Feral Faithful,

As you know, it is not enough to simply say that the heart of human consciousness is wild, but that wild nature — the more-than-human world — is rooted in consciousness as well; that the human spirit is part of the wild world and the other way all around. But sometimes artists ignore ecology and ecologists make little time for poetry or pondish yoga. When they hang with us they are quickly recovered.

The wild creatures of our favorite waters are known by those who study them and by those who count them as kin. Their many names and endless forms most beautiful and their complex relationships are wonders to behold. Entering their lives through contemplation and discovery, we find magical realms in which we find our deepest and most original selves. 

When we are surrounded by flits and midges, all that wriggles and writhes in the myriad mysteries of freshwater nature, a thousand eyes upon us reveal more than a thousand presences. Let us learn their names and their names for us, their secrets of living and being. Let us discover our clearest reflections.

Find yourself in a pond.

Jack Phillips

_{Members of the Naturalist School have been collaborating with Creighton University biologists since 2022 on a study of a small lake in Fremont County Iowa. Dr. Joseph Phillips (top photo, on right) is the primary investigator. Our study includes winter invertebrate research, aquatic plant surveys, night-trapping aquatic insects, and monitoring amphibian populations. Angélica Perez (with mother turtle) is a TNS Fellow and a project research assistant. Below: TNS Fellows Courtney Stormberg (left), Angélica Perez, and Kristin Zahra (right) conduct an amphibian survey in Saunders County, Nebraska.}

_{Photo credits: Angélica with turtle: Robert Smith. Bullfrog tadpoles: Betiana Simon. All others by Jack Phillips.}