promiseiwillwrite

[promiseiwillwrite]

[promiseiwillwrite]

[grabs your shirt] listen. listen to me. the practical is holy. the everyday is sacred. the simple act of surviving is divine. do you get it? sanctity begins at home, in the hands that build and the lives we live and the deaths we die and the worms that eat our bodies. if making something by hand is not worthy of veneration then nothing is.

[promiseiwillwrite]

today's bug thing is the Death's Head Moth Cardigan by Mochipan!

[promiseiwillwrite]

An App Does Not a Master Naturalist Make

Originally posted on my website at https://rebeccalexa.com/app-not-master-naturalist/ - I had written this as an op-ed and sent it to WaPo, but they had no interest, so you get to read it here instead!

I have mixed feelings about Michael Coren’s April 25 Washington Post article, “These 4 free apps can help you identify every flower, plant and tree around you.” His ebullience at exploring some of the diverse ecological community around him made me grin, because I know exactly what it feels like. There’s nothing like that sense of wonder and belonging when you go outside and are surrounded by neighbors of many species, instead of a monotonous wall of green, and that is a big part of what led me to become a Master Naturalist.

When I moved from the Midwest to the Pacific Northwest in 2006, I felt lost because I didn’t recognize many of the animals or plants in my new home. So I set about systematically learning every species that crossed my path. Later, I began teaching community-level classes on nature identification to help other people learn skills and tools for exploring their local flora, fauna, and fungi.

Threeleaf foamflower (Tiarella trifoliata)

Let me be clear: I love apps. I use Merlin routinely to identify unknown bird songs, and iNaturalist is my absolute favorite ID app, period. But these tools are not 100% flawless.

For one thing, they’re only as good as the data you provide them. iNaturalist’s algorithms, for example, rely on a combination of photos (visual data), date and time (seasonal data), and GPS coordinates (location data) to make initial identification suggestions. These algorithms sift through the 135-million-plus observations uploaded to date, finding observations that have similar visual, seasonal, and location data to yours.

There have been many times over the years where iNaturalist isn’t so sure. Take this photo of a rather nondescript clump of grass. Without seed heads to provide extra clues, the algorithms offer an unrelated assortment of species, with only one grass. I’ve gotten that “We’re not confident enough to make a recommendation” message countless times over my years of using the app, often suggesting species that are clearly not what I’m looking at in real life.

Because iNaturalist usually offers up multiple options, you have to decide which one is the best fit. Sometimes it’s the first species listed, but sometimes it’s not. This becomes trickier if all the species that are suggested look alike. Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima), smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) and eastern black walnut (Juglans nigra) all have pinnately compound, lanceolate leaves, and young plants of these three species can appear quite similar. If all you know how to do is point and click your phone’s camera, you aren’t going to be able to confidently choose which of the three plants is the right one.

Coren correctly points out that both iNaturalist and Pl@ntNet do offer more information on suggested species—if people are willing to take the time to look. Too many assume ID apps will give an easy, instant answer. In watching my students use the app in person almost everyone just picks the first species in the list. It’s not until I demonstrate how to access the additional content for each species offered that anyone thinks to question the algorithms’ suggestions.

While iNaturalist is one of the tools I incorporate into my classes, I emphasize that apps in general are not to be used alone, but in conjunction with field guides, websites, and other resources. Nature identification, even on a casual level, requires critical thinking and observation skills if you want to make sure you’re correct. Coren’s assertion that you only need a few apps demonstrates a misunderstanding of a skill that takes time and practice to develop properly—and accurately.

Speaking of oversimplification, apps are not a Master Naturalist in your pocket, and that statement —while meant as a compliment–does a disservice to the thousands of Master Naturalists across the country. While the training curricula vary from state to state, they are generally based in learning how organisms interact within habitats and ecosystems, often drawing on a synthesis of biology, geology, hydrology, climatology, and other natural sciences. A Master Naturalist could tell you not only what species you’re looking at, but how it fits into this ecosystem, how its adaptations are different from a related species in another ecoregion, and so forth.

Map showing Level III and IV ecoregions of Oregon, the basis of my training as an Oregon Master Naturalist.

In spite of my criticisms, I do think that Coren was absolutely onto something when he described the effects of using the apps. Seeing the landscape around you turn from a green background to a vibrant community of living beings makes going outside a more exciting, personal experience. I and my fellow nature nerds share an intense curiosity about the world around us. And that passion, more than any app or other tool, is fundamental to becoming a citizen naturalist, Master or otherwise.

Did you enjoy this post? Consider taking one of my online foraging and natural history classes or hiring me for a guided nature tour, checking out my other articles, or picking up a paperback or ebook I’ve written! You can even buy me a coffee here!

