Dear Avocet, When I perused last year’s photo archive and found a series of portraits of you, my heart went into a happy little dance. You blessed us with your presence at a local lake during fall migration for one full golden October week. Only you know where you had come from and where you … Continue reading American Avocet
One scientist, who would have taken issue with last week’s “ignorance is bliss” statement is Maria Sybilla Merian (1647-1717). This powerhouse of a woman, of whom I knew nothing until the recent fortuitous find of her 2018 biography The Girl Who Drew Butterflies by Joyce Sidman, not only sought knowledge at every turn, it was … Continue reading Maria Merian
If you think this otherworldly creature is elevating its foremost extremities into the sky in supplication, you are not alone, as those who first lay eyes on it shared your impression and named it Praying Mantis. Falls Du den Eindruck hast, daß diese ungwöhnliche Kreatur ihre Vorderbeine im Gebet gen Himmel streckt, bist Du nicht … Continue reading Praying? Or Preying?
Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all, Hoffnung ist das Wesen mit Federn Das sich in der Seele niederläßt, Und die Melodie wortlos singt, Und niemals damit aufhört, And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be … Continue reading Hope is the Thing with Feathers
Blessings arrive in many different (animal) forms. Only in the last two months have the following furry and feathery friends made little expected but much appreciated cameos. Squirrel encounters might be quotidian, but capturing not one, but two, in an impossibly cute posture is not. I gaze at their portrait each time I need to … Continue reading Memorable Encounters
tanja britton 