Cold Fronts

Last week, a cold front came across the eastern part of the county, moving in the typical pattern from northwest to southeast. On the weather map, a blue line with triangles swept away temperatures in red.  Cool, dry air replaced the warm humidity of the previous...

Blue Moons

Once in a blue moon happened last week, something seldom, rare, occurring almost never or not at all. Well, not exactly. Actually, blue moons happen relatively often. A blue moon is either the second of two full moons in a calendar month or the third of four full...

Skunked

skunk  (skngk) n. 1.a. Any of several small, mostly carnivorous New World mammals of the genus Mephitis and related genera, having a bushy tail and black fur with white markings and ejecting a foul-smelling oily liquid from glands near the anus when frightened or...

Dancing with Bats

You’re taking a shower in your townhouse in Alexandria, Virginia. It is a few years ago, but the memory remains vivid. With your freshly clean wet hair wrapped in a towel, you open the bathroom door and behold a dark brown bat with eight-inch wingspan heading your...

A Visit to Grandma

“Freya, come. Heathcliff, come. Let’s go for a ride in the car. We’re going to visit Grandma.” Last week, after the storm front passed bringing cooler temperatures and lower humidity, Keith and I loaded up the Subaru and headed south to visit my mother. We started...