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wendybrd
Dec 20, 20222 min read
Frost Beard Philosophy, by Wendy Peterman, PhD
Last year, I was hiking in late winter with a colleague in Silver Falls State Park, Oregon. We kept passing something fuzzy and white...
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wendybrd
Dec 30, 20211 min read
Silence in the Snow by Wendy Peterman, PhD
Softly, gently the fluffy flakes fall, melting on the ground at first, then holding their shape. As night turns to dawn, the world...
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wendybrd
Sep 5, 20212 min read
The Ecosystem of the Self by Wendy Peterman PhD
Lately, I have been thinking about systems. I love systems. Their elegance. Their complexity. Their gorgeous expressions of creativity....
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wendybrd
Aug 7, 20212 min read
Waterfalls of Wisdom by Wendy Peterman, PhD
What is the magic we feel with waterfalls? Is it the tremendous sound of water falling hundreds of feet, pummeling the pool below? Is it...
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wendybrd
Jul 15, 20218 min read
Flourishing in Fertile Ground by Wendy Peterman, PhD
At Cannon Beach, in Oregon, there is an iconic set of rocks, jutting out of the ocean. I first saw them two years ago on a first date...
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wendybrd
Jul 8, 20214 min read
Webs of Life by Wendy Peterman, PhD
As I drive out into the forest, silently contemplating the glassy, green surfaces of lakes and rosy-complexioned sunrises, I sense the...
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wendybrd
Jun 22, 20216 min read
Natural Processes: Uplift and Erosion, by Wendy Peterman PhD
The western Cascade mountains were formed from the subduction of tectonic plates, pushing magma from the core of the Earth toward the...
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wendybrd
Jun 12, 202110 min read
Embracing Darkness, by Wendy Peterman, PhD
Under the closed canopy of a mature forest, very little light reaches the forest floor. In a very dense forest, it can even seem like...
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wendybrd
May 20, 20215 min read
Bending with the Storms by Wendy Peterman, PhD
Trees have thousands of adaptations, matching them to their environments with strategies to survive all kinds of conditions. Some have...
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wendybrd
May 5, 20213 min read
Severed Roots: Cycles of Life by Wendy Peterman, PhD
Different species of trees form relationships with specific species of fungi, and in a way, these fungi function as a sort of nervous...
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wendybrd
Apr 16, 20216 min read
Not all who Wander are Lost, by Wendy Peterman, PhD
In 2012, my dad and I went on our first father-daughter walkabout. We named it after the term used in the ’80s by the rugged Australian...
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wendybrd
Apr 9, 20216 min read
Grasslands, Bamboo Forests and Visits with God by Wendy Peterman, PhD
Bamboo is a grass, its tubular cells growing in parallel columns, creating cylindrical stems racing toward the sun. In the perfect...
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wendybrd
Apr 2, 20216 min read
Invasive Species by Wendy Peterman, PhD
Trees in San Diego range from wild, alien species, straight out of a Dr. Seuss book to the dwarfed, twisting bodies of the endangered...
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wendybrd
Mar 19, 20214 min read
Legacy Impacts - A Tribute to my Grandmother by Wendy Peterman, PhD
Climbing a steep trail as it winds through the coastal woods of the Siuslaw National Forest on Father’s Day, I respond to the endless...
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wendybrd
Mar 18, 20217 min read
Disturbance and Resilience: Trial by Fire by Wendy Peterman, PhD
Towering whimsically above my head. Their bases, ravaged by fires of years past, they stand triumphantly above adversity, reminding me we...
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wendybrd
Mar 12, 20217 min read
Finding Magic in Small Moments by Wendy Peterman, Ph.D
My first experience with intentionally sending myself to the woods to just “be” and give myself a spiritual reset was during my freshman...
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wendybrd
Mar 5, 20213 min read
Gratitude for What Is by Wendy Peterman Ph.D
Gratitude for What Is Every part of a forest has a unique smell. I’m not a person who memorizes and identifies plant species like some of...
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wendybrd
Mar 5, 20214 min read
Taking Root by Wendy Peterman, Ph.D
I can’t say I was born in the woods, and that’s how they got into my soul. I was actually born in the Mojave Desert with ancient,...
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