Welcome to "Black Friday". The first recorded use of this term was in reference to a financial crisis: specifically, the crash of the U.S. gold market on September 24, 1869. Now, of course, it refers to a different sort of financial crisis, namely the emptying of one's bank account in a frenzy of retail shopping, followed by the online craziness of Cyber Monday. Thankfully, there are other ways to engage in holiday shopping that are a bit more palatable and also help answer C

The "falling back" of time this past weekend has meant that I am ushered indoors by the falling darkness before dinner. This means that not only do I have time for reading, but I also have time to organize and sort through things that I have been collecting and ignoring, often for many months. So, the other day, I decided to tackle a pile papers that were on my desk and there I found an old issue of Natural Awakenings that I had set aside months and month ago. It was opened

Shortening days characterized by falling leaves and chilly, dew-drenched mornings that transform into dry, clear afternoons foretell of coming frosts and freezes. Now is the time to gather up any remaining herbs that I hope to keep for the winter. Once the morning breezes and warming sun dry them fully, I head out and begin to harvest. Over the years, I have learned from my mistakes and now I work methodically from one plant to another, carefully labeling each bunch to avoid

When we purchased our house in Connecticut it already had a split rail fence installed around the front and side edges of the property. It is an unobtrusive fence that blends in rather nicely to the landscape, but it is still a fence, a line of demarcation. What is it with humans and our need to draw lines both visible and invisible around places and things? Do we honestly think that by constructing fences, walls and geographic boundaries that we can separate ourselves from t

Like most folks, we take trips periodically. In fact, we will be hitting the road in just a few weeks. Even though we will be going back to a few places that we have visited before, I am going to have to pull out some maps. Yes, I still use folded paper maps as I find it gives me a better perspective of the lay of the land and a better sense of where I have been and where I am going. I know the general geography, but I could never find my way to a specific beach, cove or hiki

​In earlier blogs, I have written of my efforts at germinating hickory and pawpaw trees (April 5, 2019) and of my admiration of Wangari Maathai's transformative work with planting trees in Africa (April 26, 2019). As I continue on the journey with my little tree seedlings, I am humbled by the work of my new heroes, the people of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. On July 29th 2019, Ethiopians showed their commitment to working towards becoming a green society by pla

This past week was filled with extremes that included plant and people wilting days with heat indexes over 100 degrees, which was then followed by an impressive storm that produced more than 3 inches of rain in less than 12 hours. While waiting for the deluge outside to subside, I decided to make a cup of tea and sit in our sunroom where the noise created by the rain hitting on my "little glass bubble" was incredibly loud, yet soothing. In addition to my tea, I brought along

The fireworks at the edge of our lake are done. No, I am not referring to the aerial detonations of the Fourth of July, but rather the dramatic burst of seeds that shoot forth from the Marsh Marigolds, Caltha palustris. Early in the spring we have a few violets here and there that also spew their seeds into the air, but our largest display of plant "fireworks" comes from the Marsh Marigolds signaling the arrival of summer. This exploding method of seed dispersal is fascinatin

I have never really thought that much about toilet paper, that is until I just read an article in the Summer edition of the NRDC's Nature's Voice newsletter entitled, From Trees to Toilet Paper: Canada's Great Boreal Forest is Being Wiped Out. According to the article, "Canada's boreal forest is being leveled at an alarming and unsustainable rate: a million acres a year is logged...the greatest threat is the one posed by logging, driven in large part by rapacious demand in th

This week marked the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the Invasion of Normandy. The lessons are many from that seminal event and the ongoing war against tyranny, but the one that struck me the most was that of the surviving "Rosie the Riveters". As important as it is to remember our veterans and those who lost their lives, I feel that it is equally important to honor and remember those who stepped into new roles to keep our country running and able to support those who were off

This week's musings are in celebration of Arbor Day, which is today! This spring, as in years past, I have been on a mission to witness the emergence of baby tree leaves. It should be an easy task, but somehow it never is. Once I notice buds swelling and the blossoms bursting forth, I know that I need to start checking the branch tips several times a day. Even with this heightened awareness and frequent scanning of the tree tops, somehow I still miss the arrival of the leav

The books on my bookshelves get shuffled around periodically, especially after I have gone to a book sale and returned home with a few treasures. Placing the new acquisitions on my shelves generally requires a bit of reorganizing and sometimes even the removal and donation of one or two of my existing books. All of my books are organized by shelf with each one dedicated to a different category such as poetry, trees or nature study. Once the new books are tucked into their ne

If you have been reading my blogs, you know that I participate in the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (see my posting from February 1, 2019). Unfortunately, this past week I discovered that the wood post that my rain gauge is mounted on was rotted at the base. A quick survey of my pile of scrap wood revealed that I did not have an adequate replacement on hand. I knew that I could just jump in my car, drive over to our local lumber yard and buy a new 2x4, b

ges-tate v.t. 1. to carry in the womb during the period from the initiation of the pregnancy to delivery. 2. think of and develop (an idea, opinion, or plan) slowly in the mind. v.i. 3. to experience the process of gestating offspring. 4. to develop slowly. (Random House Webster’s College Dictionary, 1996). Many years ago I had the privilege of studying under the guidance of the poet Jan Lee Ande. She offered me some very sage advice with regard to the creative process that

This past Wednesday at 5:58 p.m. EST marked the vernal(spring) equinox in the northern hemisphere. The equinox occurs only twice a year, when the northern and southern hemispheres are both receiving the same amounts of daylight and the night and day are very near equal in length. (For more more information on the equinox, click the image to the left.) This year’s spring equinox was rather unique due to the fact that shortly after the actual time of the equinox a super worm mo

li·brar·y /ˈlīˌbrerē,ˈlīb(ə)rē/ noun: library; plural noun: libraries • a building or room containing collections of books, periodicals, and sometimes films and recorded music for people to read, borrow, or refer to. It seems that I have been thinking about libraries a lot lately. I had the good fortune recently to hear Louise Penny speak at library fundraiser. In addition to being a wonderful mystery writer, she is also a very engaging and funny speaker. During one of her mo

“Jean-O-Types” & Genotypes Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! The other day I was on a walk with a friend and we stopped to look at a tree that was obviously getting a lot of attention from some sort of woodpecker. She asked a simple question, “do you know what kind of tree this is?”. I’m pretty sure there wasn’t too long of a pause, but for me there were thoughts firing off left and right inside of my head before I gave her my answer. My first instinct was to say, “oooo

Other than being prompted by visiting a place like Death Valley(see last week’s blog), I don’t usually think about the fact that tectonic plates are still moving or about what is under them. But, here I am once again thinking about such things. These thoughts were prompted by the need for me to download a compass app on my phone for a new art project that I am working on, which then reminded me of an article written by Alexandra Witze that appeared in the journal Nature. Her

The other day I was cleaning out some papers and I came across a page that I had pulled out of a National Geographic Magazine from July, 2016. The page discussed how the observations that Henry David Thoreau made at Walden Pond over 160 years ago have helped make a case for the realities of climate change. This has come about primarily through the work of Richard Primack, a biologist at Boston University, who has compared Thoreau’s notes on the bloom times of plants and trees

Seventh generation thinking comes from the wisdom of the Iroquois. This wisdom urges that current generations live and work for the benefit of the seventh generation in the future, (approximately 140 years from now). That means that every one of our decisions, policies and actions should in some way support the well-being and sustainability of children who will be born seven generations in the future. Today the 116th United States Congress began their work, hopefully with Sev