Michael Harrison
Bio
Adventurer and nature enthusiast. Aspiring children's book author, novelist, and poet. Perpetual dreamer. My thoughts and ramblings are lost within the multitudes of notebooks I purchase and I don't have any hesitation in adding one more.
Stories (17/0)
First Contact
I had always stared up at the stars. I pondered the beauty, the endless sea of stars, the infinite opportunity for hope. The constant hope that one day I would be called forward to see it all. That call came in the form of a diplomatic mission. The journey to the planet was incredible. Whizzing past stars, planets, entire galaxies in mere minutes. I was finally living out my dream. As we landed on this planet, much less green and blue than from up above, I couldn't help but wonder if today I would meet my first human.
By Michael Harrison11 months ago in Fiction
No Love Lost
Early in the year 2022 we made a big decision. We got a kitten. Not just any kitten, but the worlds cutest and cuddliest kitten. She weighed just under 2 pounds when we got her from the Humane Society and brought her home. Already inhabiting the home how ever was the fierce panther we call Calliope. She was a street cat for the first year of her life and has now enjoyed the love that is house cat life.
By Michael Harrisonabout a year ago in Petlife
Honeybee
Honeybee Nectar always tasted sweet to me, but now that you are gone let me tell you that my tongue is confused by the bitterness left behind. I can't hold it against you, it is only your nature to sting. Somehow though I was the one who ended up gutted. Evisceration would have felt better. You left behind a stinger in my heart and venom pulsed through my veins. I wasn't allergic to bees until you flew away, and when you did I went full anaphylactic shock. My throat swelled shut and I could not breath, my eyes were swollen and shut and I could not see the light of day.
By Michael Harrisonabout a year ago in Poets
Indoor Cat? Keep it Indoors!
I am a bonafide cat dad. Now, if you talk to my partner, she would argue that I was not a cat lover until I met the beautiful cat in the photo above. Calliope made me into the person who dresses up his cats in scarves, aprons, and other outfits. Aside from the scarf, you would never have guessed that she was a street cat at one point. Streets cats, otherwise know as barn cats, feral cats, alley cats, and strays, are becoming a huge problem throughout many parts of the world. But this is not always a shared view point by many folks throughout the world. Often when I ask people why they let their cats outside, its met with a volley of responses. Some of my favorites are:
By Michael Harrisonabout a year ago in Petlife
A Weekend Away
We drove up the snowy, winding road towards the cozy A-frame cabin. As the snow crunched underneath our tires, my mind was racing. Who was this person, that out of the blue decided to reconnect with me? That decided I was worth their time after so many years away. The better question was of course, how could I enter this relationship again, knowing how badly I ended up hurting last time I tried to rekindle this relationship. This time will be different, I continued to tell myself. Outside of the car the evergreens were glistening inthe sun. It looked like one of those glittery snowballs, you know the ones. The blue sky above still seemed enormous, towering over the ancient pine forest where our cabin retreat, where we could spend the next 48 hours.
By Michael Harrisonabout a year ago in Fiction
Tree-sicles!
I woke up this morning with the terrified realization that I had left pop cans in the garage. So is the woe of the wintery Minnesotan. For those of you who have lived in warmer climates all your lives, you might not realize this, but when cans freeze in your garage in the winter, they often times will explode, leaving a caffeinated, carbonated mess. My mind then took a sharp left, and started thinking about our loveable friends, trees. Deciduous trees (oaks, maples, things that don't have needles for leaves) all look dead and desolate over the winter, but we know they are simply dormant waiting for spring.
By Michael Harrisonabout a year ago in Earth
Go nuts grey squirrel!
I remember the first grey squirrel (Latin name, Sciurus carolinesis) I had a long term relationship with. I know what you are thinking, that sounds like a funny thing to say, but it's true! When I was working out of Lebanon Hills Regional Park, there was a resident squirrel. Her name was Foxy, often referred to as Foxy Cleopatra, and we saw her most every day. She had a bright white tip on her tail, lived right outside of our offices in a burr oak tree, and spent her time watching the different activities going by and cacheing acorns for winter. As I started to have this more intimate (if you can call talking to a squirrel and watching her live her life intimate) relationship, I began to notice different thing about her and started to actually dive into the squirrel deep end.
By Michael Harrisonabout a year ago in Earth
The Masked Naturalist
Hello! During the early days of the pandemic, I had the idea of doing a project called "The Masked Naturalist". For a little background, I have worked as naturalist and environmental educator for the past five years, working primarily in Minnesota, but also spending a lot of time on the West Coast as well as the desert Southwest. I was laid off for the first six months of 2020, which meant a lot of down time, and a lot of time to go out and explore in nature. During this time I had the idea of starting a blog, a website, or something to document cool nature things I have found, noticed, or seen as I have more of an experts eye, spotting things that others may not notice when walking through the woods. I decided this would be a good idea because I often feel like outdoor education and environmental education are sometimes considered a luxury and I think all people have interest in nature, and especially in light of fake news, climate crises world wide, and many of us left wondering what will become of our wild spaces, I would start putting out cool information. I want to do this because I would like to help cultivate peoples love of nature, and to see the extremely cool side of the mundane, the things we take for granted, the things you might walk past and not notice if you were hiking through your neighborhood woods.
By Michael Harrisonabout a year ago in Earth