Restoration Dilemmas

In restoration, there are times I find myself in a dilemma. What am I managing for? Which path should I take? So many roads to take. No right answers. Nothing clear cut. I seek out the experts, try to take the best route.

I find there is no best route. I take a path. Hope for the best and accept the consequences. It's a judgement call.

In a hundred thousand years it won't matter; the little that I do. Why should it matter so much now? But it does.

a day at the nursery

The nursery might be my favorite part of my job. Collecting seed, sowing it, watching seedlings pop out of the soil and grow . . . it's hopeful. I work with amazing volunteers who spend valuable time and energy doing something good. They don't have to do this and they don't have to be here.

Others visit the nursery too. Prompted by the volunteers to find out who was munching the clarkia at the greenhouse demo garden, we set up our motion sensor camera. We caught this little deer walking through in the evening when everyone else had gone home.


I love it here. I love growing plants. I love tuning into the seasons and the micro-climates. I love the dedicated people who care.

fledgling barn swallows

Just today, under the eaves outside our research offices, fledged a family of barn swallows.

I had no idea when I started this job almost a year ago how much I would watch birds.

One little bird sat on the edge of a table so quiet and still. Still and quiet as I was, an adult boldly flew right in front of my face, trying to scare me off. Adult bird and baby bird were in the middle of something and I was not invited to the fledge party. Still I watched them as they sat on the gutters and looked around while parents flew back and forth, coaxing them out of the comfort of the courtyard.