August 7, 2025 Yesterday I caught sight of something I thought was lost: that golden orb in the sky that delivers warmth and light. We'd had several straight days of clouds and rain, with temperatures that, at this time of year in the South, were like an arctic blast. For a while the mercury struggled… Continue reading Another August
Category: nature
Writing the natural way
December 4, 2024 Until the other day, one of the ginkgo trees in our back yard stubbornly resisted the onset of winter. The leaves stayed bright, keeping a trace of green while other trees faded to dull brown. Then, like a stripper at last call, everything came off in a hurry. The life of an… Continue reading Writing the natural way
The frogs in the coal mine
February 10, 2023 Working from home in retirement is more fun than my former full-time job, but it brings distractions I never encountered in the office. Today I had to catch the little tree frog above, who was apparently hoping to take up residence in the pool, and turn him loose in the creek down… Continue reading The frogs in the coal mine
I love nature. It hates me.
July 13, 2022 This isn't Kermit (Photo from the Kentucky Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Resources) "Don't forget the frog," is a sentence that one might not expect to hear from one's partner. Typically, the other person might remind you to take out the recycling, pick up some cat food, collect a kid from soccer… Continue reading I love nature. It hates me.
Never mind the horse, the birds are out of the barn
I've concluded that nature is an ingrate. You drag sprinklers around in the hot sun, spray water (i.e., money) all over the lawn, and end up with weeds and crabgrass. Now, after feeding flying freeloaders (birds) all my life, they're invading my space. They remind me of cable TV salespeople: Give them an inch and… Continue reading Never mind the horse, the birds are out of the barn
A pandemic diary: Change and perseverance
August 27, 2020 I was sitting in traffic the other day when a dragonfly dropped out of the sky right in front of the windshield. It hovered like a Blackhawk, wings beating impossibly fast, before zipping away out of sight; their average speed is about ten miles an hour but they can get up to… Continue reading A pandemic diary: Change and perseverance