My mother. She came up to Darwin’s View on March 11. My sister and I figured it would be safer to bring her here for a short visit until things-coronavirus […]
Darwin’s View Blog
139 posts
Check out this review from Picture This Post. It ran on all of their sites in the following cities: Atlanta-Boston-Chicago- Dallas-Denver-Houston-Inland Empire-Las Vegas-Los Angeles Miami/S FL -Nashville-NYC-Oakland -Orange Co.-Philadelphia-Phoenix-Portland-SacramentoSan […]
In my book, I didn’t write much about Nick & Nora. Maybe because I can share chickens but the cats? Too close to home. We adopted Nick and Nora 17 […]
Here’s the link to another article I wrote. https://buneke.org/extra-blog/f/we-can-steward-nature-not-control-it
If you couldn’t be there live, here it is recorded. A bit blurry but bear in mind I am streaming from the chicken coop! https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3713600348667315&extid=GhrCfhWQmYCV7gn9
Here’s the most recent article that I’ve had published! Lessons Learned from Raising Chickens and Growing Organic
I’m excited to announce that I have a virtual reading at Bank Square Books this Thursday (tonight!!) at 6:30PM. As part of the All Cooped Up Book Tour, I will […]
The article is apt, and the song “Drums” . . . Please read and listen. https://folklife.si.edu/magazine/this-land-is-whose-land-indian-country-settler-protest
The chicks are really cute but are they the cause of the eye infection that Toey has developed? And maybe Susie B., too?
https://www.ledgertranscript.com/-At-Crossroads-with-Chickens-is-a-what-if-adventure-34806506
Here’s another interview! Did I post this already . . .? https://www.providencejournal.com/entertainment/20200618/hatching-better-life-how-ex-rhode-islander-embraced-off-grid-life-as-chicken-farmer
Here’s a link to an article about me at the Keene Sentinel site. Thanks to Meghan Foley! https://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/why-did-the-writer-cross-the-road-to-live-off-the-grid/article_39c2c242-2085-582a-8b04-ccbad385e170.html
Susie B went broody a couple of weeks ago. She’s the beautiful, fluffy, slightly-irritable Golden-laced Cochin that we adopted two years ago, along with her sister Cady, who was killed […]
Here’s an article I wrote that was published on the Earth 911 website! Essay: Letting Go of Complicity, Complacency, and Convenience
I had hoped this link would take you to my first attempt at a Live Video from the coop! This is not that. I can’t find the first attempt. But here […]
Join me in the coop to celebrate the publication of my book At Crossroads with Chickens! The hens and I will be preparing for the All Cooped Up Book Tour . . ..
Posted by Tory McCagg on Thursday, June 18, 2020
Okay, clearly I haven’t gotten the Live Stream thing down. For now, here are two links to a couple of interviews. The Providence Journal ran Hatching a Better Life: How an […]
Check it out! https://randyschickenblog.squarespace.com/home/2020/6/17/at-crossroads-with-chickens-a-book-by-tory-mccagg?fbclid=IwAR2vRbZ4ClsePZKgy6Q74hsiHDAHECRwcJBeZEWoVt95Gfni7ws0GDdi6xk
I’ll be celebrating the publication of my book At Crossroads with Chickens this afternoon (Saturday, June 20th) at 2PM. If you go to this link, it should take you to the event. The […]
In recognition of Juneteenth, I am moving my book launch from tomorrow, June 19, to the summer solstice, June 20th, at 2PM. Juneteenth, or “Black Independence Day” is the annual […]
It’s awkward. This Friday my book At Crossroads with Chickens will be published and available to buy (as opposed to pre-ordering, both of which are best direct done through http://www.bauhanpublishing.com/crossroads-with-chickens/ or […]
Whew! It’s June and I have no clue what happened to May. Or April for that matter. I was so proud of myself. In late February and March, I actually […]
We have Killdeer here. They remind me of the ocean with their calls, and of my childhood home in Michigan as I have an ever-so-vague memory of Dad telling me, […]
I’m busy trying to figure out the (dare I say?) logic of injecting disinfectant into our mortal bodies. Meantime, our hens have been busy producing perfect eggs. Can you guess […]
For the record, writing a play is different from writing a book–fiction or non-fiction. And writing a script for a video is even more different. And then making the video, […]
Standing O: Out of bed and breathing. I dropped the ball yesterday. I’m in the process of trying to figure out this Cooped Up Book Tour and it took up […]
Might I note that these times are remarkably in parallel to climate disruption? Dramatic change, and we’re all connected. That good, old web of nature. Did anyone read the article […]
Well! The girls are outside clucking and cackling to announce the laying of their eggs. When not laying, they scratch and dig about, entirely oblivious to the nightmare haunting us […]
Yes, it’s time to practice making sweet out of sour and finding positive in the negative. My mother is visiting us at Darwin’s View. We brought her up about two […]
This from my cousin. PLEASE stay home and safe. This tired midwife just coming off night call in the hospital. Online meeting this morning w stressed coworkers, trying to figure […]
How are people who work “the Gig” economy going to survive this situation? And then the people who work for businesses who don’t fall under the government bill being worked on, that […]
Rain, rain, Coronavirus. Cancelations. Likely pushing back date of my book. And: Nicky has a new bedroom. Here’s my play! On the floor. Pages of notes in order of story–past […]
I am really behind on publicity homework. I have to get my social media up and running for my book that is lined up to be published May 8. And […]
I learned a hard lesson last week. The cockerels are silent. Gone. I will be one of the story tellers at a Monadnock Conservancy event in Keene, NH March 26th. […]
Once again, I thought I had my act together and boom! Feathers fly. I found a happy home for the three boys. Here they are just before I began to […]
I was traveling last Friday and entirely forgot to post. And then, reentry mode. So I’ll post today three days late and a day early. Carl and I have begun […]
Yup, s/he’s hungry. . .. Beautiful cat.
