I have been a horticulturist for thirty years working in the Chicago area and beyond. I have lived in Oak Park for over thirteen years. My writing has recently appeared in the journal Ecological Restoration and I was a contributor to The Field Guide to Surreal Botany. Apart from my own blog I have also contributed to the online sites Gapers Block and A Prairie Journal. I often find myself hugging trees, squinting at stars, cutting buckthorn, or focusing too late on a bird that got away. I've been told I do a pretty fair imitation of a cicada song- but that all of my other animal calls sound alike.