Dan White

OK — here are a few big clues to the identity of my Mystery Creature (pictured below in a previous entry.) * I encountered this creature on an island in the Pacific Northwest* It is a predator* The creature is not native to the island; in other words, it is an “exotic” invasive species. By the way, I got into a staring contest with this creature — and won. http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

While hiking in a forest in the Pacific Northwest, I stumbled upon this hairy creature with weird glowing eyes. I was able to snap a quick photo before it vanished into the backwoods. See if you can identify it based on this blurry, heavily cropped photograph. (I will supply the answer at some point within the next couple of weeks, along with a larger, but equally blurry, photograph.) http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

This is my latest. It’s a sunset in the Eastern Sierra. Right now it looks a bit like Mordor from Lord of the Rings, but hey, it’s only a rough draft. http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

If you happen to be in the neighborhood, John Wray will be reading from his acclaimed new book, Lowboy, at 7:30 p.m. at the Booksmith on 1664 Haight Street, San Francisco, this evening. (Friday, May 1.) In other news, I hear that there is going to be a community cleanup and picnic on Saturday, May 9,from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Meet at the northeast corner of Haight and Cole streets at 10. Residents, merchants, homeless youth organizations and their clients will band together to clean up the smelly litter and make the neighborhood sparkling clean, at least for a while. I am not involved with this event (and, unfortunately, won’t be able to attend because I’ll be down in San Jose) but if you are interested, the RSVP email is hopeinhaight@yahoo.com. They will supply the gloves, supplies, etc. http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Speaking of nature writing, my friend and former UWP colleague Miranda Weiss’s book, Tide Feather Snow has just been published (and is making its way to bookstores as we speak). I’ve been reading her vivid and powerful nature writings for years. Check out her her idiosyncratic and darkly lit book promo video. This makes me wish I had filmed a YouTube spot for The Cactus Eaters, perhaps showing some dumb guy eating a cactus (although someone has already beaten me to it. As you probably know, there is a widely circulated video of a weirdo — no relation to me — eating a cactus after putting some kind of sauce all over it.) http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Considering that hiking season is just beginning, I just wanted to put in another plug for the PMT — the Pine Mountain Trail, which took me through the wilds of Eastern Kentucky a few months back. Here’s my story about my experience on the trail. This trail is magnificent (and, apparently, it is better marked these days.) If you have a chance to hike this thing, you should — and afterwards, you should definitely stop over at Whitesburg, Kentucky. The people are very friendly out there (although I can’t recommend the bourbon-flavored beer.) http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Congratulations, Kara (and here is her story.) http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Zoe just won the First Fiction Award from the LA Times for her excellent new book, “Finding Nouf.” http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

I thoroughly enjoyed the writing/hiking Pogonip exploration last week — and, if you’re interested, you have two more chances to write and hike in the woods. The writer Patricia Vecchione and the artist Tom Killion will soon lead hikes of their own into the forest. Check out Bookshop Santa Cruz’s website for more details. Also, stay tuned to this blog for a few other observations and reading recommendations related to the Pogonip walk. http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Here at long last is that digest I was talking about, highlighting you, the readers, your recent projects and your interests. I will continue to update this.-Cactuseaters readers in the news, volume one: One of our readers, William Jacobs, was just voted one of the “least powerful people in Seattle.” Bill Jacobs also alerted me to the journalism, blogs and and recent books by Novella Carpenter, who runs an urban farm that I would like to visit someday. Carpenter is the author of Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer, which will be published by Penguin this June. And this just in from reader Mike Orlando:, who is feeling the pull of altruism and reaching out to help others. “How many lawyers get to spend their afternoons helping a 13 year old and his family raise money to build schools for Kenyan orphans? This is precisely the question I…