OMK!!! That’s me!!! I love this SO MUCH and I’m sending it to everyone I know now. Someone in the bat community sent me this article and was like, hey isn’t that you in the photo?? Actually that person was a woman, another batwoman. I love our small world of batwomen.
I’m so glad you mentioned a thought about how the abundance of dead trees post-Helene might affect bat populations going forward — I had that thought reading earlier up in this post!
Yes! I should have tipped my hat to David in this post & also to the new book coming out by Holly Haworth. David Haskell is so knowledgeable in this arena.
I'm grateful for the work bats do and love to watch them fly in twilight. Thanks for this edition of Trackless Wild Janisse, and the reminder that I, too, need to make beauty all around me.
May everyone double down Janisse, may we all double down as soon as possible.
It would be such a lovely treat to walk the hood and see new native flora and fauna rather than like on this cold winter day, trees I’ve loved for years and years, trees that provided food and shelter for resident and wintering birds, laying freshly cut on the side of the road waiting to be carried away.
Im wishing, hoping and praying everyone will heed the call to notice, to care, to make choices that will make a difference for wildlife
"How do we see the world as sacred again? By radical noticing. Looking for awe in all of life. Following the wonder in our bodies electric. Before we find new stories, don’t we need to sit and remember? How to venerate the world?
More and more, I think a solution is awe."
Last week I learned from a friend that the rime that forms around a hole in the ground in winter is a sign that someone is indeed using that hole. I, in turn, shared that snippet, along with a photo, on social media and spread the awe. And then being prepared to see it again through the eyes of a child, amplifies the awe.
Thank you for telling us about the bat project. I love the bats that zoom around on a summer's night and then snooze in the gap between the rolling barn door and the barn. Most years, at least four bats slept away the winter in my root cellar, basically a cement cave in a hill. Then last year, no bats spent the winter, I was crushed. But this winter, one lone bat hangs from the ceiling! Yes, plant flowers, vines and trees! Because of our four acres of red poppies that we plant in honor of our late-son, I witness each year how people are starved for beauty. Beautiful words and beautiful flowers from you, a beautiful person! PS. If you want cuttings from my old roses, let me know.
Bats are interesting creatures! They are amazing to watch as they fly and flit about. Sadly, they seem to be on the decline as many birds are. It is encouraging that bat sounds on the farm have increased. Thank you for another great farm writing!
Loved the Cohen song. Thank you for that. It slowed me down in a different way. I've been feeling frazzled and unable to be still inside. The song really helped step away from that if only for four minutes. Regarding the bats. A man put up a big bat house in the lower Keys to reduce mosquito problems. I don't think it helped but the bat house did become a tourist attraction of sorts. I always love seeing them wheeling about in the twilight. I'd like to hold one for a moment and look at its sweet face.
Another excellent accounting about who we share the planet with! I have bats flying in and out of the porch during the warmer months at dusk. I've learned to stand still to watch them- amazing flyers! I wondered where they went during our cold winters and learned that some bats migrate and others hibernate. I don't know which action my bats do and need to learn more about them. I also second your salute to those who study nature.
Have you been to Atalaya Castle near Murrell’s Inlet, SC? It was built in the early 1930s with a bat tower in the middle so that the bats would take care of the mosquitoes. I always thought this was brilliant. Thank you for this article- I learned a lot. And I love the image of you looking out the window. Don’t you love how we can simply be artists of our own lives 💚
Reading your words helps me remember the trees, the sounds, and smells of the South, especially there in Georgia where I grew up and many of my family still live. Thank you.
Thank you for this report, Janisse. I love watching the bats come in every evening when the weather warms up. Swooping over our heads snatching mosquitoes from the air against the backdrop of one of our gorgeous sunsets here. I love my place with such a fierceness. Even after I leave my physical body, I know I’ll always be here.
OMK!!! That’s me!!! I love this SO MUCH and I’m sending it to everyone I know now. Someone in the bat community sent me this article and was like, hey isn’t that you in the photo?? Actually that person was a woman, another batwoman. I love our small world of batwomen.
