Fall Equinox 2026
Meet the Cottonwoods
Five Fremont cottonwoods become named characters in a yearlong record of canopy, bark, water, inhabitants, and seasonal change.
Read the story →Stories from the watershed
The Patient Work
Natural-history essays from the practice of returning to the same places, looking closely, and allowing other lives to set the pace.
© Lindsey Thome
© Lindsey ThomeSeptember 5–6, 2026
The Vertical Calendar
A rainy descent from Big Bear Lake to City Creek reveals five expressions of deep summer stacked across 4,550 vertical feet of one watershed.
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© Lindsey ThomeSeptember 6, 2026
Before the Next Wonder
A rare summer rain unsettles familiar webs before two children witness the river's nightly eruption of bats and the hawk waiting among them.
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© Lindsey ThomeSeptember 4, 2026
The Inverted Calendar
In Southern California's deep summer, flowers rust, leaves curl, and native plants reveal a seasonal rhythm built around heat and the long wait for rain.
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© Lindsey ThomeAugust 23, 2026
The Ones Who Wait
A river of bats, a hawk hidden in the cottonwoods, and the different reasons predator, prey, and observer wait for darkness.
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© Lindsey ThomeAugust 20, 2026
For Years, I Had Been Walking Over the Answer
A colony of bats, a solitary clue, and five evenings of patient observation reveal an extraordinary life beneath an ordinary bridge.
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© Lindsey ThomeAugust 17, 2026
Where the Wild Things Are
Bats at dusk, coyotes on the bridge, familiar spiders, and a tarantula hawk—encounters made visible through patience and return.
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© Lindsey ThomeAugust 9, 2026
The Summer of Spiders
An arachnid awakening reveals one constant companion, one steadfast resident, and the lives visible only through return.
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© Lindsey ThomeLate July 2026
Emily and the Orb Weaver
A nine-year-old observer notices an ancient piece of work unfolding between weathered steel cables.
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