My letter to the Oz Claus, in which I ask for a brain, a heart, courage, and a home.

It's Christmas Eve, and in the spirit of the season, here is a new Christmas song. Enjoy.

Few things are as common - or as commonly despised - as the subject of this episode.....at least among the lovers of lawns. But there might be more to this ubiquitous rogue than commonly meets the eye, as I think you'll discover in "A Dandy Weed".

As common as dirt? Well, not quite. But dirt is where you'll often find this cosmopolitan critter, and that critter might be closer than you think. Meet the buggyboy, in this episode of Natural Wonders.

   I first met the subject of this episode while sitting in an American Literature class at Cal State Long Beach, when I was 20 years old. That was a long time ago, but something clicked between us that day, something fine and fundemental, and he has been a good friend ever since.

This is my birthday tribute to a very special man - Henry David Thoreau.

Look at a map of the United States, and, out in western Kentucky and northern Tennessee, you will see two long fingers of blue separated by a thin blade of green. Those fingers are lakes, that blade is land, and - taken together - they comprise what is called The Land Between The Lakes. I recently had the chance to spend some time in this little-known natural treasure. Here is what I found.

It started with a photograph. It ended with a new apprecation of the "magic trees" that cheer our winter and brighten our spirits. What are the magic trees? Find out in this episode of Natural Wonders, as you listen to "A Tale Of Two Seasons".

Of all our holidays, Thanksgiving is the only one whose name tells us exactly what we're supposed to be doing on this special day....and it's not stuffing yourself silly! It's giving thanks or -put another way - taking the time to take an inventory of the good things in your life. In keeping with the spirit of the holiday, then , I'll be doing just that, in this episode of Natural Wonders.

If you've ever attended a high school reunion, you already know that they can be queer, fascinating, nostalgic, poignant....and just a bit disquieting. But haunted? Mine certainly was, and that's only the beginning of the ghosts I'll uncover in this eerie episode of Natural Wonders.

Ok, so what's round and orange and everywhere? Well, if it's autumn then the answer should be as obvious as the reason all those kids in outlandish costumes are suddenly knocking at your door on the last day of October? Yet as common as pumpkins are, this celebrated supersquash has an uncommonly fascinating history, and that's what I'll be exploring in this episode of Natural Wonders.

The earth laughs in flowers, Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, and if that is true, then the subject of this episode of Natural Wonders must be a hearty guffaw, because it is big and brazen and resoundingly jolly. You see it almost everywhere at the right time of the year, and the right time of the year happens to be right now. So sit back and enjoy my tribute to a very special flower, a tribute I call Our Native Sun.

I went home this summer. For a few precious days I went back to the Grand Canyon, back to that marvelous land of rock and wonder, and I brought my trusty digital tape recorder with me. Join me, in this first episode of "Notes From The Canyon", as I tramp along the very edge of this celebrated chasm along one of the most spectacular stretches of rim trail in the park.

He was a strange young man, wandering for months at a time with only his two burros and a few supplies, wandering through country as remote and unforgiving as it was spectacular, and when he disappeared he disappeared so completely his body and belongings have never been found. Yet Everett Ruess left us more than a mystery, and he has become an inspiration to nature lovers everywhere. Find out why....in this episode of Natural Wonders. (Tagwords: Esclante, Utah, Arizona, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, Rita Cantu.)

One of the quintessential ideas behind this podcast - its beating heart, really - is that the wonders of the natural world are all around us, even if we tend to overlook them in the rustle and the hustle and the bustle of our busy lives. Well, that is certainly the case with the subject of this episode of Natural Wonders. We don't just overlook them; ofttimes, we unabashedly abhor them. But there is much to wonder at in these pesky, little neighbors of ours, as I think you'll agree after you meet.....The Amazing Fred.

Do you have a cat? If you do, you've got plenty of company; according to recent estimates, more than 60 million households in the United States own cats. Few cat owners, though, realize how the destinies of cats and people became so entwined......and what a long and fascinating history the domesticated cat has. I'll be talking about that....in this episode of Natural Wonders called The Lion In Your Lap.

The car needed repair. I dropped it off, took a walk, and - suddenly, without warning, without expectation - found something that carried me back not only to my own childhood, but to humanity's long childhood as well. Something exhilerting. Something vital. Something imperiled. Find out what I found.....in this episode of Natural Wonders.  

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to be someone else, someone in a time long before your own? In this episode of Natural Wonders, you'll discover that there is a way, and it's just beyond your own door. Come take a look.............through ancient eyes.

An introduction to the Natural Wonders podcast, and a few words about "Thoreauvian insurance" and things that will never happen again.