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The heat has been getting to me. Not in the dramatic “I’m melting” kind of way. More in the quiet, heavy sort of way. The kind that makes you forget why you walked outside in the first place. Part of the reason we left Louisiana was to escape summers that felt like you were breathing through a wet towel. Then Illinois decided to remind me that it had been taking notes. For a few weeks I fought it. Then I remembered something nature has always taught me. Adapt… or spend the af

There are two ways to drive the 193 miles of Highway 2 across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Most people are simply trying to get somewhere. I was trying to figure out what happened here. For nearly 200 miles, the road hugs the northern shore of Lake Michigan before eventually turning toward the Mackinac Bridge. The scenery is beautiful, but it wasn’t the lakes that kept stealing my attention. It was everything built beside them. One abandoned motel. Then another. An old motor c

Something happened that I wasn’t expecting. Not another record-breaking worm count. Not an escape attempt. Not even Carol catching me in the front yard trying to eliminate what turned out to be a suspicious-looking stick. It was one worm. 🪱 If you’ve followed these field notes, you know I’ve tried to make this whole experience funny. Worm Olympics. Underground worm meetings. Tiny motivational speeches from the worm ringleader. Humor has been my way of carrying something that

June 4, 2026 🎥 There’s a scene in The Beach where Leonardo DiCaprio has spent so much time alone in the jungle that reality starts blending with imagination. He begins seeing life as though he’s inside a video game. I understand that scene a lot better now. Because the worms have been training. I know how that sounds. But something is different. They’re faster. Smaller. Harder to catch. It’s almost as if word has spread through Wormville and somebody is holding strategy meet

It rained earlier that morning. By evening, temperatures had climbed into the 80s after weeks of much cooler weather. The ground was thick and warm. Gross! The humidity hung over everything like a wet blanket and reminded me exactly why I left Louisiana. Michelle and the babies went to sleep despite the popping firecrackers. Everyone is celebrating. Grilling. Drinking beer and participating in normal human Memorial Day activities. Not me. I’m outside wearing a headlamp, hunti

May 23, 2026 | 11:10 PM Woodstock, Illinois 69°. 80% humidity. 0% moon illumination. Air Quality Index: 109 — “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups.” Someone stopped me and told me they’d actually been reading these field notes aka a blog (I still don’t like the word blog it reminds me of worms) This was surprising because honestly I assumed only Michelle, my mom and two polite friends were humoring me while watching me descend into worm madness. I had actually considered stopping

Friday night. May 22, 2026. Neighbors are partying. Music, beers, laughter. Skunk smell drifting through the air. Meanwhile, I’m outside with a headlamp and my now best-selling bug and tick spray, fighting bugs flying directly into my eyeballs while hunting invasive jumping worms. At one point I could hear teenagers walking down the sidewalk toward my house, and I suddenly became very aware of how this must look from a distance. Picture a grown woman in rain boots spinning in

I thought I knew what hard looked like. Eight days without power in the middle of a Louisiana summer after Hurricane Ida will do that to you. That was the year we decided to leave. Start over. Find something quieter. More manageable.I had no idea I was about to go to war with something far worse. Not a storm ------> WORMS. Invasive jumping worms in Illinois are becoming a serious problem for gardeners, farmers, and ecosystems. Before moving to Woodstock Illinois, my only expe

This was written by a human, btw. A human who loves the color purple. I first met Prunella Vulgaris (what a name) while wondering around a field on my horse. I bet she is growing in your yard right now. And doesn’t even seem to care if you try to get rid of it. It just… comes back. Again and again. Self-heal doesn’t wait for ideal conditions. It spreads low to the ground, quietly weaving itself through lawns, fields, and disturbed soil like it’s stitching something back toget

There’s a reason tinctures range from $10 to $75 — and it’s not branding fluff. In a $50+ billion wellness industry, many tinctures are mass-produced, diluted, imported, or made with questionable sourcing. They look the same in the bottle, but they are not the same medicine. If you’ve ever thought, “Why didn’t this do anything?” — this is why. 🍃 Dilution Is the Quiet Problem No One Talks About Most cheap tinctures are: • Highly diluted (sometimes more water than alcohol) •

WHAT ARE PARASITES REALLY? Let’s just get this out of the way: Parasites are not just a “third world” problem. They’re a human problem. A global problem. A 60+ million Americans right now problem. Parasites are organisms that live inside you, on you, or off you… without paying rent. They steal your nutrients, hijack your energy, mess with your hormones, and do things in your gut that would disturb even the strongest stomach. They come in a few charming varieties Worms (roundw

There’s something about Ghost Pipe (Monotropa uniflora) that doesn’t feel quite real — like it was borrowed from another realm and left...

I never set out looking for the Devil. But he kept showing up—in the roots I dug, the mushrooms I photographed, the folk names whispered...

👉 I work with celebrities who drop $400+ on facial serums, believing that you must have things like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide,...

Nature’s freak show: strange fungi like Bleeding Tooth & Dead Man’s Fingers with eerie looks and wild stories. Nature’s mystery or warning?

The humble dandelion (Taraxacum Officinale), often dismissed as a weed, is actually a powerful plant used for centuries in herbal...

Cattails, often called the “Supermarket of the South,” are one of nature’s most versatile plants, offering food, medicine, and materials...