Well! If his/her visits keep up, I’m going to have to name that bobcat and adopt him/her our own. S/he’s probably really hungry and cold and dreams of a nice chewy […]
Bobcat tracks on the driveway, circling the chicken area. Bracing, having lost four chickens to said bobcat. And without our clumsy, yet charming rooster Schtude as muse, how am I […]
This past Saturday, that followed a dark day on Friday: Guests from out of town and the stars and sun were aligned for a walk. Yahoo! But first, we had […]
I just got a poll asking if I think Hillary Clinton should run for president. I knew it was coming. I knew that the powers that be still think they […]
Below is the link to a New York Times article that I found interesting by Ezra Klein. “Why the Democrats Still have to Appeal to the Center, But Republicans Don’t.” […]
Another case of a picture is worth a thousand words. Photo by Carl
For those who are as obsessed as I currently am by the politics of the day, it’s a bracing time, isn’t it? Choices, choices and the system is based on […]
I think it might be time to hit a reset with these blog posts (again). On one hand, the twice weekly posts are a good habit to maintain. On the […]
Ooooooh, they are getting so old. And cocky. And aggressive. But they are beautiful. Might have found a home for them. Time will tell.
Along with the mystery of life, and on the tail end of the question about chickens and road crossing I must ask what happened to this week? I only just […]
I’m fighting off a cold. And have five roosters to rehome because Elmer and Diablo (renamed from Fonz) are fighting and, though I see no blood on any of the […]
I’m trying to process it. And note how parallel my own blithe actions and their consequences are to human actions in this world. It burns and our governments do little […]
Okay. Here’s a question: How long will it be before for the nightmare in the White House takes Mr. Ghosn under his wing? That was my first thought when I […]
Don’t get me started on the absurdity and warp-ed-ness of the holidays. . .. I woke up the day after Christmas and nudged Carl. “Guess what!?” He grunted. “It’s blow […]
Politics and handwringing! The holidays and travel! Writing a play! Publishing to dos! Worrying about the chickens and Nick! As ever, distraction rules. I practice meditation. It is a rare […]
Well! Have you noticed the sun factor these days? Rain, rain and now snow. I have a rough draft of a post but no time to write it. How can […]
Speaking of grief, here’s one by Michelle Goldberg. About fits my mood, thus, again, none of my own words: From The New York Times: Democracy Grief Is Real Seeing what […]
All the snow is gone, replaced by torrents of rain and slush. I spent the morning working on my play. Most satisfactory but now it’s noon and the rest of […]
A pescavore from age 16, I gave up fish in 20131 and have since been an octo-lacto vegetarian. . . . Not really. I eat oysters on occasion. Ironic as […]
You guessed it: a day for pictures. Do you see the problem with this picture? Carl saw it right away: the bubbler, meant to keep the water circulating and […]
As my body and soul adjust to the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday, also known as the assault of Hyper Commercialization on One’s Sense and Sensibility, a.k.a. […]
We head out today for Friendsgiving in Providence, and Thanksgiving in New York City, leaving house sitters to tend to the chickens, cat and house. We just got a call […]
A few weeks ago I wrote a ditty on electric vehicles. Given our circumstances today—some of us, perhaps, waiting with baited breath for the next installment of Democracy at the […]
Is this just another crazy idea for a road trip? It uses the same logic (sic) that Carl and I used for our last cross-country trip: a book and a […]
We are back home at Darwin’s View, and I am looking out at a fog bank. The weather outside is frightful and it’s raining, not snowing. An excellent excuse to […]
As feared, the book titled The End of Animal Farming by Jacy Reese has me teetering toward veganism. Even as I settled into the train yesterday, and began to peruse […]
Remember this past (already!?) summer and our broody hens’ defiance of my law and determination not to have chicks? Toey’s two that we got from a friend of ours are […]
November? How did that happen? Time ticks. Life. Carl and I watched this the other day: Zach Bush’s Keynote speech at the Rodale Organic Pioneer Awards. If you want to […]
Carl swears he heard an adolescent rooster attempting to crow yesterday morning. We’ve heard it before. A ca-ca-doodle-cough-cough. Typically, it’s a rather shy and retiring attempt that’s cut off, perhaps, […]
As to the Friday energy articles, clearly they are off the rails and down the tubes. Rather like our government. Regarding all things energy, I’m at a loss for words […]
Isn’t it interesting how a book falls into your lap at just the right time? I bought Howard Mansfield’s book The Habit of Turning the World Upside Down over a year ago but […]
I started a post but it was bleak. Instead of working that out, I am off to pack for NYC. But this picture describes what I was attempting to say […]
The link below is to the flyer for the NHSaves event this Thursday in Jaffrey. I’m going to post more of them around today. And am left with that uncomfortable […]
Have you heard about what’s going on in California? Pacific Gas & Electric, in their infinite wisdom–or greed, depending on one’s perspective–deemed it important to cut off millions of people […]
Working on a deadline and so just pictures today! This morning at Darwin’s View: The Generations yesterday: Collette & the others at their toilette: The Adolescents. And the […]
Birth, then death, then rebirth. Is that how it goes? I find the dying process is a step-by-step spiral. We, sometimes, don’t take note of it until in retrospect and […]
Paws. Our marmalade Buddha. Nora. And the chicks become adolescents with hairdos.
