Welcome to this issue of Stumped by Nature, where we notice nature lurking just beyond our screens, curate a list of outside-y events in Austin, and build community with other folks in the thick of the startup ecosystem.
In this week’s issue:
🌵 Definitely-Not-a-Life-Crisis adventure
🌤️ Upcoming outdoors events
Let’s dig in!
-Nicole
PS. ATX Outsiders is our community who meet IRL outside each month. Join us!
Upcoming events I’m co-hosting:
Sunday, June 7: Yaupon Yap-Tasting and Foraging: we’re foraging for our own caffeine source with our nature-curious peers. Come to this collaboration with Ian McCluskey, co-founder of December Yaupon See you there!
Sunday, June 21: Reverse Brain Rot Summer Series. Grab a book, notebook, and SPF—we’re sprawling at Barton Springs periodically this summer to chip away at the TBR list. Join this partnership with Zac Solomon, founder of ATX Writing Club.
NATURE SPOTLIGHT
We’ve talked misogi: a nature-based quest with some known level of suffering, as a way to metabolize transition. I had one of these in 2024 during a phase of huge life change, and dubbed it my Definitely-Not-a-Life-Crisis adventure.
But what do we call a nature-based quest where the intention is the opposite? When instead of suffering, it’s a known pursuit of whimsy and joy? Instead of sloughing off the daily, it’s a pull to celebrate the present. I had one of these last weekend, and am using my full creative range to also dub it my Definitely-Not-a-Life-Crisis adventure.
Whatever it’s called, I highly recommend it. You can just do things.
Immediately in awe of the nature of Tucson
The trip plan: seek saguaro. It was a visceral need.
The growth edge: How to process joy and embrace the current, abundant phase of life. How to have a couple days with no pressing responsibility. How to leave the laptop at home—to physically and mentally step away from work in all of its iterations.
Responsible only for my own delight in this adventure.
There were early wins:
a conversation boarding the plane, a woman animating at the remembered plot of a thriller, a fleeting moment of connection, a small dose of the vastness of this stranger’s reading life
the white-winged dove nesting at the airport. I mean, come on.
a decision at the car rental lot. It was just me. I had zero need for car seats or any utilitarian concerns. So did I need more trunk space than cupholder-capacity? A backseat? A roof? The hardest decision was whether I’d prefer the black little convertible or the oat-milk-looking one
the immediate joy of whipping up to 40 mph for the small moments between red lights, and the surprise of finding such delight in this unanticipated treat
She says “vroom!”
My lovely travel companion, living her best life in the Sonoran
Equipped with wind-blown hair and a permanent grin, I took to desert roads, pausing for the coyote who crossed the road, the skittering quail, and I soaked in the chance to be instead of do.
Wandering the desert museum, I lingered, let my jaw drop at the monarch garden, brimmed with tears at a mother quail and her troop of erratic baby quail, indulged in the monsoon swell of darkening sky over the mountain range.
Perhaps I’m later to life in discovering the power of solo travel, but who knew you could do exactly the thing that compels you? The restorative practice of taking my time, with zero need to articulate whims or shifts in thinking or to justify my incredibly slow aviary pacing.
I embraced changing my mind. When the summit peak felt too windy and cold. When the aspen trail was beautiful and full of life, but .75 miles in, I realized what I really wanted was desert.
Not pictured: warblers, wrens, vireo, robins, grosbeak, nuthatch etc., all full volume
Year six of regrowth
So refueled with a faceful of tomato-scented candles and the companionship of a flock of pigeons, I let the beautiful-but-not-right-for-me options go, recommitted to the desert pull.
Stellar birding
What power in knowing the sense of the thing you’re looking for, and letting it reveal itself, course-correcting along the way.
Organpipe Cacti aka new BFF
This guy! Just look at it! What a saguaro!
And then the saguaro sunset—ocotillo with fading blooms in the fading light, and the sounds of a desert singing down the sun.
How to set down the responsibility and carve out time to savor.
To sink into a full life, and to enjoy it. To know monsoons will whip up. To know the sun will set, a different type of alive will emerge. To focus on the work of the season, in its abundant range.
