Putting The Act In Cactus
Two summers ago a rare thing happened that one of the backyard cereus cactus’ night-blooming flowers got pollinated. Rare, because though the flowers attract a variety of bee species, it’s usually only moths like the sphinx moth (or some nectar-feeding bats) that do the actual pollinating. So, about 18 months ago when one of the …
Nature’s Gift To Me: An Encounter Last Night With An Opossum That Wasn’t Injured Or Dead
At the close of a very low key anniversary of my birth (very much the way I like them), while watching most of the first installment of History Channel’s excellent “Hatfields & McCoys,” I went to wash dishes and Susan went out back to wrangle Bink (who officially doesn’t come in at night unless his …
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Mourning Doves At Sunset
A moment of zen: Just outside the kitchen window right after sunset I found this pair of mourning doves atop our backyard gate preening and then for a bonus: getting a little bizzay briefly right before the end of the clip.
Follow The Follow The Follow The Follow The Follow The Yellow Rock Road
One of our destinations inside Joshua Tree during our daytrip there this past Saturday was the famous Skull Rock after which Susan and I went for a hike of a couple miles around the rocks in the area. On our way back we deviated from any marked trail and meandered a bit where we made …
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Straight Outta Steinbeck
When we entered the south end of Joshua Tree National Park early yesterday morning I wondered rather hopefully but doubtfully to myself if Susan and I would be so gifted as to see both a bighorn sheep AND a desert tortoise during what was our inaugural visit. Then we went about making our way north …
Another Day, Another Opossum
‘Tis indeed the season. The previous weekend’s young opossum rescue didn’t surprise me when it ended with the poor creature’s demise, and when I first discovered another under Jiggy’s paw yesterday in the backyard — this one also still breathing but with a far bloodier wound on its left side nearer the neck — I …