Introducing…This Spring’s New Arrivals

I went back to writing a year ago, inspired by the emergence of a round of baby chipmunks in the garden. This year, especially since adding a few more plantings and features and getting the garden certified as a wildlife habitat, it's been a regular nursery. I thought it was a good time for a … Continue reading Introducing…This Spring’s New Arrivals →

Everything Touches Everything

"edges slide together like the feathers of a wing, everything touches everything." (Mary Oliver) I don't know what, exactly, causes this phenomenon, but that sense of distance collapsing-- between experiences, influences, memories-- is moving, and beautiful, and profound.

Getting Through the Gray Season

It's easier to get through the gray days when you're feeling a strong source of light from somewhere, even if it's metaphorical light.

Raccoon & Possum: BFFs

There's been an unusual friendship developing in the night garden. Two of our regular visitors - the raccoon and the possum- coincided a few times over the last couple months; we watched via the wildlife cam, holding our breath, waiting to see how they'd react to each other. At first, one would come into view … Continue reading Raccoon & Possum: BFFs →

Speak for the Trees

I remember the moment it occurred to me that trees could be older than me. I was eight years old, in my grandparents' yard, marveling at a (to me) giant tree that had a swing hung from one of its branches. I'm sorry to say that I don't know what kind of tree it was, … Continue reading Speak for the Trees →

Musings on Squirrels and on the Limits of Science

When ripe acorns start dropping off of the many Oak trees in our neighborhood, the squirrels mostly disappear from our garden for about six weeks. We still see them when we walk the dogs; working during all the daylight hours and into twilight, gathering acorns one by one and carefully burying them in different spots. … Continue reading Musings on Squirrels and on the Limits of Science →

Lunch Break, with Chipmunks

While I was eating lunch yesterday, I noticed one of the chipmunks digging a shallow hole in the grout between two of our patio stones. Or, at least, I thought she was digging...really, she turned out to be uncovering a food cache she must have made some time before. (A side note about chipmunk holes: … Continue reading Lunch Break, with Chipmunks →

In Which the Raccoons Steal the Show

Some mornings when we check the wildlife camera, we see there hasn't been much, or sometimes any, action overnight. We haven't been surveilling for long enough to tell if this is due to temperature, weather conditions, or some other variation (like the presence of a predator we can't see, nearby street noise or traffic, the … Continue reading In Which the Raccoons Steal the Show →

Some Philosophical Thoughts on Instinct

There’s something about this time of year, as (in the Northern hemisphere, at least) the Earth starts its tilt away from the Sun: the sunlight moves through the day faster; its angle bathes the greens in golden tones; the nights are cooler, clearer, starry; the morning dew burns into blue-skied sunshine by midday. On afternoon … Continue reading Some Philosophical Thoughts on Instinct →