About the Ghost Turtles
150 years after Robert Duncanson painted this luminist scene on the Little Miami River, I stood in the same spot and saw a soft-shelled turtle sunning on a snag. It slipped silently into the water when it heard me. That’s when I knew past is present and destiny, too. That’s when my vision of the Ghost Turtles began. Read more
Ecology of the Senses
Returning to Lake Superior year after year like a migrating loon, I’ve learned the other side of a slow, uncertain process that could be called “going blind.” With the lake as my teacher, I know what lies on the other side. I call it letting go of sight. Read more.Prayer at Big Creek
![Sandhill cranes land on Platte River sandbar roosts west of Rowe Sanctuary’s Iain Nicolson Audubon Center southwest of Gibbon, Nebraska. [Photo by Lori Porter| Kearney Hub]](https://www.ghostturtles.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/sandhill_cranes_kearneyhub_032015-300x225.jpg)
At the threshold of consciousness, as I slipped back and forth between two worlds, I put my mind in the best place I could imagine, a marsh on Lake Erie called Big Creek. I knew I’d find cranes waiting for me. I cannot say whether I prayed for them, or to them, or with them. The cant of words doesn’t matter. I believe in the still, small voice. I believe what the poet Yehuda Amichai said. Gods come and go. Prayer is eternal. Read moreFreedom to Read
![An endangered Whooping crane takes flight. Yhe large bird has a 7-foot wingspan. It is all white except for black wing tips and face markings. In this photo its long neck stretches forward; its wings sweep upward; and its black legs trail straight behind it. [Source: International Crane Foundation]](https://www.ghostturtles.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Whooping-crane-eastern-ICF-080622-300x157.jpg)
Whenever I hear sanctimonious pronouncements about woke, parental rights, and banning books, I think of Whooping cranes. In my family, the gawky, audacious, elusive and endangered birds are synonymous with our values about the First Amendment and the freedom to read. Read more.Sister, Teacher, Pathfinder
A guidance counselor in high school told my sister Diana, “With your eye problems you will never make it in college. Just forget about it. Get married. Raise a family.” That advice only deepened her determination. She did it all in due time, in her own way –college, marriage, family. She became a guidance counselor herself. She certainly was the most important guide and pathfinder in my life. Read more.Flaneur & Bouquiniste
![Mark Willis peruses a 1745 volume by Voltaire at a bouquiniste book stall on the banks of the Seine in Paris. He wears a brown leather jacket and checkered flat cap. He holds the open book in his hands. Rows of old books are seen on shelves behind him. [2005 photo by Ms. Modigliani]](https://www.ghostturtles.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/mw_bouquiniste_05-300x225.jpg)
I remember the book I held in my hands that day. I remember the feel of its time-warped, water-stained pages. I remember its murky, moldy river smell, call it the book’s bouquet, suggesting years of storage on the banks of the Seine. Had I bought it then, I could feel and smell it now and know it from a hundred other books in my library. Read more.R & K: A Rant
Marjorie Taylor Green auditioned for R&K’s Authoritarian It Girl at the 2023 State of the Union address. She and her Republican colleagues yelled like Tarzan swinging through the trees as they jeered and booed the President’s speech. Read Rants & Kisses.R & K: A Kiss
Songs by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Singers like Dione Warwick and Dusty Springfield. What Do You Get When You Fall in Love? The Look of Love. I Say a Little Prayer. I sit in the car’s back seat and listen. I’m glad it’s dark. I’d be embarrassed if anyone could see the dreamy look on my face. Read Rants & Kisses.
Author Archives: Mark Willis
Internet Naturalist – November 30, 2014
A hawk in pigeon’s clothing « Sibley Guides 112414 David Sibley: "I saw a Cooper’s Hawk catch a Rock Pigeon a few days ago. By itself that experience is noteworthy – a Rock Pigeon is a big bird for a … Continue reading
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Internet Naturalist – November 23, 2014
Project FeederWatch a winter-long survey | Northumberland Today For two days in the week of Nov. 8, you will find me, for part of the day, sitting in the rocking chair near my back door, counting the birds visiting my … Continue reading
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Internet Naturalist – October 20, 2014
Groups Sue Over U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service's Refusal To Provide Wolverine With Endangered Species Act Protection | National Parks Traveler 101414 Whether climate change is adversely impacting wolverines, something the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service believes is uncertain, is … Continue reading
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Internet Naturalist – October 12, 2014
Flight Maps: Chapter 1 – THE PASSENGER PIGEON EXTINCTION Excerpt from “Flight Maps: Adventures With Nature in Modern America” (1999) by Jennifer Price: “The colonists appreciated pigeons in other ways, too. They valued the wildlife and lands around them for … Continue reading
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Internet Naturalist – October 5, 2014
Long-tailed Jaeger! | Whitefish Point Bird Observatory 093014 It has been an interesting 3-4 days out at the point. Before the 28th, there was very little movement for a few days. Luckily, a cold front passed through on the night … Continue reading
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Internet Naturalist – September 28, 2014
Duluth Pack Company Canoe Packs, Canvas and leather pack, Camping Gear, Minnesota Packs :: Duluth Pack :: Made in the USA :: Quality leather and canvas luggage, backpacks, camping, and outdoor gear, Order Wild Rice – TnT Wild Rice Distributors … Continue reading
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Internet Naturalist – September 14, 2014
Bowline Knot | How to tie a Bowline Knot | Boating Knots The Bowline is identical in structure to the Sheet Bend – in both knots a bight locks into a loop. However, in the Bowline the tying is carried … Continue reading
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