Help in the Garden

A little slug negotiates my lopper handles this morning in Chicago....

Chicago :: 2013

Three Cheers for Pugnax

One never knows what other worlds are out there, especially in the interwebs.  Anyway, brace yourselves because on May 8 some (many?) will be celebrating Pynchon in Public Day. I must confess that the only work of his I have attempted to read is Against the Day - which introduced me to one of my favorite literary characters, Pugnax, a dog of uncertain ancestry who spends his spare time reading Henry James novels. 

There you have it...get out there and read a book!  

Remember, the bookmobile says readers are leaders... 

Tree Spirit #4

Kane County :: 2013

Something for the Birds and the Bees

Check out some of the resources here at the USFWS Pollinators Home Page before you go to the garden center. Plant a little something this spring for your pollinators!

"Pollinator Pathways"

Image Credit: Steve Buchanan

Blooming Bloodroot, Bee.

Kane County :: 2013

The Green Heron

Green Heron by John James Audubon

When we crossed the stone bridge in the woods a Green heron flushed out of the muddy creek below. It flew away and settled at a safe distance on a tree branch not yet hidden by leaves. He held on long enough, still enough, for us to study him in the late April sun. The heron seemed to sport all colors but green: streaks, chestnut breast, even yellow pinstripes, aglow.  Clear round eyes surveyed us from under a dull green cap. Hunkered down, heron-hunched, he gripped his branch with brilliant orange feet.  Soon he sailed off,  with his breeding-bright feet trailing behind like a tangerine shooting star, fading deeper into grey tans of trees and tangle. Again we crossed the stone bridge and wandered on, and wondered on, who named the Green heron green.

Intermission #9 - After the Flood.....

"A place reclaimed by weeds...."

A fine essay by Daniel Greenwood by way of Earthlines Review......

The Trees That Miss The Mammoths

I may be biased, but here's one of the best articles - from American Forests - that I have seen in some time!  Read it and you'll soon know why....

Osage-orange trees, Cook County - 2008