It is a weird and perverse universal cosmic law which applies to every homeowner with a yard. This particular statute compounds all that is positive and correct and turns it into a negative. This is why if a slice of buttered toast is dropped, the chances of it landing with the butter side down seem…Read more
Clipping, clearing, pruning and shaping are all part of the cool season improvement effort. There are also a variety of projects which require penetrating beneath the soil’s surface into the mostly unseen realm of roots and rhizomes. The common tree or shrub root holds few surprises. A woody root appears as the subsurface equivalent of…Read more
As the holiday season comes into the home stretch and with a frosty morning last weekend, the two common local native vines are displaying holiday colors. Some, but not all, have changed from green to red. Both creeper and poison ivy can be a bright cherry red during the waning days of autumn and early…Read more
The day after Thanksgiving and the remains of yesterday’s dinner appear quite picked over. The culinary centerpiece, a turkey of pterodactyl proportions, appears to have been consumed by a namesake bird…the turkey buzzard. While two entirely different species, the shape and coloration of the head is the dominant similarity between the two. It is true…Read more
One of the perpetual mysteries of life which is occasionally discussed over a cup of coffee on cold mornings is “how do the bugs survive in the frigid weather?” The truth is most do not, a vast majority living only a year or some seasonal fraction of it. Many human residents take pleasure, some sadistically,…Read more
Generalizations are an easy way to attempt to predict the character of almost any subject or thing without examining the situation or details. The scenario goes if X is present, then Y will occur. Alas, life is far too complex for generalizations to be of much use and in many cases simple rationalizations lead to…Read more
While the thermometer may not know it, autumn 2024 is almost half gone. Even so, the trees and plants are reacting to the gradually shortening days. Surely, the temperature will noticeably drop in a week or two, but in the meantime the greenery will steadily retreat. Native plants have stopped producing new foliage and some…Read more
It is hard to believe, and the daytime temperature is no indication of the change, but autumn is underway. While the weather is cooler (at least a bit cooler), it is by no means cool in the truest sense of the word. Even so, many of the native wildflowers are a reflection of this celestial-based…Read more
Autumn is the season of bright colors in the landscape. Even the insects, mostly butterflies, contribute to the technicolor scenery. Insects other than butterflies complement the polychromatic hues too. The oblong-winged katydid, Amblycorypha oblongifolia as it is known to entomologists, is a prime example. This grasshopper-like insect is a member of the subfamily Phaneropterinae, which…Read more
Being called a birdbrain is not usually considered a complement. Its synonyms, featherbrain or airhead, are not any better. This mild pejorative dates back to the 1600’s, according to some lexicologists, and is the result of the general population perceiving all avian species as not very intelligent. Domestic birds stayed pinned up and provided eggs…Read more