[promiseiwillwrite]

Well yes please with cheese!

Wouldst thou like to live mas?

[promiseiwillwrite]

sneef

umm fucking sniffsniffsniffsniffsniff ??? ? (x)

[promiseiwillwrite]

Reminds me of a hot elf guy I know.

Finally finished 😭 Timelapse at the bottom! I had an idea for my Wings of Pages series, where instead of text, it's a book full of botanical illustrations. The majority of the time was spent on the individual flowers for each feather/page of the wings. I really love the look of old botanical books with the water color paintings and the scientific names written in cursive. So I spent way too many hours painting out 20 of these flower pages, and even then, it wasn't enough for the wings so I did have to duplicate some.

Here are the 20 flowers! The HD image of Atlas Botanicus, and all 20 HD flower studies without watermark will be DMed on Patreon.com/Yuumei on May 5th, along with the hours long video recording of how I painted everything.

[promiseiwillwrite]

Matt Wilson

[promiseiwillwrite]

oooh!

Wetland friends coming soon to your mailbox ??? 👀

[promiseiwillwrite]

I want one of those scenes in a dude bro film where “tomboy” chick has to wear a dress to go undercover or whatever, but instead of the guys drooling as she walks down the stairs, they’re like “k. U need to stop. Go put the cargo pants back on. You look super uncomfortable and awkward in that. Brutus, you go be the fake prostitute.”

[promiseiwillwrite]

i dont know the context but i cant stop watching this tiktok

the drama???? the energy???? the facial expressions???

this brings me joy i cant explain

[promiseiwillwrite]

Been tossing this idea around in my head but for spirit-working witches I lowkey think a good place to start is going around to make introductions to a variety of helpful spirits, either benevolent or neutral in moral dignity, who can be called on at any time.

Literally going around and meeting the archangels/monarchs/guardians/gatekeepers (etc/whatever) of the four elemental roads. Just shaking hands and saying hi. Asking for their support, patience, and grace in working with them and their domains.

Brief introduction to the structure you live in, or absent of that, the land you live on.

Choosing your top 5 personal favorite kitchen spices, one or two nice rocks, and the nearest convenient tree and just doing a series of private rituals to meet them one by one.

Because then by the time you want to get started with other stuff, like finding familiar spirits, learning new skills, or solving problems, you already have met several spirits who are likely to be easily invoked to stand by your side and offer protection, assistance, and guidance for the task at hand.

Just because you don't know any spirits on a friendship level doesn't mean you have to be alone. You can still have spirits standing with you to help and ensure things go well. You can lay a compass, call forth the elemental gods, and ask them to provide assistance for the duration of the ritual. You can ask them to send a teacher or a guide to you to help you with something important.

Etc.

[promiseiwillwrite]

Forbidden Candies.

Agates carved into orange slices by wutong_crystal_carvings.

Source: x

[promiseiwillwrite]

Go Away and Never Come Back

sometimes, with all the progress and backsliding over the years, there are still days where it creeps in.

"they don't want you around."

"don't invite yourself, you aren't really welcome."

"they are vague-blogging about someone again. Was it me? Was I the asshole?"

"am I disorganized?"

"am I a bad example?"

"am I hurting people with my words and no one is saying anything?"

"do they miss me when I am gone or are they glad I am not around?"

"are they glad when I give up and shut up and stay out of the way?"

This sort of thing never stops. These thoughts are on a neverending parade around and around my psyche. Rain or shine, rest or exhaustion, good times and bad.

But in good times I can turn on those thoughts like Smeagol "Go Away and Never Come Back!"

For a while it will be quiet. I will feel calm and patient and peaceful again.

But they always come back.

when I get triggered by the next social mistake, and piss off someone else.

when I get unfollowed by someone I thought was a friend.

when I think people are just tolerating me.

And the Fuck of it is that I know it is likely that the voice is wrong. That This particular script is like the ghost of my abuse, haunting me long after the tragedy of it's inception.

No one is abusing me now. I am not in danger anymore. I have made safe choices. But I don't feel wanted or welcome or safe.

And the thing I rail against the hardest anymore is abandoning the idea of myself tied to an identity as a victim. Because I know that identity perpetuates the intrusive thoughts.

The insecurity persists.

unfortunately, it would seem that screaming at it to go away is not effective.

and everything else I have tried so far has had only limited effects.

It's tempting to think I am not trying hard enough. Or that any number of other factors have screwed it up.

But I think this is where I have given up before. Understandably, because I was exhausted from the effort.

But I think it's just this. This is as good as it gets.

And I have to keep pushing and fighting for the good times, because this is as good as it gets. The only alternative is despair, so fuck that. And I think that is the difference.

[promiseiwillwrite]