I’m so glad you mentioned a thought about how the abundance of dead trees post-Helene might affect bat populations going forward — I had that thought reading earlier up in this post!
Thanks for mentioning sounds generally. I spoke to the author of Sounds Wild and Broken via zoom before writing this review of his book.
https://hellbenderpress.org/news/the-sounds-of-science
Yes! I should have tipped my hat to David in this post & also to the new book coming out by Holly Haworth. David Haskell is so knowledgeable in this arena.
I'm grateful for the work bats do and love to watch them fly in twilight. Thanks for this edition of Trackless Wild Janisse, and the reminder that I, too, need to make beauty all around me.
May everyone double down Janisse, may we all double down as soon as possible.
It would be such a lovely treat to walk the hood and see new native flora and fauna rather than like on this cold winter day, trees I’ve loved for years and years, trees that provided food and shelter for resident and wintering birds, laying freshly cut on the side of the road waiting to be carried away.
Im wishing, hoping and praying everyone will heed the call to notice, to care, to make choices that will make a difference for wildlife
I love all of this. Especially the last paragraph.
There is so much beauty in the world! Today I revisited this article in Emergence Magazine about slime molds. https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/creatures-that-dont-conform/ This quote touched my heart:
"How do we see the world as sacred again? By radical noticing. Looking for awe in all of life. Following the wonder in our bodies electric. Before we find new stories, don’t we need to sit and remember? How to venerate the world?
More and more, I think a solution is awe."
Last week I learned from a friend that the rime that forms around a hole in the ground in winter is a sign that someone is indeed using that hole. I, in turn, shared that snippet, along with a photo, on social media and spread the awe. And then being prepared to see it again through the eyes of a child, amplifies the awe.
Thank you for telling us about the bat project. I love the bats that zoom around on a summer's night and then snooze in the gap between the rolling barn door and the barn. Most years, at least four bats slept away the winter in my root cellar, basically a cement cave in a hill. Then last year, no bats spent the winter, I was crushed. But this winter, one lone bat hangs from the ceiling! Yes, plant flowers, vines and trees! Because of our four acres of red poppies that we plant in honor of our late-son, I witness each year how people are starved for beauty. Beautiful words and beautiful flowers from you, a beautiful person! PS. If you want cuttings from my old roses, let me know.
Bats are interesting creatures! They are amazing to watch as they fly and flit about. Sadly, they seem to be on the decline as many birds are. It is encouraging that bat sounds on the farm have increased. Thank you for another great farm writing!
Loved the Cohen song. Thank you for that. It slowed me down in a different way. I've been feeling frazzled and unable to be still inside. The song really helped step away from that if only for four minutes. Regarding the bats. A man put up a big bat house in the lower Keys to reduce mosquito problems. I don't think it helped but the bat house did become a tourist attraction of sorts. I always love seeing them wheeling about in the twilight. I'd like to hold one for a moment and look at its sweet face.
Another excellent accounting about who we share the planet with! I have bats flying in and out of the porch during the warmer months at dusk. I've learned to stand still to watch them- amazing flyers! I wondered where they went during our cold winters and learned that some bats migrate and others hibernate. I don't know which action my bats do and need to learn more about them. I also second your salute to those who study nature.
". . .the universe singing to itself." ❤️
Have you been to Atalaya Castle near Murrell’s Inlet, SC? It was built in the early 1930s with a bat tower in the middle so that the bats would take care of the mosquitoes. I always thought this was brilliant. Thank you for this article- I learned a lot. And I love the image of you looking out the window. Don’t you love how we can simply be artists of our own lives 💚
Reading your words helps me remember the trees, the sounds, and smells of the South, especially there in Georgia where I grew up and many of my family still live. Thank you.
Really informative column and thanks for participating in long-term data collection.
Thank you for this report, Janisse. I love watching the bats come in every evening when the weather warms up. Swooping over our heads snatching mosquitoes from the air against the backdrop of one of our gorgeous sunsets here. I love my place with such a fierceness. Even after I leave my physical body, I know I’ll always be here.