In which I start a nature journal

At Chatham, one of the requirements to graduate with the MFA is a course on either environmental writing or travel writing. As a fiction writer, I am not directly interested in either, but I’ve opted to take environmental writing this semester instead of travel next. One of the requirements for the environmental writing course is a nature blog, which will consist of my going to the same spot in Pittsburgh once every other week and, perhaps not surprisingly, blogging about it.

As with any new blog, the most terrifying question is where to put it. I have to be able to turn this thing in electronically, so I can’t use a paper journal. I thought about starting a new, separate blog on a hosting service like Blogger, but I think I’d like to keep my writing as centralized as possible. So I’ve decided to keep the posts here. My classmates, however, can get to just the relevant entries with the fancy new category I’ve made, “Nature Blog.” Ah, metadata, you save the day once again! And thanks to Disqus, which allows you to login with various social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, and Google, it won’t even be hard for my classmates to leave comments! (Another requirement of the class, you see.)

I’m not entirely certain, but I think I’ve already chosen my place: Mellon Park, particularly its Walled Garden, though I may venture into its other areas, too. (I like roses, but I’m allergic to bees, so… shall I risk certain death to stop and smell the roses? Do I dare to eat a peach? I don’t know.) I’m going to (try to) include pictures, so you won’t always be faced with such a terrifying wall of text in the future. We hope.