Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Hello, We Must Be Going

    Hello, We Must Be Going

    A Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident The bird at the front of a Canada Geese (sometimes called Canadian Geese) migrating flock is not the leader in any way other than breaking the wind and allowing the rest to have an easier…

  • Tough as Trails

    Tough as Trails

       

  • Fear Itself

    Fear Itself

    A Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident  A spider was resting in our bathroom sink last week. The reality was less scary than this photo, which is an extreme close-up. The spider was maybe a half-inch long. As is my way, ill…

  • Naif on Ice

    Naif on Ice

    A Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident Our driveway twists and turns with gullies on both sides and not enough room at the top. Everybody hates it. I knew that in order to take our trash and recycling containers to the curb…

  • You Can’t see the Concrete for the Trees

    You Can’t see the Concrete for the Trees

    A Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident This photograph of the new Battery Park City was taken on my last visit to Manhattan, in the fall of 2019. The World Trade Center peeks from behind the skyscraper on the right. The dark,…

  • Forest Therapy

    Forest Therapy

    A Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident I recently discovered a German word that describes what I experience during walks in the forest. It is waldeinsamkeit. Wald means forest. Einsamkeit means primarily loneliness, but also solitude, depending on one’s state of mind. …

  • One Tough Plant

    One Tough Plant

    A Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident  The first day that snow was on the ground I noticed a plant standing tall and strong when every other splash of green was either on the limb of an evergreen or limply hanging onto…

  • Thank you to Gianna Derrenbacher for an amazing Girl Scout Gold Project!

  • Beetle Mania

    Beetle Mania

    A Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident “Is that a spotted lantern fly?” Kathleen asked a few weeks ago. She was referring to an invasive species that has been seen as nearby as Berks County. It destroys grape, fruit tree and logging…

  • Deer Season

    Deer Season

    A Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident  Everybody here has photographs of deer. We have seen as many as seven traveling together. The dogs run themselves to joyful exhaustion in their futile but determined chases.  Our deer are white tails, the most…

Got any book recommendations?