Field Notes
Short nature essays, notes from the woods, and the occasional post about writing and teaching.
I 3D Printed a Sound Dish. Then I Measured It.
I designed and 3D printed a 16-inch parabolic sound dish for an elk trip to Cataloochee Valley. Then I measured what it actually did: about 14 dB louder than a bare mic, with the charts, spectrograms, and science to show why.
Life from a Rotting Log
What can a swamp-soaked piece of wood teach us about resilience? Between 40 bug bites and a sinus infection, here is why feeling unproductive is sometimes the first step to growing something beautiful.
An Opera House in the Jungle: Notes from the Author Zone
This is my first summer break as a middle school teacher, and I feel like I’ve been dropped into a strangely quiet writer’s limbo. My current daily routine looks something like this: I set goals each day, and I write. Then I edit, then I write. I go down a massive research rabbit hole for…
Navigating Life’s Ambush Predators: When the Swamp Swallows Your Plans
Just when you think things are going well… bam. The water splashes, the boat rocks, and you’re suddenly scrambling to figure out what to do next. That is what writing a novel is like. Honestly, it is what life is like, too. We all love a good schedule. But today’s reflection is about what happens…
The Tides of Writing
Last week, my mother-in-law came to town and treated my little family to a beach vacation in Myrtle Beach. We spent plenty of time enjoying the waves, but my favorite moments happened when I got my kayak and camera out. After doing some research, I quickly identified a salt marsh where I could paddle around…
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