titles.

Source: The 15 Best Survival Books Ever Written | Outdoor Life

Duck house: hardware – Yellow Cottage Homestead

More progress on the duck house project. I painted the underside of the floor. It won’t be seen, but the paint will help protect it from ground moisture: And painted under the awning: Righting it a…

Source: Duck house: hardware – Yellow Cottage Homestead

I asked David about the sign above the duck house door and he answered back with a link to the details on the construction of their ‘BoonDucks’ duck house.

Follow the link for even more details and pictures!  And Thanks, David!