January 21, 2022

Good morning!

It’s Friday, and I’ve started a new game. Whenever I go on walks in the woods, I look around and try to find spots where I’d live if I were an animal. The more you look, the more you find.

Sometimes it’ll be an obvious spot, like a cave between granite boulders. I don’t investigate those, since they may already be occupied. Other times, like in the dry shade at the base of a pine tree, it’ll be more of a porch. But it’s still inviting.

Then you have the dead tree trunks in which woodpeckers have hollowed out multiple apartments. Fun if you’re a woodpecker, but can you imagine having one as your upstairs neighbor? Pounding on the ceiling would only encourage them.

What I really love are the cozy nooks tucked at the base of trees. To me they seem the most promising and protected, with infinite underground expansion possibilities. If I were a weasel or a raccoon, I’d rent one of those in a heartbeat—preferably one with an extra nook or two for houseguests.

“Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.”

—Gary Snyder

Shall we gather at 2pm to compare notes on our ideal forest homes? Subscribers, check your inboxes.

Onwards,

Clara