Nicola Pitchford
@npitchford.bsky.social
Immigrant. Winner of the inaugural Nature Chronicles Prize (2022). She/her. In Northern California on unceded Coast Miwok land.
Pinned
Nicola Pitchford
@npitchford.bsky.social
· Mar 19
‘She worked on the Harrier, the Concorde. She had a love of speed and freedom. Sports cars. Like the one in which she fled. Flew. From marriage and family. From us.’
Stunning piece by @npitchford.bsky.social for the decade-long collective #BirdsOfFirle project…
selkiepress.com/2025/03/18/b...
Stunning piece by @npitchford.bsky.social for the decade-long collective #BirdsOfFirle project…
selkiepress.com/2025/03/18/b...
Birds of Firle: She Was Always in Flight by Nicola Pitchford
Aerodynamics was her chosen field of engineering. She worked on the Harrier, the Concorde. She had a love of speed and freedom. Sports cars. Like the one in which eventually she fled. Flew. From ma…
selkiepress.com
Honoured to be part of the beautiful, fragile collective work #BirdsOfFirle, created & curated by Tanya. An ongoing project of 100 writers responding with objects & online to a single physical manuscript, circulated by post over the course of a decade. On grief & hope as the things with feathers...
Reposted by Nicola Pitchford
Amazing 🧵 💕👏🙏
I wish grocery stores would print these posts and put them out w all the fruits and vegetables.
I wish grocery stores would print these posts and put them out w all the fruits and vegetables.
As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
November 27, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Amazing 🧵 💕👏🙏
I wish grocery stores would print these posts and put them out w all the fruits and vegetables.
I wish grocery stores would print these posts and put them out w all the fruits and vegetables.
Friends, it's time for us to hold a very big, very loving, very angry party.
SCOOP: The Trump administration has instructed employees and grantees not to use U.S. funds to commemorate World AIDS Day — because the observance was started by the World Health Organization.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/h...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/h...
Trump Administration Cancels U.S. Observance of World AIDS Day
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Friends, it's time for us to hold a very big, very loving, very angry party.
Fantastic news for our community. In this wealthy suburban town bordering onto state & national parks, there's one small pocket peopled as densely as Manhattan & largely cut off from green space & from other neighbourhoods — & SURPRISE it's a heavily immigrant & Latin-American area.
Exclusive: North Bay city buys site for new park in ‘once in a lifetime' deal - Canal Alliance
San Francisco Chronicle Yahoo! News Sam Whiting Sat, November 15, 2025 at 4:00 AM PST After two decades of wishful planning, San Rafael is set Read More
www.canalalliance.org
November 26, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Fantastic news for our community. In this wealthy suburban town bordering onto state & national parks, there's one small pocket peopled as densely as Manhattan & largely cut off from green space & from other neighbourhoods — & SURPRISE it's a heavily immigrant & Latin-American area.
Perhaps, like me, you already have an extraordinarily indulgent & fancy chocolate advent calendar sent by your extravagantly delightful sibling 😇
But I recommend also signing up for Annie’s poetry advent calendar to benefit MSF & their indispensable relief work. Last year’s was an utter joy.
But I recommend also signing up for Annie’s poetry advent calendar to benefit MSF & their indispensable relief work. Last year’s was an utter joy.
It's a tad down to the wire, I know, but I'm thrilled to say that I'm running the Poetry Advent Calendar again this year -- sign up by donating to @msf.ca and receive a poem every day from 1 to 24 December: book.benefacthq.com?id=poetry-ad...
November 26, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Perhaps, like me, you already have an extraordinarily indulgent & fancy chocolate advent calendar sent by your extravagantly delightful sibling 😇
But I recommend also signing up for Annie’s poetry advent calendar to benefit MSF & their indispensable relief work. Last year’s was an utter joy.
But I recommend also signing up for Annie’s poetry advent calendar to benefit MSF & their indispensable relief work. Last year’s was an utter joy.
Only now, as I look up & focus on listening, am I hearing the tiny birdsong that surrounds me in the breeze: finches & white-crowned sparrows, thin & multiple & sweet. Not like spring’s dazzling waterfall of sound, but cold & clear like a sparkling cobweb in frozen dew.
Almost-winter morning in the desert. Unreal, this place & its astonishing logic. On the traditional land of Cahuilla peoples, now gathered as the Morongo & Agua Caliente bands.
November 26, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Only now, as I look up & focus on listening, am I hearing the tiny birdsong that surrounds me in the breeze: finches & white-crowned sparrows, thin & multiple & sweet. Not like spring’s dazzling waterfall of sound, but cold & clear like a sparkling cobweb in frozen dew.
Almost-winter morning in the desert. Unreal, this place & its astonishing logic. On the traditional land of Cahuilla peoples, now gathered as the Morongo & Agua Caliente bands.
November 26, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Almost-winter morning in the desert. Unreal, this place & its astonishing logic. On the traditional land of Cahuilla peoples, now gathered as the Morongo & Agua Caliente bands.
