Wild Spy
Some news from Tiny Goat, my bitter fight to protect an Alabama park, and an inspiring public art project in Pittsburgh
Introducing Wild Spy
Today I have something special to share: Tiny Goat’s nature-cam randomizer is live! Called Wild Spy, our randomizer puts AI to use in a positive way by helping you discover a limitless supply of nature live cams from nature preserves, national parks, animal sanctuaries, forest trails, beaches, and deserts around the world. If you can’t physically be outside right now (maybe because of wildfire smoke, sigh), this is the next best thing.
Try it here: https://tinygoatart.com/explore-live-cams
Need a scientific reason to stare at some nature for a few minutes? A team of researchers at the University of Exeter found that during the COVID-19 pandemic, people who watched nature shows on TV felt a little better than those who didn't. From the university's press release: “Our results show that simply watching nature on TV can help to lift people’s mood and combat boredom … this study suggests that nature programmes might offer an accessible way for populations to benefit from a ‘dose’ of digital nature.”
Parks Over Parking Lots
Last weekend, my local city council abruptly announced a plan to sell the park and community center in my neighborhood to a real-estate developer, who intends to pave it into a parking lot to service a new condo building.
The proposed sale is terrible for a long list of reasons: increased traffic in a previously quiet neighborhood, the demolition of a playground that serves a high number of Black and Hispanic children, and, of course, the destruction of a valuable carbon sink in close proximity to a major roadway.
It’s also personally devastating since my two young daughters are regulars at the park. (My little crew talked to three local news channels about our opposition to the proposed sale this week; you can read/watch the best of those stories here.)
Already, the experience has been a crash course for me in hands-on local activism. In addition to attracting media attention, I’m part of a robust network of neighbors who are launching a petition and lobbying council members to convince them to save the park.
It’s scary, to be honest. It’s hard.
It’s necessary.
Beyond the urgency of protecting the park itself, I also recognize this moment as an opportunity to demonstrate to my daughters—my older one in particular—how important it is to get personally involved in environmental protection. If this park is destroyed, we will never get it back, and we live close enough to it that we’ll see/feel/hear its absence every day.
Yet what is obvious to me and my family—that public green space is crucial for a million reasons—apparently is still a foreign concept to our city council members and other town residents who don’t see what the fuss is all about. That lack of understanding is exactly why Tiny Goat exists. We have to inspire people to care about the environment and truly absorb what scientists have been telling us for decades: once it’s gone, it’s very hard (often impossible) to bring it back. Failing to protect natural spaces—even imperfect ones like an over-mowed field of struggling grass in a public park—is also a failure to protect ourselves from excessive urban heat, biodiversity loss, water runoff, air pollution, and so much more.
I’ll be writing a lot more about the fight to save Northport Park in the coming months, and I hope my experience will also help you learn how to get involved with similar issues in your own community. Because our kids are watching.
One More Thing
Let’s end with something hopeful. The City of Pittsburgh runs an Arts in Parks program that pairs creatives with eight local parks to … make art! Below is a short documentary about two of the installations at Emerald View Park, and you can read more about all of the Arts in Parks works here.
This is what forward-thinking city councils can do with public parks. This is what creative, sustainable place-making can look like.
Stay Connected
I also invite you to check out the Tiny Goat Bookshop, an official Bookshop.org affiliate. (I’m required to tell you here that I make a small commission if you choose to purchase through my shop.)
Tiny Goat is a collaboration between Sandra Barnidge and her very talented (and very private) younger brother. We might develop dedicated Tiny Goat social handles over time, but for now, you can follow Sandra to stay in touch with us.