No, I’m not talking about impeachment, though that’s in the works. I’m thinking about the demise of the earth. It’s a depressing question, is it inevitable? but one worth asking […]
The good news is that Splotches showed up again. I went out to meet and greet the chickens the other morning and noted that sweet hen out near the green […]
I’m a little heartbroken. Well. A lot heartbroken but that’s another story. This part of my heart concerns Splotches, one of our three Speckled Sussex hens. She was hatched in […]
Lately, there’s been a lot of focus on carbon and how to get it out of the atmosphere and back into the ground but there are other important cycles of […]
64.4F/18C. That’s the temperature of our swimming pond yesterday morning. I swam one breathless lap and leapt out, having learned two things: Hands down, that is the most refreshing, bracing, […]
People get confused about the difference between climate and weather. Let’s contemplate it, shall we? Today, I look out at the weather. It is perfect: blue skies. A light breeze. […]
For me, September 1 heralds the end of summer, a habit of feeling and mind leftover, I suppose, from my school days. I think of it as a transition from […]
I am entirely aware that I have lurched off the “energy” articles. I contemplate the hydrologic cycle and where it might take us . . . but hasn’t it been […]
My issue? I am entirely unconvinced that I moved up here to farm. Live off grid? Yes. Grow some degree of food? Yes. Eat happy eggs, thus become a crazy […]
I thought the OED never threw out words. That way we can always go back and reference them somehow. I am correct in that.1 However, that doesn’t mean you’ll find […]
I told Carl that I cannot get attached to the chicks. They are most likely boys. Sure, sure. We can return them from whence they came . . . which […]
I woke up and thought of guns. Ever on the look out for self-judgment and negativity, I consciously shifted my thoughts to baby bunnies, kittens and puppies, ducklings and, need […]
I thought I’d share this posting on plastic straws. It kind of shows how we can make a difference. Or maybe not? Choices. It’s all about choices. And convenience. And […]
We have a very happy hen on our hands. Two days ago, we returned to Darwin’s View from my annual family reunion, and I moved the broody hen, hissing and […]
I gave the impression in my last post that we’d be adopting chicks because chicks are in our future. Conveniently enough, the Cheshire County Fair happened last weekend. In anticipation […]
It’s Friday and I haven’t had time to write, never mind research, the next official energy post. I have had time to rough out a post that updates the chick situation. To […]
I only met Steve and his wife, Kelly, a few years ago. Steve was a childhood friend of Carl’s. Steve and Kelly live in Amsterdam but would come to Antrim, […]
For those who don’t know what the JCI is, it’s the Jaffrey Climate Initiative. A group of us began to meet back in December. Here’s the mission statement that we […]
The Jaffrey Climate Initiative has a table at River Fest tomorrow. I’m spending the day prepping for that. Energy, Permaculture and Food (waste) are the chosen topics for discussion. Free […]
Have you ever had a hot flash? It’s usually a woman thing, the body heats up to an intense flash point. Whew! It’s hot! You are drenched in sweat, and […]
A rainbow, according to the Merriam Webster online dictionary, “is an arc or circle that exhibits in concentric bands the colors of the spectrum and that is formed opposite the sun […]
I’ve always joked about my tendency to bury plants and my subsequent inertia in regard to watering them. But I got a lesson yesterday. I’d just finished pursuing the most […]
I am in the midst of writing a play. I’ve never done that before; kind of like brain surgery. And so focussing on researching about energy has lost its attraction. […]
I forgot to post yesterday. I even had an alarm set on my phone to remind me. It buzzed. I turned it off but didn’t connect the alarm to the […]
Energy 109: The Renewable See-Saw and How To Go Forward Sun. Wind. Water. It’s all so old-fashioned and natural. But, as ever, in our 21st century, Anthropocene age, things don’t […]