Michael Smith

I occasionally lead walks at the preserve, always small and informal. If you're nearby sign up (free) to join us.
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Wilderness as a Liminal Space I read a post from Diana Butler Bass about the wilderness, saying she hated it. My impulse was to go on to something else, because someone who hates wilderness could not have anything meaningful to…

livesinnature.com/2026/02/22/w...

That Boy Don't Act Right Just Another Old Man With a Sign

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America, throw the entire administration in prison.

Holding On to Ourselves Re-Centering in the Midst of Crisis

How do we not lose ourselves in the crises?
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Just turned off the Republicans' show trial of Jack Smith. Complete dishonesty and propaganda on the Republicans' part. Damn them all.

{FORTWORTH} Free America Walkout One year into Trump’s second regime, we face an escalating fascist threat: raids on our communities, troops occupying our cities, attacks on immigrants, families torn apart, mass surveillance, and ter...

Join me at {FORTWORTH} Free America Walkout action.womensmarch.com/events/fortw...

‘I felt like I was kidnapped’: Ojibwe man recounts ICE detainment - ICT At least five Native American men have been detained by ICE around Minneapolis following significant immigration raids

A Red Lake Ojibwe descendant was snatched by ICE in Minneapolis, and a Plains Cree woman was questioned.
This is in addition to the four Oglala Lakota men who reportedly were grabbed by ICE.
ictnews.org/news/i-felt-...

I'm sorry that I misspoke. We will have to wash the blood off the walls.

YouTube video by peaceandfreedom2011 Ohio - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (Music And Song Courtesy:Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)

The govt. of the US is now an internal enemy. Some in Congress are making some helpful noise, but overall they're part of the MAGA/corporate machine. The courts are a mixed bag, but SCOTUS is also part of the fascist regime. As CSNY noted, "We're finally on our own." youtu.be/MN_9VqfVQ9c?...

For the Luck of the New Year We had black-eyed peas and cornbread at my house today, like many people do on New Year’s Day. It’s supposed to bring luck, and we can use all the luck we can get in the coming year, so…

A New Year's Day walk with blooms and butterflies, winter skies and dry leaves rattling in the wind. livesinnature.com/2026/01/01/f...

So much shame. One day there will be so much work to do to (figuratively) wash the ketchup off the walls.

Don’t forget about the #FindThatLizard Scholarship!! Please share

#science #scholarship #funding #herps #HERpers #lizards #snakes #frogs #salamanders #game #challenge #education

Tandy Hills on December 12th Tandy Hills Natural Area is over 200 acres of prairie in east Fort Worth. In spring there are beautiful wildflower meadows at the top of a ridge, and then the prairie drops down toward the Trinity …

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And Now a Word From ... Books! It’s the season for giving gifts, and I’d like to pass along a suggestion or two that reflects the primary wish list items at our house - books.

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Rumors of Winter After the warm days of October and November, now we are seeing a bit of cold with a first freeze (barely, in some places) yesterday morning. And it is December now; in the “meteorological&#82…

livesinnature.com/2025/12/03/r...
It was a day for tree leaves changing, a mischievous grasshopper, more mushrooms, and bees active at the bee tree.

Searching for Autumn I went for a walk at Sheri Capehart Nature Preserve with gratitude for the warm day and yet wanting very much to find autumn. That’s a season I look forward to each year, and in this changing…

livesinnature.com/2025/11/15/s...

The Polycrisis and “The Work That Reconnects” How are we doing? That’s a complicated, uncomfortable question. To a significant degree, we seem to be worried, dissatisfied, depressed, and isolated. A 2023 Surgeon General’s report notes that peo…

livesinnature.com/2025/11/13/t...

Grateful for an Autumn Walk Today’s walk at Southwest Nature Preserve was especially rewarding for me. A week ago last Sunday, I got prompt, excellent medical care for a heart attack and I seem to be recovering well. As a res…

Coming up on an important five-year anniversary. I continue to be grateful to still be here, and hope I use my time well.
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A Sad Underwing A Brief Encounter

A walk today and an encounter with a lovely and sad moth... open.substack.com/pub/rainlili...

Being in a Nature Community A Strategy for Coping With the World in 2025

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Summer’s End at the Grasslands With one more week of summer, I wanted to walk in the LBJ National Grasslands. Summers there can get really hot; I will never forget a midsummer walk years ago in these grasslands. I was out with s…

A day at LBJ National Grasslands at the end of summer, with notes about Croton and Bitterweed, time spent under pine trees, a peaceful and lovely sunset interrupted just a little by gunfire. Sometimes it is hard to share this place with everyone who shows up.
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Ruth Ben-Ghiat (@lucid) ~ Ivan Ehlers for The New Yorker

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This is out-Sovieting the Soviet Union. "You are free to express any opinion at all as long as it's the right one, and the consequences for all the others will be severe, and ratting out is an important part of our free society."

livesinnature.com/2025/09/13/t...
I've written a little about what the teachings of Jesus, the wisdom of the Buddha, and the findings of science have to say about empathy and compassion (in a time when I believe those teachings and findings are being twisted or ignored).

A good group of people came out for the program on Bats of the Area, at Sheri Capehart Nature Preserve. Kate Rugroden of Bat World Sanctuary talked about their natural history and then as night fell, Ellen Ravkind and Anne Alderfer demonstrated some listening equipment that can identify them.

Underside of a black and yellow garden spider, seen through her web

Led a couple of groups of kids on walks, together with another volunteer, finding this yellow and black garden spider among other things. I love how often somebody in that group asks a good question, revealing a real interest in nature.

A Summer Adventure Walk Lilly began visiting the preserve with me when she was still two years old. She was captivated by grasshoppers and loved climbing on the sandstone boulders there. I guided and protected her as she …

An adventure walk with Lilly, with (almost) raccoons, dragonflies, games, and sand
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