another year older

In the Company of Plants and Rocks has been blogging happily for a little over a year now, and so in the tradition of things (according to Metageologist Simon Wellings) I’m including here links to my more popular posts, and then my own favorites -- also popular, but not so much.  Like Metageologist, I’ve really enjoyed myself, and I think my writing has benefitted a lot.  I've learned so much about plants and rocks, and many other things as well.  Perhaps best of all, my enthusiasm for things botanical and geological has soared, thanks to kindred spirits in the blogosphere.

Now, I’m taking a short sabbatical, due to post-field season reports and the promise of a road trip after deadlines are met.  In the meantime, I will continue to follow and read my favorite blogs ... so keep posting everybody!

Most Popular

My most popular posts according to Blogger stats are (highest first, adjusted somewhat for date of posting, out of 135 total):

The Myth of Frozen Waves (ice, Laramie Basin)

Taxonomy of Agaves and Vino-mezcal  (agave, botany, mezcal, tequila)

Virtual Field Trip: Indus-Tsangpo Suture Zone in ... (Himalayas, Indus River, Ladakh)

Jack Frost’s Latest Artwork (hoar frost, ice crystals, Jack Frost, snowflakes)

Sunstone: Compass of the Vikings? (Iceland spar, sunstone, vikings)

El Tío -- god of underground miners (Bolivia, Diablada, El Tío)

Leaving Home (Glycyrrhiza lepidota, seed dispersal, wild licorice, Wyoming botany)

Will the real Yam please stand up ...  (sweet potato, taro, yam)

Trip Plans: the amazing Expanding Great Basin! (Basin and Range geology, Great Basin)

Still Life with Pebbles (California geology, life, pebbles)

High Desert Trees (desert trees)

Geology -- Antidote to Civilization (Accretionary Wedge #46, geology, life)

Apparently posts with information of wider interest have more staying power.  My road trip adventures seem to be less popular over the long term.

My Favorites

These are the posts I most enjoyed putting together, very roughly in order of pleasure:

We too are ephemeral ... just like mountains. (Colorado geology, Cutler Formation, Fisher Towers, Uncompahgre Uplift, Utah geology)

Plants & Rocks: ferns and granite ... and climbers... (Asplenium, Black Hills Needles, Herb and Jan Conn, rock climbing, spleenwort)

Trip Plans: the amazing Expanding Great Basin! (Basin and Range geology, Great Basin)

Still Life with Pebbles (California geology, life, pebbles)

but there s life in the old dame yet (bristlecone pine, California botany, Pinus longaeva)

The many views of Devils Tower (Black Hills geology, Devils Tower, Wyoming geology)

Paradox Exposed (halokinesis, Onion Creek salt diapir, Paradox Basin, salt tectonics, Utah geology)

Jack Frost’s Latest Artwork (hoar frost, ice crystals, Jack Frost, snowflakes)

What’s an old oak for? (California botany, coast live oak, life, Quercus agrifolia)

Plants and Rocks: columbines and granite (Aquilegia laramiensis, Aven Nelson, Laramie columbine, Laramie Range, Wyoming botany, Wyoming geology)

The Spiritual Side of Mud (adobe, mission church, mud)
Taxonomy of Agaves and Vino-mezcal (agave, botany, mezcal, tequila)

All My Relatives are Miocene Fossils (Channel Islands, island ironwood,Lyonothamnus, plant fossils, trees)

cheers!