As I sit on the porch before my day takes off, a Carolina wren flits from the potted avocado tree to the rim of the bird bath. Her tail, always cocked at a perky angle, strikes my funny bone. She hops this way and that until she’s comfortable with her surroundings before dipping into the …
Do you have a nickname? Some nicknames follow given names, like Suzy from Suzanne, but I’m talking about pet names given by people who love us. My mother bestowed two nicknames on me. One is too embarrassing to share, the other doesn’t make me blush, but I keep it close also. This second nickname made …
You’ll never believe what lay on my doorstep this morning. I might have stepped on her if not for the contrasting yellows and greens that she wore. It was Tina Turtle. Tina Turtle visits once or twice a year. She bushwhacks through the grass and bushes with lumbering steps. Last year she stretched her neck …
“Chip. Chip. Chip. Chip.” “Teacher, teacher. Teacher, teacher, teacher.” I scanned the tree branches searching for the bird with its unmistakeable calls. Ah, there he is, so easy to spot with bright red plumage. Cardinals make me feel satisfied, because they’re the one bird I can always identify. I call him, Mr. Cardinal, and he …
Tomorrow Lent begins. Drum roll……………….Will you participate this year? Lent is like Advent. In Advent, we try to wrap our minds around God entering our world as a vulnerable baby. Wow. In Lent, we mull over this God/Man, Jesus, remaining vulnerable to death so we can enter new life. Lent seems to have a pall …
If a millimeter or second had been off, I would have died by overdosing, impaling, drowning, falling out of a car, colliding with a car on a bike, and suffocating on a lodged carrot. I’m not a stand out person, so why would God orchestrate the right people to be Johnny-on-the-spot in these situations, unless …
Should I or Shouldn’t I? My sister-in-law had planned the menus, pre-marinated, pre-cut, and prepared the food. My brother navigated our paths down dirt roads criss-crossing the brush to fishing ponds and sunset watching locations. My only decision was choosing between boots and athletic shoes. That was the extent of pressure weighing me for 42 …
Cardinalis cardinalis. Like an enlightened Hellen Keller, I gorge on names in a Master Naturalist class, running from tree to tree. What’s the name of this tree, that bloom? What kind of frog made that call? Is this a sparkle berry or wild blueberry? I learn an organism’s ecological niche, its diet, predators, behaviors, …