From octopus birthing strategies beautifully described by Sandi Doughton to mushroom hunts brought to you by Matthew Ironside, and reflections on everything from new perspectives on Elwha Dam removal to the recovery of Table Mountain after the 2012 burn and peeks into the lives of  creatures great and small and in between, to examinations of our human connection with nature, it’s been fun.

But for a year, Field Notes is taking a rest, while I go off to MIT to partake of a science writing fellowship.

I will return to The Seattle Times in August 2014, full of new ideas.

More ahead, and thanks for reading.