Posts made in November, 2013

Thankful for Milkweed

Posted by on Nov 27, 2013 in fall, insects, seeds, Unmowed Blog, wildlife | 1 comment

Thankful for Milkweed

Where are they? The monarch butterflies—where have they gone? Those big bright orange rainbows that flutter past every fall. Where did they go this year? They didn’t flutter past my house. I saw not one. Did you? What’s happening? I can hardly bear to say, it, but the monarchs are dwindling. Monarch populations hit historic–disastrous–lows this year. There are a lot of reasons for this—pesticides, bad weather, habitat loss. But a big reason is loss of milkweed. Milkweed. It’s the plant that monarchs need. The only plant they lay eggs on, the only plant the caterpillars will feed...

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Dandelion: Up Against the Wall

Posted by on Nov 21, 2013 in adaptations, fall, flowers, seeds, Unmowed Blog | 2 comments

Dandelion: Up Against the Wall

Dandelions grow anywhere, it seems. That’s almost literally true. Dandelions can sprout in places that seem little short of miraculous, barren habitats where almost any other plant would throw in the towel. They seem to thrive in parking lots, sinking roots into rock-hard soil that’s driven over by cars, parked on by eighteen-wheeler trucks, and scraped and salted in wintertime. The tender green leaves shove their way through gravel and slice through layers of blacktop. Dandelions are found world-wide, spread across the planet on every continent except Antarctica, below sea level...

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Forest Faces

Posted by on Nov 19, 2013 in Unmowed Blog | 0 comments

Forest Faces

Silver Bay. A quiet bay on the rippling shores of Lake George in the Adirondacks. It’s dead quiet on a misty November afternoon, all but deserted. A perfect place for a writer’s retreat. Perhaps because I’m spending so much time thinking about developing memorable characters–characters with emotional depth, humor, spunk and what-have-you, I’ve taken to seeing characters all around me. Silver Bay isn’t as deserted as I thought–it’s crowded with a remarkable cast of characters. Sometimes it’s easy to pass them by, and then they give you a...

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A Lesson in Leaves

Posted by on Nov 14, 2013 in fall, leaves, Unmowed Blog | 0 comments

A Lesson in Leaves

Hurrying along the sidewalk outside Colonie Center mall on a blustery day. I wasn’t expecting to find a lesson in tree identification spread out on the pavement at my feet. It’s amazing how many ways nature can invent to say “leaf.” All these specimens were blown at random into a corner by the icy wind. There must be a dogwood around here somewhere, because there’s a smooth-edged oval leaf, round and bright as an Easter egg. Next to it is a sharp-edged red oak leaf, brown and crisp as toast. There’s a lot of the familiar five-pointed shape of the maple...

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Ease On Down the Road

Posted by on Nov 8, 2013 in fall, photos, Unmowed Blog | 2 comments

Ease On Down the Road

First snowflakes today! Time to move on from summer’s greenery and head down the dark and stormy road to winter.

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