June 2023 Backyard Bulletin

View the full edition at this link.

This month marks one year since I started writing the Backyard Bulletin! I've always enjoyed writing, but I've never had much of a writing practice. Without structure, my finest words have been confined to occasional angsty journal entries and particularly sassy emails. The Bulletin has provided an opportunity to lean into narrative in fun new ways, and it's been a wonderful point of connection both to the land and the community. Connection to the land through learning new things about local plants, wildlife, invertebrates, fungi, and even the uncategorizable slime mold I wrote about in July. Connection to the community through kind words and beautiful images arriving in my inbox along with shared laughs over how goofy the natural world can be when you overlay the right narrative.

Perhaps my favorite part of writing the Bulletin is the excuse to take abstract things that speak to me (lyrics, poems, podcasts, movie scenes) and weave them into the seasonal storylines of the Methow. I tend to think that humanity is just a collection of stories conjured to assign meaning to coincidence. Those stories shape our view of the world around us and inform the ways we interact with it. I hope that, in some small way, my words help shape your understanding of the Methow as a unique and glorious place for wildlife, agriculture, and community. Maybe it's not that deep, but I'm grateful to the readers for taking the time to look at our valley through the filter of my educational quips. What fun!

-Bridger Layton