Buzzkill Northside Jim Ruins Summer with An Important Annoucement

Every year around this time, I wonder which one of them will ruin summer first: Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts. Because right around now, each year without fail, one of these two jokers begins blasting out ads for their “Pumpkin Spice” this, their “Apple Cider” that, and their other fall-themed concoctions, way, way too early. 

If they did this in June, it would simply be laughable. But doing this as the Labor Day holiday is hovering right ahead of us on the calendar is just plain cruel. There are tiny hints of fall starting to crop up everywhere, and some of us simply aren’t ready for that just yet. Nothing bursts your denial that summer is fading fast like visions of Sugarplum lattes.

So it is with a bit of an apology that I announce to you that The Little Egg Foundation’s 2022 Wildlife Calendars are about to drop. Just way, way too early.

I just got my proof copy, and it looks fantastic. While it is tough for me to get uncritically excited about my own photos, the calendar is a beauty and features so many things that bring me joy in life (12 gems in this one!). I’m proud to be a part of it and so pleased to share it with you.

I don’t want to ruin your summer by ringing in the new year already, but I do want to let you know these are available as a free gift to anyone who donates anything to The Little Egg Foundation while they last.

My most outstanding achievement in this life is undoubtedly the creation of the NestStory software. And it better be. I’ve sacrificed everything I ever loved or enjoyed for it.

2021 has been quite a year for NestStory, and I couldn’t be happier (or more exhausted.) NestStory grew so much this year it’s scary. Unfortunately, the poor Little Egg Foundation, tasked with making NestStory available to all the biologists who can’t afford to contribute to the project, is getting to the point where they will have to start turning organizations away and kicking people out. I fear that 2022 will be like the Hunger Games on NestStory, with biologists and species battling to see who gets to use the most powerful data collection software ever created and who has to go back to using crappy, paper notebooks.

How could we ever choose between bald eagles and piping plovers? Between Massachusetts and Florida? Between the federal government and the state governments?

As NestStory grows and spreads around the world, the users become more detached from its origins. They have no idea who I am, who you are, or what Readings From The Northside is. They have no idea that it started right here. They have no idea that almost all of the funding which keeps (and has kept) the project going comes from us; from Readings From The Northside, and you, dear Reader.

But I do! I am deeply appreciative on their behalf and hope you will consider keeping NestStory alive for another year by continuing to show your generosity and support. Without you, they are all doomed, and the animals they care for are much worse off. And by extension, then, so are we.

Everyone here loves wild animals and has had to face a lot of hard truths about their lives. We all are left wanting to do something to help but are never sure how. The whole reason I put all of my eggs in the NestStory basket is that I realized it is the best way to make the most extensive, longest-lasting, and most far-reaching impact on the future of coastal wildlife. 

We are making an enormous impact even if no one knows it’s we who are doing it.

The Little Egg Foundation 2022 Calendars start shipping in just a few weeks as a small token for your support.

And sorry. Starbucks announcing the return of Pumpkin Spice Lattes is childs’ play compared to me ushering in 2022 so soon. My bad!