Urban Naturalist: Deer Diary

I once enjoyed the deer of Woodlands Cemetery. I would jog around a mausoleum and they’d go bounding away. Often they wouldn’t flee, eerily tolerant of the human stumbling (you never feel clumsier than when you’re comparing yourself to deer) only a few yards away. They were a delight to watch, but it couldn’t last.

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2 mins read

Along for the Ride: Cities for Cycling

"Race that train!” yelled Alex Doty. A familiar site was before us: a CSX train slowly lurching towards the Locust Street crossing to Schuylkill Banks Park. Charles Carmalt, Pedestrian and Bicycle Coordinator for the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities (MOTU), was already halfway across the tracks.

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2 mins read

Guest Column: The Giving Trees

Have you ever locked your bike to a tree? Did you know that every time you do this, you damage that tree? The tree’s bark serves as a layer of protection, just as your skin protects you. When you scrape off bark with a chain or lock, the tree becomes more susceptible to disease. It

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1 min read

Interview: One-on-One with Michelangelo Pistoletto

This interview was conceived as a back-and-forth, but give an Italian intellectual open-ended questions and you’ll get expansive—and fascinating—open-ended answers. A retrospective of Michelangelo Pistoletto’s thoughtful, dynamic work (From One to Many: 1956-1974) opened in November at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

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3 mins read

Shoots & Ladders: The Pits

Last winter, after helping our neighbors shovel out of a blizzard, we were rewarded with a lovely pineapple. It got me thinking: “How do these things work?” Unfortunately, it remains a bit of a mystery, as last year’s attempts at pineapple propagation failed, and ditto the efforts to start an avocado tree.

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1 min read