The natural world, life, and dogs.
A month ago I wrote about how an injury prevented me from running and forced me to slow way down throughout the spring and early summer. Even walking was painful for a long time. Today, I'd say I'm almost back to normal, resuming running regularly, mostly pain-free. Yay! The irony, though, is even though I… Continue reading Slowing Way Down = Seeing Even More
It has been over a year since I last shared some of the photos my dogs bombed. Since then, we moved to Vermont. The landscape is so different than Idaho's, as are many of the wildflowers and plants I try to photograph. The one constant is my dogs' faces, feet, or entire bodies moving through… Continue reading Dog Photobombs X – August through December 2021
When I sold my home in Idaho, I befriended the couple who bought it. I was sad about leaving my beloved wildflowers behind – mostly Lupine and Columbine – but I was most upset about the day lilies. My father had dug them from his family homestead in Kansas in the 1980s and planted them… Continue reading What’s Invasive?
Twice this month, while walking with my dogs through the woods on the neighbors' acreage, we heard wildlife warning calls: Stay away! In both instances, the calls came from a few yards off the path, well into the trees. I couldn't see the animal issuing the call, but the first one I recognized, a call… Continue reading Wildlife Warning Calls
There is a beautiful iris that grows wild here, in marshes and wet meadows. It's called Larger Blue Flag Iris (iris versicolor). I found some blooming recently, in a marsh and along the edge of a pond where my dogs and I spend many mornings exploring. Irises growing alongside a pond, June 17, 2022. "Versicolor"… Continue reading Blue Flags and Green Frogs
The phrase "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet’" usually means things are what they are, no matter what name they’re given. The phrase is from William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, one of several lines spoken by Juliet Capulet (Act 2, Scene 2) to herself on her balcony but overheard by… Continue reading A Rose by Any Other Name
Ah, May. You do deliver the spring goods. After a long winter, Vermont is once again vibrantly green and lush with new growth. So... sensual. Wildflowers are shyly appearing. Trees are leafing out, full of songbirds announcing each day's opening and closing. Fields are exploding with grass, dandelions, and clover, giving the bees sustenance. The… Continue reading Green and Flowery
After a long Vermont winter, and several weeks watching winter and spring battling each other for dominance, I feel I can finally announce: spring has arrived. In Idaho, I was used to April being the month when wildflowers emerged. Entire hillsides would be awash in the bright, happy yellow of sunflowers. Now, I've learned, in… Continue reading At Last, Spring
This post's title and content refers to the old European meaning of May Day. A festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Traditions often include gathering wildflowers and green branches, weaving floral garlands, crowning a May Queen (sometimes with… Continue reading May Day
In the Northern Hemisphere, March 20th was the spring equinox, the first day of spring. It's also referred to as the vernal equinox, vernal meaning fresh, new. It may have been the first day of spring on the calendar. But not so much where I live, in Vermont. It's still snowing every few days, although… Continue reading Spring Equinox
Wild Sensibility 