35 Comments
Apr 16, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

Oh, bless you, my man... you put into beautiful words the feelings I feel so strongly but haven't the gift of being able to express with our 26-symbol alphabet and spaces. You capture the feelings for me. Thank you many times over!

I recall the first time I was introduced to those tiny red gems, the male flowers of beaked hazelnuts;

I have sought them out every spring since. Now, however, I'm unable to get out and about to find them. YOU have provided. Bless you and thank you.

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GLAD YOU COULD CONFIRM MY SUSPICIONS- THAT THE LITTLE RED SPRILLS ON THE HAZELNUT BUSHES ARE THE FEMALES. THEY ARE JUST STARTING TO MAKE NUTS AFTER ABOUT 8 YEARS IN THE GROUND.

ALSO OUR ONE WILD DAPHNE IS IN FULL BLOOM, FULL FRAGRANCE. SPRING IS HERE AT LAST!

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Apr 16, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

Handsome Odin, what a good boy.

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I had a similar reaction to the release of notes on Substack. I am glad to hear that you are prioritizing nature and writing.

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Apr 16, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

Thank you for that, Bryan-- I took a photo a couple weeks ago of a very similar flower of its cousin, a Smooth Alder, and wondered what exactly was going on. (And yeah I find Notes kind of confusing)

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Apr 16, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

“I am my algorithm”. Gorgeous essay Bryan, thank you.

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Apr 16, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

Hear, hear! Finally spring! Outside! Targeted digital reading only!

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"There may be sacred scrolls, but there is nothing sacred about scrolling." So many lines in here I want to copy and keep! You spoke my heart about all of this. I've had a few people now ask my advice about if and how to use Notes, and I have to explain why I don't and can't and why, but also that it has to be an individual choice. Today I went for a long walk in a new place in the woods with some friends, and managed to talk through some things I'm overwhelmed with, and on my way home I sat by a pond and watched kids on the other side running and yelling in excited as they spotted an otter (might have been a muskrat, but it disappeared), and later going through some trees close to my house I almost stepped on the first tiny crocus I've seen yet this spring. MUCH better notes than anything the digital world can provide to me. Others might feel differently. It's good to know ourselves and what our loves are, as well as our capacities.

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Ack, Bryan, this was such a perfectly timed post for me. I'd just witnessed my first racism in Notes, and am SO aware of the compulsive pull I feel towards buzzy social media. I'm here to WRITE, and to make offerings to others, and you have given me much important food for thought. Thank you so much 🙏🏻 and I look forward to being a subscriber!

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Apr 16, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

A GEM! ANOTHER gem. Thank you. I can still in my mind's eye see the first one I saw—in the snow no less!

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Apr 16, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

Hear, hear! Well said, especially "I am my algorithm."

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Apr 16, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

"The sacred is love and ideas among people, expressed and experienced together, in art and discussion and celebration, in the force of the written word and in the sanctity of nature." 100% yes! Wonderful! Thank you for these words today. And what a beaut of a Vermont spring day! Greeted by a sweet garter snake this evening in my driveway -- my kinda news feed indeed.

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Beautifully said, Bryan. Well done. It's such a rich time now (I guess it always is, but particularly now) as the snow and skunk cabbage give way to beaked hazelnut and the vernal pool choruses. This is a good reminder to witness the exuberance of plants even as the wood frogs and peepers pull us out of winter's quietus. As for Notes, I'm also torn. As someone who never bothered with social media - at all - I've been trying to convince myself to attend to a certain amount of it - Mastodon and now Notes - as part of the Substack job. I would really love for this work to be properly paid for. But that kind of engagement doesn't feel particularly real to me, so I'm trying to find a balance that's pragmatic without being a distraction. Good luck to both of us! Perhaps the best advice, though, will come from Odin. He looks like a marvelous companion.

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I'm really bad at wild plant identification, as I tend to go into a different kind of space when I'm in the woods. However, I am going to try to up my game, thanks to you. I appreciate what you are saying about social media. My tendency has been to limit my use of it, and mostly use it professionally. This is a tricky balancing act. I have yet to explore notes, and have not fully subscribed to it, as regards my own blog. You are not alone in this quandary, but perhaps together, we will forge a humane path of connection, and disconnection.

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