From OH again. And yes, I really did feel as snug last night as if I had been conscious of the vast scope & magnitude of that sky above me.
Now it’s hazy pink, the desert sky, with one thrasher singing in the tallest cactus.
Now it’s hazy pink, the desert sky, with one thrasher singing in the tallest cactus.
November 26, 2025 at 2:14 PM
From OH again. And yes, I really did feel as snug last night as if I had been conscious of the vast scope & magnitude of that sky above me.
Now it’s hazy pink, the desert sky, with one thrasher singing in the tallest cactus.
Now it’s hazy pink, the desert sky, with one thrasher singing in the tallest cactus.
Dr. Abedini is freed without charge, but we cannot allow this to be normalised.
DHS statement: he was detained for THREE DAYS for “standard questioning.”
The US is now an authoritarian state that sends cops to snatch people without charge & then holds them for 3 days for “standard questioning.”
DHS statement: he was detained for THREE DAYS for “standard questioning.”
The US is now an authoritarian state that sends cops to snatch people without charge & then holds them for 3 days for “standard questioning.”
My colleague, Dr. Vahid Abedini, was illegally detained by ICE on Saturday. He is currently being held without a court date in sight, despite being in the country legally. Please spread the word! We must ensure his due process rights are upheld. www.oudaily.com/news/ou-prof...
OU College of International Studies professor reportedly arrested by ICE
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly arrested an OU professor at Will Rogers International Airport Saturday.
www.oudaily.com
November 26, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Dr. Abedini is freed without charge, but we cannot allow this to be normalised.
DHS statement: he was detained for THREE DAYS for “standard questioning.”
The US is now an authoritarian state that sends cops to snatch people without charge & then holds them for 3 days for “standard questioning.”
DHS statement: he was detained for THREE DAYS for “standard questioning.”
The US is now an authoritarian state that sends cops to snatch people without charge & then holds them for 3 days for “standard questioning.”
And of course, because the American West always demands the dumped wreckage of a truck & some fool with a gun…
November 25, 2025 at 4:34 PM
And of course, because the American West always demands the dumped wreckage of a truck & some fool with a gun…
This great, wild, astonishing landscape with its massive forces & fierce beauties. Its meagre blossoms, its nests woven windproof among thorns. Walking this morning on moist sand where bobcat & ‘yote & who-knows-who have left their tracks before me. Marvelling.
November 25, 2025 at 4:31 PM
This great, wild, astonishing landscape with its massive forces & fierce beauties. Its meagre blossoms, its nests woven windproof among thorns. Walking this morning on moist sand where bobcat & ‘yote & who-knows-who have left their tracks before me. Marvelling.
Reposted by Nicola Pitchford
We've signed this important letter calling for economic justice ahead of the Budget.
A coalition of 18 faith organisations has released a joint statement urging Chancellor Rachel Reeves to raise and reform taxes on wealth in Wednesday’s Budget 💼
Read the full statement here: https://justmoney.org.uk/news/faith-groups-call-for-bold-tax-reforms-to-rebuild-country/
Read the full statement here: https://justmoney.org.uk/news/faith-groups-call-for-bold-tax-reforms-to-rebuild-country/
November 25, 2025 at 10:35 AM
We've signed this important letter calling for economic justice ahead of the Budget.
Reposted by Nicola Pitchford
Beautiful piece about a group of young people who ignored the cynics, critics and gatekeepers and just cracked on restoring nature, bringing as many people as they could along for the ride.
"Action, access and agency".
You want a rural revival? This is it.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
"Action, access and agency".
You want a rural revival? This is it.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘It fully changed my life!’ How young rewilders transformed a farm – and began a movement
At Maple Farm, nature is returning in droves: nightingales, grass snakes, slowworms, bats and insects. All due to the vision of a group determined to accelerate its recovery
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Beautiful piece about a group of young people who ignored the cynics, critics and gatekeepers and just cracked on restoring nature, bringing as many people as they could along for the ride.
"Action, access and agency".
You want a rural revival? This is it.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
"Action, access and agency".
You want a rural revival? This is it.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
That desert sky again. OH & his camera making overnight time-lapse amazement…. I never tire of this wonder.
November 25, 2025 at 4:59 AM
That desert sky again. OH & his camera making overnight time-lapse amazement…. I never tire of this wonder.
The kind of hopeful, thoughtful creativity that brings me deep joy on this site. Meeting people where they are, making beauty & offering education & accessible actions; artists + scientists + biodiversity activism + beer. 💚
With the goal of reaching new ppl w/biodiversity action, we're expanding the Native Plant Project to bars. We're calling it Biodiversity Beers.
