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...
I’m not quite as opposed to the occasional cheap shot as I perhaps should be.
November 28, 2025 at 2:37 PM
I’m not quite as opposed to the occasional cheap shot as I perhaps should be.
Reposted by Nicola Pitchford
And still, there are those who say that Americans can’t do irony.
November 28, 2025 at 7:24 AM
And still, there are those who say that Americans can’t do irony.
Reposted by Nicola Pitchford
This is so far into virulent racism, there can be no normalization of this. For a long time, people have said we're on the road to a new Nazi regime. Well, here we are. If you were ever planning to fight violent fascism, the time is now.
Trump: “I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries … denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.“
November 28, 2025 at 1:08 PM
This is so far into virulent racism, there can be no normalization of this. For a long time, people have said we're on the road to a new Nazi regime. Well, here we are. If you were ever planning to fight violent fascism, the time is now.
Reposted by Nicola Pitchford
i think we have to get off the defensive on immigration
it's not just necessary, it's good! - & the easier it is, the greater its benefits
it's not just necessary, it's good! - & the easier it is, the greater its benefits
November 28, 2025 at 1:23 PM
i think we have to get off the defensive on immigration
it's not just necessary, it's good! - & the easier it is, the greater its benefits
it's not just necessary, it's good! - & the easier it is, the greater its benefits
I’ve felt more earthquakes here in the desert over the past six months than in all my two decades in California combined. We just had a dramatic one (sudden bang, long rumble), followed immediately by a similar aftershock. 3.5 & 3.8. Giving thanks all over again.
November 28, 2025 at 1:43 AM
I’ve felt more earthquakes here in the desert over the past six months than in all my two decades in California combined. We just had a dramatic one (sudden bang, long rumble), followed immediately by a similar aftershock. 3.5 & 3.8. Giving thanks all over again.
Oh yes, the sky today has given & given.
November 28, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Oh yes, the sky today has given & given.
The encroachment of proprietary commercial claims on the very stuff of life is terrifying as a concept—and murderous in application. This is really great news for subsistence farmers.
🚨BREAKING: Kenyan court rules “sharing seeds is NOT a crime”
The High Court ruled in favour of smallholder farmers and their right to save, share and exchange their own seeds. 🌱
This is a landmark verdict for food sovereignty over corporate greed.
Learn more from @greenpeaceafrica.org ⬇️
The High Court ruled in favour of smallholder farmers and their right to save, share and exchange their own seeds. 🌱
This is a landmark verdict for food sovereignty over corporate greed.
Learn more from @greenpeaceafrica.org ⬇️
HISTORIC VICTORY: Kenyan Court Rules “Sharing Seeds is Not a Crime” in Landmark Verdict for Food Sovereignty - Greenpeace Africa
This judgment establishes powerful legal precedent globally, affirming that the ancient right of farmers to save and share seeds supersedes commercial interests, reshaping the legal balance of power b...
www.greenpeace.org
November 28, 2025 at 12:27 AM
The encroachment of proprietary commercial claims on the very stuff of life is terrifying as a concept—and murderous in application. This is really great news for subsistence farmers.
Hiked up to the little waterfall (less of a trespass than going to the big one). Scrambled about through rocks on the assumption that 🐍 season is over (right? right??), although we’re still 3 days shy of December & it’s warm out…. Also found a fairy garden atop a lookout rock.
November 27, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Hiked up to the little waterfall (less of a trespass than going to the big one). Scrambled about through rocks on the assumption that 🐍 season is over (right? right??), although we’re still 3 days shy of December & it’s warm out…. Also found a fairy garden atop a lookout rock.
A redtail hawk circles overhead, issuing the thin, lonely cry that means—as any good Morricone fan knows—“friend, you’ve been left here to die.”
November 27, 2025 at 8:11 PM
A redtail hawk circles overhead, issuing the thin, lonely cry that means—as any good Morricone fan knows—“friend, you’ve been left here to die.”
Today is giving good sky.
November 27, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Today is giving good sky.
One of my dearest friends first welcomed me as the stranger at her table on an afternoon of thin NYC snow, Thanksgiving 1995, in my first few weeks in the city.
Giving thanks for her, for the privilege of watching 30 yrs of her messy, laughing, self-deprecating, total dedication to social justice.
Giving thanks for her, for the privilege of watching 30 yrs of her messy, laughing, self-deprecating, total dedication to social justice.
November 27, 2025 at 6:15 PM
One of my dearest friends first welcomed me as the stranger at her table on an afternoon of thin NYC snow, Thanksgiving 1995, in my first few weeks in the city.
Giving thanks for her, for the privilege of watching 30 yrs of her messy, laughing, self-deprecating, total dedication to social justice.
Giving thanks for her, for the privilege of watching 30 yrs of her messy, laughing, self-deprecating, total dedication to social justice.
Thanksgivings, btw, were an absolute nightmare of 22-hour shifts.
I still have work to do toward forgiving the lady who always ordered half a dozen special pies baked from her own persimmons in her own China pie dishes. How I yearned to expose her.
I still have work to do toward forgiving the lady who always ordered half a dozen special pies baked from her own persimmons in her own China pie dishes. How I yearned to expose her.
My first job, with my expensive/exclusive bachelor’s degree in English & writing, was as the pie wonk in a passionately All Butter bakery. I have never been happier in my life.
PIECRUST! A MANIFESTO!
I once wrote someone trying to impress a new love some piecrust instructions and thought I'd share them here:
The secret of good pie is: keep your heart warm but your butter cold.
I once wrote someone trying to impress a new love some piecrust instructions and thought I'd share them here:
The secret of good pie is: keep your heart warm but your butter cold.
November 27, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Thanksgivings, btw, were an absolute nightmare of 22-hour shifts.
I still have work to do toward forgiving the lady who always ordered half a dozen special pies baked from her own persimmons in her own China pie dishes. How I yearned to expose her.
I still have work to do toward forgiving the lady who always ordered half a dozen special pies baked from her own persimmons in her own China pie dishes. How I yearned to expose her.
My first job, with my expensive/exclusive bachelor’s degree in English & writing, was as the pie wonk in a passionately All Butter bakery. I have never been happier in my life.
PIECRUST! A MANIFESTO!
I once wrote someone trying to impress a new love some piecrust instructions and thought I'd share them here:
The secret of good pie is: keep your heart warm but your butter cold.
I once wrote someone trying to impress a new love some piecrust instructions and thought I'd share them here:
The secret of good pie is: keep your heart warm but your butter cold.
November 27, 2025 at 4:54 PM
My first job, with my expensive/exclusive bachelor’s degree in English & writing, was as the pie wonk in a passionately All Butter bakery. I have never been happier in my life.
Starting my day’s thanks on the recovery of a wee bird (sorry for non-identification, no photo as it seemed disrespectful) who flew with a shocking thud into our big window & fell stunned with her neck askew. I held her for a few minutes & placed her on a ledge where she’d be safer. She’s just flown
November 27, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Starting my day’s thanks on the recovery of a wee bird (sorry for non-identification, no photo as it seemed disrespectful) who flew with a shocking thud into our big window & fell stunned with her neck askew. I held her for a few minutes & placed her on a ledge where she’d be safer. She’s just flown
Another desert sunrise, one of those when you wait in the cold, listening to the sweet finches and the ratcheting call of a Northern wren, thinking “it’s all about to kick off.” And yes it does—in silent flame.
November 27, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Another desert sunrise, one of those when you wait in the cold, listening to the sweet finches and the ratcheting call of a Northern wren, thinking “it’s all about to kick off.” And yes it does—in silent flame.
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.