Author Archives: Mark Willis

Close Enough for Vitruvian Man

On hot summer days when I was a kid I would lie in the grass in the upper meadow at my grandparents’ farm. I stretched out my arms like that guy in Leonardo da Vinci’s drawing. I kept my pants on, though. I stayed as still as I could, pretending to be dead meat. I hoped to entice soaring Turkey vultures to land this close to me. They were never fooled. Continue reading

Posted in Memoir, Naturalist | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Close Enough for Vitruvian Man

Take Care of Yourself, Jerry Springer

R.I.P., Jerry Springer: I remember a time when Brendan, Chenoa, and I played hooky from other responsibilities and made it a point to watch “The Jerry Springer Show” together. It was an opportunity to commune with twisted people who had worse problems, and less shame, than we did. My show favorite was the bald bouncer who roamed the set breaking up brawls. He looked imposing like Mr. Clean. I think his name was Steve. When the audience chanted “Steve! Steve! Steve!” we howled for blood with them. Family values like that is what makes America great. Continue reading

Posted in Memoir, Rants and Kisses | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Take Care of Yourself, Jerry Springer

Listening to Trees at Ellis Pond

Full of bees on a spring day, this fragrant Dogwood sounded like a dynamo humming in the sun. The location is the Lloyd Kennedy Arboretum at Ellis Pond in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Continue reading

Posted in Ecology of the Senses, Naturalist | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Listening to Trees at Ellis Pond

Lessons My Mother Never Imagined

I still make the kinds of innocent mistakes made recently by fully sighted people in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lost and looking for directions on a lonely country road? I’ve been there. Knocking on a door at the wrong address? I’ve done that. Climbing into the wrong car in a parking lot? Guilty. To the extent I see them, all cars look alike. Continue reading

Posted in Memoir, Rants and Kisses | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Lessons My Mother Never Imagined

A Living Fossil (the tree, not me)

Brendan planted a Dawn Redwood for me in the northeast corner of the garden. I need it to fill a gaping hole in the tree-line left by unfinished construction work on the other side of the fence. It should grow quickly. There is a beautiful specimen on the west bank of Ellis Pond, probably planted in the late 1970s, which is now more than 30 feet tall. And it should last a while. Metasequoia is one of the oldest living tree species. Like the Ginkgo tree, its lineage stretches back to the time of the dinosaurs. The ancestor of today’s trees, “rediscovered” in China in the 1940s, was believed to be 500 years old. Continue reading

Posted in Naturalist | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on A Living Fossil (the tree, not me)

Morning Deer Report: A Serviceberry Survives

This little Serviceberry deserves a medal for valor in the struggle of trees versus deer. I planted it in 2018 when it was a bareroot twig. In the next two years deer hoovered up the fruit buds and gnawed it to the ground. In 2021 I put a deer cage around it. This spring it blooms resplendently for the first time. Continue reading

Posted in Naturalist | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Morning Deer Report: A Serviceberry Survives

Let The Rough Side Drag

If it’s too heavy to lift, whatever it is, then drag it away. This is one of the most enduring lessons I learned as my father’s helper. If there is a smooth side carried effortlessly through the world, there usually is a rough side that can withstand whatever it takes to get the job done. Let the rough side drag. Continue reading

Posted in Memoir | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Let The Rough Side Drag