by Carole Duff | Aug 17, 2015 | Local or Human Interest, Nature |
Paulownia, also known as the Royal Paulownia, Princess or Empress Tree, looks like vegetation out of a science fiction novel. A deciduous tree, the Pawlownia grows quickly, from eight to twenty feet in one year, and sports large, heart-shaped leaves in opposite pairs...
by Carole Duff | Aug 3, 2015 | Local or Human Interest, Nature |
Remember the story about the little girl who played the piano at a recital and kept going despite obstacles and mistakes? My turn – and what an adventure! Last week my friend Sarah stayed with us for a few days. We had a grand time. The first evening, Keith treated us...
by Carole Duff | Jul 20, 2015 | Dogs & Other Creatures, Nature |
It was another coffee-scented morning. I was sitting in my reclining chair and reading when I heard my cell phone vibrating on the writing desk across the room. Walking over to its charging station, I saw ‘Keith’ on the screen and picked up the phone. “Hello,...
by Carole Duff | Jul 13, 2015 | Dogs & Other Creatures, Nature, Writing and Reading |
Early last Saturday afternoon, as I walked back up the mountain road from the mailbox, I heard the first rattle of cicadas this year. “Sure sign that the dog days have arrived,” I said to myself. Sweat ran down my face, neck, back and front. In my mail sack was a...
by Carole Duff | Jul 6, 2015 | Local or Human Interest, Nature |
Last week while weeding Japanese stilt grass out of a bank of groundcover, I reached for a clump of grass near the rock flow below the square foot garden. Less than two inches from my hand, a fat snake slithered sluggishly into a hitherto hidden passageway in the...
by Carole Duff | May 25, 2015 | Faith, Local or Human Interest, Nature |
Here at Vanaprastha, things are pretty quiet – literally. Vehicles traversing the mountain road and planes flying at high altitude interrupt nature’s symphony only briefly. Around our house, the geothermal HVAC system and modern appliances emit inaudible hums. Last...