And to savor returning to Austin: a hummingbird nest (!) + an egg (!), with oak galls for scale
If you’ve taken one of these adventures (either the ironic version or the unironic one), I want to hear about it. Bonus points if you’ll share photos.
PSA
UPCOMING EVENTS
🗓️ May 28: Wake Up! CPG Austin: Chat with some favorite pals in the Consumer Packaged Goods community
🗓️ May 28: UX Happy Hour: It’s on a patio, so there’s the nature tie
🗓️ May 28: The Drop-In Music Series: Thursday night lounge on the lawn of The Long Center for live music + cityscape
🗓️ May 29: Trail Talks: Say hi to the waterfowl for me
🗓️ May 29: Carpenter Hall Friday Co-Work: tie up the work week with good company, with Ben Pfeffer leading the unstructured charge
🗓️ May 29: Arty Party: Laguna Gloria will help you +/- the toddler(s) in your life play with senses
🗓️ May 29: Meet a Founder Friday: Pickleball
🗓️ May 29: Ranch Restoration Management Tour: Thinking about buying some land? Get the scoop on prescribed burns, managing invasive species, and increasing diversity
🗓️ May 29: Driftwood Nights: Songwriter’s Series: with a side of steak night
🗓️ May 30: Night Hike at Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center
🗓️ May 30: Moondance Outdoor Concert Series: featuring local vendors, storytelling, and music from Cactus Country
🗓️ May 30: Mushroom Walk: Grab iNaturalist and your favorite mycology fashion for a mushroom education and foraging session
🗓️ May 30: Austin Ruck Club: dip in Barton Springs after you ruck if you dare
🗓️ May 30: The Board Walks Get your 5 miles in early
🗓️ May 30: Kayak Trash Cleanup: Great use case for SPF
🗓️ May 30: Botanical Dye Workshop: Hibiscus: for your dreams of creating textile art
🗓️ May 31: The Austin Symphony Concerts in the Park: Brass Ensemble
🗓️ May 31: Taste of Place Tour: take native plants from trail to table
🗓️ June 2: Late at the Lake: Open Mic—your time to shine
🗓️ June 2: Growing Award Quality Cattleyas: Orchid Society is bringing in the pros for orchid cultivation
🗓️ June 2: UMLAUF After Dark: Pride!: art, music, and celebration await
🗓️ June 3: Work Together Wednesday: Brett’s onto something here: co-work on a luxury coach on your way to and from Texas Hill Country, with a stop to enjoy a vineyard
🗓️ June 3: Thought Experiments on Patios: Dip a toe into chatting philosophy with small groups of strangers
🗓️ June 3: Treefolks Young Professionals Summer Solstice Party Planning + education about hackberry trees
🗓️ June 4: Cheese & Honey Guided Pairing: by Antonelli’s + Two Hives Honey. Take your shot with the waitlist.
🗓️ June 6: Book Club: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver: at the time of this writing, the audiobook has no wait on Libby
🗓️ June 6: Honey Harvest Party: Get sticky.
🗓️ June 6: Clean Lady Bird Lake: Shoreline spots available
🗓️ June 7: Yaupon Yap- Tasting and Foraging: I’m co-hosting this foraging walk with Ian McCluskey of December Yaupon
🗓️ June 21: Reverse Brain Rot: I’m co-hosting this book + notebook + Barton Spring lounge with Zac Solomon of ATX Writing Club
CRITTER CORNER
The next street over’s group chat generated yet another compelling reason to have an early bedtime.
That’s all for this week!
In the meantime, I hope you scoop a little bit of extra whimsy onto your plate.
-Nicole
OPTIONAL SIDE QUESTS
🪵 Would my perspective be useful to a project you’re working on? I can take on one more. Let’s chat.
🪵 Are you looking for a community of people in the startup ecosystem who go outside together? I’ve got you.
🪵 Are you sitting on a misogi-esque story? Spill.
🪵 I also write essay(s): this one is about witnessing a bison harvest.
🪵 Is this newsletter not your vibe? Forward it to your enemies to make them suffer too.
💰It’s safe to assume there are affiliate links, and I’ll monetarily benefit from any purchases you make. Hooray, capitalism! So far, this newsletter has generated $3.46 of cold hard cash. 💸