Spring Wildflowers: Fighting Back
Spring at last! We’ve survived the long bitter winter of snow and ice and bare branches. For us humans, winter is the rough season. But for plants, winter is spent dormant and snug under the snow. Spring is the time when they have to battle for survival. The first greenery is a welcome sight, not just for humans, but for rabbits, deer, slugs, insects and other herbivores, all thin and hungry and longing for a square meal. The first spring wildflowers unfurl into a world of hungry mouths waiting to eat them. An April trillium or hepatica runs a much greater risk of ending up in an herbivore’s...
Read MoreBig Night for Amphibians
It’s still a little chilly, but soon will come a night of warm spring rain. And if you’re driving after dark, you know what that means—hordes of pesky little frogs hopping across the road. Where are they going? Why so many? Are they trying to commit suicide? Frogs, toads and salamanders breed in the spring. They all get together in the same spot, usually a small pond, and then the males show off and try to attract females. It’s kind of like a singles bar. So if it’s a damp night and the temperature is about 40 degrees or so, tens of thousands of frogs and salamanders are sharing the roads...
Read MoreSocializing at the Beach
I go to the water’s edge for solitude, for meditation, for peace. But my dog goes for the social life. The beach on a wintry Sunday morning. All the humans are bundled in hats and scarves and parkas. We pass each other with a wordless nod, or no acknowledgement at all. But the dogs don’t give a darn about the wide horizon and the lonely sky. None of this solitary meditation stuff for them. To them the cold wind is rich with fascinating smells–it’s like a newspaper gossip column, packed with juicy information about their colleagues and neighbors. There are big dogs,...
Read MoreIce Storm
A few evenings ago, I was backing the car down the driveway, and thinking about something else at the same time. A sure recipe for disaster. And sure enough, I edged into a snowbank. The temperature was just above freezing, the snow soggy and soft, so I stuck fast. Not to worry, I got out the shovel and began to dig. It had been a rare warm day, full of rain, and the temperature was slowly getting colder as the rain drizzled down. The snow was gray and heavy as wet cement. As I burrowed away, the sinking temperature abruptly hit that magic point where everything changes. Suddenly it was 32...
Read MoreCrow Moon
Thanks to Diane Hale Smith for this beautiful cold Crow Moon. Giving a name to each full moon is an ancient Algonquin tradition. This month’s moon was known as the Worm Moon further south, because the worms begin to emerge from the earth around this time of year. It was also called the Crust Moon because the snow crusted over after thawing and freezing–which certainly describes the weather today, the snow is frozen as hard as cement. Or the Sap Moon, for the maple sap run. But the more northerly tribes (according to the Farmer’s Almanac) called it the Crow Moon, because...
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