Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

As the dog days of summer trudge on, those of us in the world of adult responsibilities grind along too. We have jobs, appointment, and lives to lead regardless of how hot the weather and how inviting the sunshine is outside. Despite this, there is a familiar sound that punctuates the noise and grind that surrounds our everyday lives. Even as I've grown more and more used to life here in the city, noise still finds a way to puncture through. Recently I was listening to an episode of Roman Mars's podcast,  99% Invisible  where he discussed the difference between noise and sound. Noise is a sound or series of sounds that are annoying or disturbing to one's overall experience of the world, while a sound itself was the expulsion of air waves of a certain pitch and frequency that we recognize coming from a specific source, regardless of the impression it has on our experience of the surrounding world.  There is certainly no doubt that cities are noise centers. Rumbling tra...

Imagine a quiet river ambling by on a warm summers eve. The sun is starting its downward shuffle towards the horizon and a warm glow fills the skies above. I have to be honest, I was worried about finding a quiet spot to go fishing in the city or even just outside.  Cities, in my opinion, are atrocities (no pun intended). Entirely too many people shunted into many small spaces with the expectation that they will get along with one another. It's an introverts nightmare and personally, I have made it my mission to get outside the city of Syracuse as much as possible. The city itself isn't all that bad. I'm still not used to being in such close proximity with my fellow species, Homo sapiens and don't know if time will change that, but until then, I will continue to escape to the countryside come the weekend. I'm lucky to have so many interests in the outdoors and have been blessed with an internal drive to experience nature up close. Whether it was Beaver Lake a fe...