April Showers Bring May Flowers
A Newsletter Update
Dear readers,
The initial weeks since launching my Substack have been a learning process for me. I’ve written more frequently in the past month than ever before. I posted some articles that are representative of what’s to come and I have a lot more lined up.
Despite the first showers of April brining snow, continued precipitation and rising temperatures have ushered in spring growth.
Before I continue, I’d like to acknowledge my first two founding members. They are Roger Laurendeau and Ron DeBattista. I’ll continue to leave this premium subscription open until I have a group of 8 founding members, at which point I will close this opportunity. I will reach out to my founding members to offer a personalized gift related to a big project I’m working on. Your names will be permanently attached to this publication and there will be more perks for you as time goes on as well.
Besides my founding members, I would also like to thank my three first annual subscribers, Deb Moffett, Richard Steinke and Tannis Zimmer. Without your support, this would be nothing more than a passion project. One more zero-cost way you can help is to share my work across your social networks.
Since the launch I’ve been met with resounding feedback from some of my closest followers, and I’ve taken it to heart. Mostly I’ve heard some words of encouragement and compliments on my work, but I’ve also received some welcome criticism. I would love to hear more of your feedback, so please let me know how I’m doing, and what you’d like to see more or less of in my articles.
Moving forward, I’m happy to announce that my coverage of environmental topics will not end at Earth Day. The Earth continues to turn every day and so next week I’ll be posting an article for my paid subscribers about some dangerous chemicals that are in the process of being banned across the globe.
Later in May I’ll be publishing another piece discussing how we engage with wildlife, to draw a bit of attention to some misunderstood animals. This one too will be a paid article, but here are a few early spring sightings I’ve made recently to pique your interest.
Top-left: Fort Whyte Alive Plains Bison enclosure fosters seven calves this spring, as seen on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
Top-center: Large Mourning Cloak Butterfly perched on a tree along the Arrowhead Trail in Riding Mountain National Park on Sunday, April 21, 2024.
Top-right: A male (left) and female (right) Mallard pair seen in the wetlands at Fort Whyte Alive on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
Middle-left: One of countless geese getting ready to nest at Fort Whyte Alive wetlands, as seen on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
Middle-center: A red squirrel scurried up a tree as we neared it on the Arrowhead trail in Riding Mountain National Park on Sunday, April 21, 2024.
Middle-right: A White-throated Sparrow sings its familiar song in a tree at Fort Whyte Alive on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
Bottom-left: A river otter returns to the water after spending some time ashore, as seen on the Rennie River near Inverness Falls on Saturday, May 4, 2024.
Bottom-right: Green Comma butterflies fluttered all around the Arrowhead trailhead in Riding Mountain National Park on Sunday, April 21, 2024.
With the recent rain and warmer weather coming, the local environment will spring to life. So, one more article I would like to write for Grounded is about land and trail use. This one will be available to all with the hope that it will inspire some of you to get outside and enjoy the world around you, with respect. I would like to publish this one in May as well but with so many projects on the go it may get pushed back just a little.
For Man on the Scene I intend to cover more art and activism, perhaps some other events as well. This is the segment that is the biggest departure from my past work so please let me know if there’s somewhere you think I should be, and give me your feedback as I conduct more interviews within the community.
Finally I will have a big announcement later this month about a project that I’ve been working on behind the scenes that ties in with my work here. It will be my first foray into print media. I’m not quite ready to reveal the details yet but if you are subscribed to my Substack, you’ll be the first to know.
This leads me to my closing note, to remind you that there are a few months left for you to get a lifetime discount subscription using the launch code below. For the first six months from the time of my official Substack launch, you can subscribe for half off of my monthly or annual memberships. I will be running this lifetime promo only once for my early adopters and any future promotions will be a deal on a first month only, so get in now while the getting’s good.