Goose Winters
Colorful foliage, Goose Winter and Indian Summer often characterize autumns in New England. The term “Indian Summer” is well known, but I was unable to find any information online about the derivation of the expression “Goose Winter”. When I asked, Mother said, “I...
Phasmids and Oak Trees
In advance of winter, Vanaprastha teams with reproductive activity, from oak trees peppering the ground with acorns to unseen frogs calling availability in chorus from the treetops, a little Leisure-Suit Larry romancing the large female orb-weaver at our back door...
Autumn Equinox
How beautiful, the fragile wings of unseen things How terrible the transience of misplaced dreams In my pocket there hides a scrap That has written finely ‘Je t’aime’ Unguessed by you there hides a key To the portal you’ve search for, to me Stars glide, spinning in...
Fairy Circles
Have you ever seen a Fairy Ring? Thanks to Irene and Lee’s soaking rains, mushrooms have sprouted in all kinds of unusual places and formations. Two weekends ago when Keith and I spent an afternoon with his father in southern Virginia, we spotted a fairy circle in...
Entering the Seventh Decade
Recently, the United Nations published a '100 Plus' report on average life expectancy through history: Cro-Magnon era: 18 The Renaissance: 30 America in 1850: 43 America today: 78 By the year 2300 in the developed world, the projected average is 101, an...