At the end of October, I hopped on the subway to South Philly to observe migratory waterfowl. I took my daughter Magnolia (“almost two,” as she could say at that point) in a stroller. She is a fan of ducks. A yellow one figures prominently in her favorite book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do
MoreLocal artist Kathryn Sclavi sets up the Re-Shop Flower Shop with students the McVeigh Recreation Center in Kensington. | Photo by Michael Reali Last Wednesday, local artist Kathryn Sclavi braved Philadelphia’s rush hour traffic and the January cold in her ZipCar to pick-up flowers in West Philly. But Sclavi wasn’t going to a florist or
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story by Bernard Brown | photos by Jen BrittonFor at least 10 years I’ve been trying to learn more about trees. Back when I lived in Atlanta, I resolved to identify the trees growing in a large wooded park near my home. I bought a Peterson field guide and got to work. I did okay
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Story by Liz Pacheco THE GRID OCTOBER 2012 COVER story reported on a development controversy in southwestern Philadelphia’s Eastwick community. Korman Residential has proposed building 722 apartments on 35 acres adjacent to single family homes and the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. For the City, the land holds great
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Story by Bernard BrownWEST PHILADELPHIA will never be the Everglades. It will never be the Pine Barrens, or even the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. As much as the naturalist in me would like to see more greenery and less asphalt, more snakes and fewer cars, I accept that I
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Councilman Kenaytta Johnson talks at last night's meeting | photo by Ned Connelly © Copyright 2012 A couple months ago I wrote about the development project Korman Residential had proposed for the Eastwick neighborhood in southwestern Philadelphia. Since the story was published, Eastwick residents have continued to fight against Korman, asking their councilman, Kenyatta Johnson,
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Stonycreek River won 2012 River of the Year l Photo via DCNRAttention, watershed activists and river lovers. Nominations for “River of the Year” are open and your help is needed to pick the winner! For the third year, the Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers (POWR) is partnering with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and
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Tree damage in Philadelphia post-Sandy. Image via Jacqueline Larma/AP PhotoWhen Sandy blew in last week, she did some serious damage to the Northeast region, and local trees were no exception. Now, as residents put back together their homes and businesses, it’s important to determine the care these trees need. Some will recover no problem with
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story by Liz PachecoWhen Bill McKibben published The End of Nature in 1989, it was the first book aimed at educating the general public on climate change. Since then, McKibben has given lectures, written books, penned articles and led countless campaigns to raise awareness and inspire action on climate change—this includes a
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story by Bernard Brown l photo by flickr user over_the_rainbow
What amazed me most about the honey locust trees at Awbury Arboretum were the thorns. I had imagined something like rose thorns—sharp, but proportional—not four-inch-long spikes jutting out from branches and erupting from trunks in grotesque, savage clusters. Surely this was overkill.
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