Marty’s photos of the day #4259-4262: We could have a baby moose at the Essen Wildlife Refuge this spring! Every morning my dog, Nellie, enters my writing room and stares at me until I take her outside to play. Yesterday morning we followed our usual routine. In addition to playing ball, Nellie thoroughly sniffs and […]
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Category: Stories
Not what you think it is.
Marty’s photo of the day #4258: I know some followers of my posts cringe whenever I post snakes or other animals that don’t fit into the “warm and cuddly” category. But I’m a college speaker and author largely because I’m a wildlife advocate. All animals have value, and that includes snakes. Snakes, for instance, are […]
She made it!
Marty’s photo of the day #4256: This is Annie. And yes, her jump was successful! She was an adoptee from an animal shelter. I still remember the day Deb and I brought her home. Annie was approximately two years old, nervous, and unsure of herself. The hallway to our bedroom overlooks the great room. It’s […]
The Aussie fangs-o-death
Marty’s photo of the day #4255: This short excerpt from my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, explains the shot: I flicked on my flashlight. “Deb! It’s a Belizean fangs-o-death!” “Let me see. Wow, it’s amazingly similar to the orb weaver spiders in Belize. But its body isn’t as colorful or […]
Let’s go for a ride!
Marty’s photos of the day #4251-4254: Many years ago, I started going on early morning bike rides to stay in shape. My ride is roughly four miles, which isn’t far, but since I do it on a steep mountain road, often in the snow, it does the job. I quite literally wore out the drive […]
What if Dog Heaven made you choose?
Marty’s photo of the day #4250: Recently, I’ve been featuring a lot of photos from Deb’s and my epic adventure to the top of Canada, because I discovered some photo files on CD that I had unknowingly deleted from my computer years ago. This one, taken somewhere in Alberta, got me all choked up, as […]
Even sweet Nellie can be naughty
Marty’s photo of the day #4243: Sometimes even sweet Nellie can be a bad girl. Because we live on 25 acres of protected mountain forest (affectionately called the Essen Wildlife Refuge), we have mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, porcupines, skunks, and other animals around that Nellie shouldn’t mess with. And the only safe way for her […]
From the co-pilot’s seat
Marty’s photo of the day #4238: I shot this photo from the co-pilot’s seat of a tiny airplane (called a Helio), heading north over the Brooks Range, on the way to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This short excerpt, from my second book, Endangered Edens: Exploring the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica, the Everglades, […]
Not a bunch of nothing
Marty’s photo of the day #4233: When I perform my college show, Around the World in 90 Minutes, I talk about how important it is to keep the arctic natural. Then, while showing a wide photo of the tundra, I mention that the oil companies and the politicians that work for them frequently call the […]
The other hippo story
Marty’s photo of the day #4230: Via both my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, and my college show, Around the World in 90 Minutes, the hippo attack Deb and I survived on the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe (the hippo bit through the center of our canoe and lifted us six […]
Controversy and a golden lion tamarin
Marty’s photo of the day #4227: So yesterday’s photo of the day generated some unexpected controversy. That photo featured me holding a baby pygmy marmoset that a 9-year-old Yagua girl from a tiny village in the Amazon Rainforest had rescued after its mother died (the cause of death for the mother is unknown, but likely […]
Best campsite in Canada
Marty’s photo of the day #4216: I shot this photo from the best campsite of Deb’s and my adventure to the top of Canada and back. This short excerpt from my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, tells the story: The rest of our afternoon was uneventful—if you can call driving […]
Faro in the fog
Marty’s photo of the day #4215: Somehow, through the years, the file containing all the Sony Mavica photos from Deb’s and my 2002 adventure to the top of Canada disappeared from my computers. That old digital camera recorded onto mini-CDs. Even by today’s standards that camera took great still and macro photos (but lousy photos […]
Adventures in cold-weather photography
Marty’s photos of the day #4212-2013: Yesterday was a balmy 10 to 15 degrees below zero here at the Essen Wildlife Refuge. The clouds had moved out, and the sun was at the perfect angle to catch the snow glistening on all the trees with a tall mountain peak in the background. I’ve fallen in […]
Pure doggie joy
It has been a beautiful 10 degrees below zero day here at the Essen Wildlife Refuge. The clouds moved out, and the sun was at the perfect angle to catch the snow glistening on all the trees with a tall mountain peak in the background. I’ve fallen in love with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS100 large-chip […]
L’Arena di Verona
Marty’s photo of the day #4211: Without intending to do so, it seems that this has turned into a week of posting photos of Deb and me all over the world. Well, since I have momentum. . . . This photo from December 2018 shows the two of us at L’Arena di Verona in Verona, […]
Inspired by the Yagua
Marty’s photo of the day #4195: Hanging out for a few hours with members of the Yagua tribe along a tributary of the Amazon River was a big event for both visitors and residents. Deb and I brought the children harmonicas, T-shirts, and bubbles, and in return we got to walk through their village and […]
Within Temptation in Milan, Italy
Marty’s photos of the day #4121-4123: This week I’m taking a break from wildlife photos to post some of my favorite concert photos. Today’s photos are of Within Temptation in Milan, Italy. Yes, my wife, Deb, and I actually flew to Italy to see a concert! This short excerpt from my book, Hits, Heathens, and […]
Orphaned by palm oil plantations
Marty’s photo of the day #4112: For part of my time on the island of Borneo, I stayed in a cabana at the edge of a rainforest, while Deb scuba dived off a smaller island. A short distance away was the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. After dark, I headed out on my own for a […]
Hamster guts
Since I became an author and college speaker, newspapers and magazines have published countless stories about my books and college shows, and that doesn’t include opinion pieces and articles I’ve written myself for those publications. I used to save physical copies of all those newspapers and magazines for posterity or something to read in my […]