In collab w/artists Marian Bailey, @hanfranstudio.bsky.social, & @the666cat.bsky.social, we're making pint glasses that encourage planting of native 🌱
In collab w/artists Marian Bailey, @hanfranstudio.bsky.social, & @the666cat.bsky.social, we're making pint glasses that encourage planting of native 🌱
November 25, 2025 at 2:06 AM
The kind of hopeful, thoughtful creativity that brings me deep joy on this site. Meeting people where they are, making beauty & offering education & accessible actions; artists + scientists + biodiversity activism + beer. 💚
Someday I'll write the story of this David Shepherd painting, which hung over the mantel in my childhood home & shaped my perceptions of place & beauty—& its long journey as one of those painful contested objects in split families...eventually resurfacing in an auction-house in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
November 25, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Someday I'll write the story of this David Shepherd painting, which hung over the mantel in my childhood home & shaped my perceptions of place & beauty—& its long journey as one of those painful contested objects in split families...eventually resurfacing in an auction-house in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
I may sound like a broken record on this but that's the nature of trauma: every one of these children will be traumatized for life. For life.
My own separation from my mother via immigration was just about the gentlest imaginable version... and it's still the central truth of my adult life. I'm 60.
My own separation from my mother via immigration was just about the gentlest imaginable version... and it's still the central truth of my adult life. I'm 60.
NEW: Today we published a new investigation into something happening largely out of view: immigrant kids getting separated from their families and placed in federal shelters, in some cases after something as mundane as a traffic stop🧵 1/
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
ICE Sent 600 Immigrant Kids to Detention in Federal Shelters This Year. It’s a New Record.
Under a zero tolerance policy, the first Trump administration separated immigrant children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border. New data suggests separations are happening all over the count...
www.propublica.org
November 25, 2025 at 12:27 AM
I may sound like a broken record on this but that's the nature of trauma: every one of these children will be traumatized for life. For life.
My own separation from my mother via immigration was just about the gentlest imaginable version... and it's still the central truth of my adult life. I'm 60.
My own separation from my mother via immigration was just about the gentlest imaginable version... and it's still the central truth of my adult life. I'm 60.
Random, shallow gingerpost: Just as I remember my mother saying before me, my feeling is that I don't mind going grey — what I mind is not being a redhead any more. It's such an identity.
(Yes, I know there's dye/henna/Manic Panic. But I really don't want to go on being bothered with that.)
(Yes, I know there's dye/henna/Manic Panic. But I really don't want to go on being bothered with that.)
November 24, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Random, shallow gingerpost: Just as I remember my mother saying before me, my feeling is that I don't mind going grey — what I mind is not being a redhead any more. It's such an identity.
(Yes, I know there's dye/henna/Manic Panic. But I really don't want to go on being bothered with that.)
(Yes, I know there's dye/henna/Manic Panic. But I really don't want to go on being bothered with that.)
Standing at the head of the canyon where the trail ends, for the first time (in dozens of visits to this spot) I can hear the creek in the next arroyo/dip over, rushing. The autumn rains have been really good.
November 24, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Standing at the head of the canyon where the trail ends, for the first time (in dozens of visits to this spot) I can hear the creek in the next arroyo/dip over, rushing. The autumn rains have been really good.
Today’s Best Photograph of All Time.
November 24, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Today’s Best Photograph of All Time.
The sunrise light on the desert mountains is cleaning out all the accumulated gunk inside me.
November 24, 2025 at 2:47 PM
The sunrise light on the desert mountains is cleaning out all the accumulated gunk inside me.
Things I saw from the highway today:
Mist rising from irrigation canals
The new sun like a furious eye between lids of cloud
A crow perched on a warning sign, indifferent to what it might portend
A white egret in a ditch
Two dark coyotes trotting across a sunrise pasture
Mist rising from irrigation canals
The new sun like a furious eye between lids of cloud
A crow perched on a warning sign, indifferent to what it might portend
A white egret in a ditch
Two dark coyotes trotting across a sunrise pasture
November 23, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Things I saw from the highway today:
Mist rising from irrigation canals
The new sun like a furious eye between lids of cloud
A crow perched on a warning sign, indifferent to what it might portend
A white egret in a ditch
Two dark coyotes trotting across a sunrise pasture
Mist rising from irrigation canals
The new sun like a furious eye between lids of cloud
A crow perched on a warning sign, indifferent to what it might portend
A white egret in a ditch
Two dark coyotes trotting across a sunrise pasture
Soft sky this morning; soft sky this evening. I’m grateful.
November 23, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Soft sky this morning; soft sky this evening. I’m grateful.
In honour of Tina’s 75th, here’s the aftermath of me flipping buttery lobster off my plate onto Chris Frantz’s lap & them both still being gracious to OH & me. Back when the very fabulous TW was about 60.
November 22, 2025 at 10:02 PM
In honour of Tina’s 75th, here’s the aftermath of me flipping buttery lobster off my plate onto Chris Frantz’s lap & them both still being gracious to OH & me. Back when the very fabulous TW was about 60.
HECK it’s Miles’s birthday. Miles makes great pins.
November 22, 2025 at 9:38 PM
HECK it’s Miles’s birthday. Miles makes great pins.
My unlikely, late-in-life love affair with three-cornered wild leek continues.
November 22, 2025 at 5:26 PM
My unlikely, late-in-life love affair with three-cornered wild leek continues.