Written by Dr. Paul Smith, with a foreword by Dr. Robert Macfarlane, “Trees” provides its readers with a copiously illustrated compendium of information arranged and presented in a manner that makes it very accessible to all regardless of their previous familiarity with the subject.
As you know – or if you’re a new visitor here, perhaps you don’t – I never leave my home without a book ready-to-hand; sometimes in a packet and others actually in-hand. Not unexpectedly, such EDR (every day read) books need to be small (see the aforesaid pocket reference) and relatively short to be toted about as such. Fortunately, many publishers have, and others continue to, make such pocket-sized books available. Most recently, I discovered two from Chronicle Books that are particularly well suited to the purpose: The Pocket Nature Series.
One of the activities I frequently enjoyed as a boy was “playing in the dirt.” I’d flip rocks, rummage in leaf piles, and make a host of other explorations that caused the knees of my dungarees to become stained with soil and grass pigments that drove my mother to distraction every wash day. As I […]
A Japanese Maple (one of many) at the Portland Japanese Garden; its autumnal red, orange, and subtle golden hued leaves set above the lush green carpet of moss simply cried out to be photographed. Equipment: Canon EOS 40D body Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 USM lens Settings: F-stop: f/3.2 Exposure time: 1/40 sec. ISO speed: ISO-100 […]