Site Discussions

Thanks for spotlighting David Govatski. It seems he’s one of those go-getters who is living out his dreams. I thank him for being willing to share his inspiring story. May his lists never be full!

What an amazing career! Thank you for all you have done and continue to do to preserve our forests. Hoping young people get involved!

What if it’s a warm winter? Will they just not know when to wake up?

Hi! Curious if you put the remains of your endeavor back where you found it? Would be a shame if all the efforts of nature and creatures were for not! I was taught not to harm nature merely for my own curiosity. I’m sure you had good intentions. :)

Beautiful article, thank you. I won’t look at a cattail the same.

When I was a child and we lived in the country, we would look after the raccoon orphans when their mothers were sometimes killed. Not all our neighbours liked raccoons. The babies who we bottle-fed until they got old enough to eat animal food made excellent pets, but would return to the wild when they hit puberty. Much bigger than their wild raccoon neighbours, they had good lives and one even came back to introduce her babies, then left again. They all got along well with our cat and dog. The only catch was that you had to wear welders gloves to play with them - their jaws as they got older could easily take off fingers. They are loving and very intelligent, and they purr like cats. Anyone walking in the woods in the evening has probably heard raccoons purring.

Thanks for the really interesting description of what’s going on beneath the surface during winter. And thanks also to Adelaide for her continuously excellent illustrations in this newsletter!

This article was a joy to read considering I am a country girl who grew up exploring nature. I was Jillian’s high school principal and I must agree that Jill’s biology teacher was an awesome teacher and any student who took her class would most certainly become a lover of nature. I am so proud of Jill and her willingness to serve her community and share her knowledge of nature. Her mom shared this wonderful article with me. Congrats to Jill and her family.

Impressive use of local edibles!  Well written!

This is a VERY refreshing article… So happy to hear Jillian’s journey of connecting her childhood experience with the purposeful life she now lives.  Glad to read of the impact she’s having on our future leaders.  Most importantly, she brings light to one of the greatest evidences of God and that’s in nature.  Thanks Jillian, for sharing your inspirational journey and much happiness to your family… Seems like Henry may be following in your footsteps ❤️

You have done a fantastic job putting this together and making it available to your readers. Thank you!

The article about Jillian Bell was inspiring, uplifting and it made me very proud that our hometown girl is busy making the environment and the lives of young people better. Her proud papa shared the story and it made my day!

I really enjoyed reading this article.  The content is very relatable.  I am an avid gardener. Learning and respecting nature is so important, especially when you understand plants are alive therefore they have senses.

I have never lived in a place where I didn’t some access to nature.  We have lived for some years on land that years ago supported a small dairy farm.  It is very relaxing and always provides us with the opportunity to garden and simply enjoy the leaves moving the trees.  We are lucky.  But your article Indicates that with insight these joys are available in less rural settings, cities etc.  I hope your work in making that joy apparent helps people in denser settings find a similar joy.

West Nile, I’m quite sure, is less an issue than loss of habitat. The abandoned farm lots I knew in the 60s, which had grown into hardhack, popple whips, gray birch, raspberry canes, etc., were ideal habitat for ruffs. Much of that cover has become mature forest or, more frequently, been cleared by developers and/or home builders. Coyote and bobcat predation are factors, perhaps, but over-emphasized by many who should know better.There is no doubt the bird’s numbers are in serious decline.

My wife and I are fortunate to have Grouse visit on occasion, but never to our bird feeders. They have been attracted to our crab apple trees however; one of which is right next to the living room! Unfortunately, that crab apple was virtually cleaned out by songbirds (robins, mostly) the past two years and our other “Grouse magnet” crab apple died this past fall, so no birds since 2019. I’ve taken some great photos right through our window, just 2-4 feet away from the birds and I’d attach some here, but I don’t see a way of accomplishing that feat!

These are wonderful local residents but their numbers seem to be in decline in our neighborhood. Sadly, daily jaunts with our English Setter in our woods have produced very few signs (tracks/snow roosts) and no flushes this winter. The VT F&G is doing a study of Grouse and possible West Nile Virus effects on them, but I haven’t seen any results yet.

I went from 46 acres to 35 acres with the straight line gps measurements. Measure from hill top to hill top and it will be much shorter than measuring along the ground. All of us who live in hilly country have lost many acres.

What an amazing life story. Reading your bio makes me feel like an under achiever!
What really brings your stories to life are the amazing pictures which are so colorful and vibrant.
Your lifestyle is very similar to my late sister and her husband. You guys could have shared a lot of adventures together. I look forward to hearing your stories each month at the Waterbury writer’s meetings.

So maybe into a paper, into the woodstove if they don’t belong here, and have the possibility of changing forest composition?

Beautiful!  It felt like I was skiing along with you. Thank you for such a scenic trip from my couch.