Small, Dark & Handsome
Once upon a time, when I was a girl, I was far more interested in frogs than in fairy tales. I wasn't all that enchanted by the Disney princesses of my 1960s childhood, either — Snow White, Cinderella,...
View ArticleBlue Period
Picasso was feeling low. Following the suicide of his friend and occasional roommate, the painter Carles Casagemas, Pablo plunged into a rock-bottom depression that lasted more than 3 years. During...
View ArticleFlat as a Pancake
Ever notice how many of the colloquialisms we use for comparisons aren't all that apropos, or even true? Like... graceful as a swan (have you ever seen one on land?) dull as ditchwater (believe me,...
View ArticleRideshare
My wire fox terrier and I were walking along a favorite path on a cool autumn morning. Stopping to investigate a patch of tall plants clinging to the steep sides of a ridge that used to carry Virginia...
View ArticleBull Session
I say potato, you like potahtos. You wear pajamas, I wear PJs. And a rose by any other name, we’re told, would smell equally sweet. So does it really matter that we all agree on what to call an...
View ArticleSlender in the Grass
But never met this Fellow, Attended or alone, Without a tighter Breathing, and Zero at the Bone. Unlike Emily Dickinson, ophiophobia isn’t an issue for me. I like snakes and know them to be...
View ArticleSummer Soundtrack
. One of my favorite things about summer is the free outdoor concerts. I’m not talking about local bands that occasionally perform from the park gazebo even though they can be a pleasant accompaniment...
View ArticleBrewhaha
. Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. Fillet of a fenny snake, In the caldron boil and bake, Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder’s fork,...
View ArticleHops-itality
[Reprint from April 2012] Fifty years ago, Rachel Carson asked the world to consider a simple question: imagine springtime without birdsong. Silent Spring was an unlikely subject to become a...
View ArticleFroggy goes a-courtin’
.[Reprint from February 2011] My mole Tboy (mole as in spy, not insectivore) tells me Valentine’s Day has its intended effect on the wood frog population in southwestern Virginia. Mid-February is when...
View ArticleStick in the mud
[This reprint was originally published on January 14, 2012.] Shorter days and Jack Frost nipping at your nose means it’s the start of the serious season, filled with snowplows, tire chains, and...
View ArticleVert-de-Gris
It isn’t easy being green. Kermit the Frog said it, so you know it has to be true. He’s always seemed a reluctant celebrity, so my guess is that being the most famous Muppet-amphibian on the planet...
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Summer Soundtrack
The eastern gray treefrog is one of many performers at nightly summer concerts. . One of my favorite things about summer is the free outdoor concerts. I’m not talking about local bands that...
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Brewhaha
Red means STOP… at an intersection or on an amphibian. The red-bellied newt secretes a deadly neurotoxin (Photo: Janetcetera, Creative Commons license). . Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn,...
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Hops-itality
Frogs, including this Pacific tree frog, could use a little help as they try to survive in the 21st Century (Photo: Jacki Dougan, Creative Commons license) . Fifty years ago, Rachel Carson asked the...
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Froggy goes a-courtin’ (repost)
The wood frog has a large North American range (Photo: Garrett and Kitty Wilkin, Creative Commons license) . [NOTE: It's been such a mild winter this year that I've been hearing wood frogs and spring...
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Stick in the mud
Red-eared sliders take a less extreme approach to winter survival than hibernation (Photo: Charles Lam, Creative Commons license) The holidays are well behind us now. Shorter days and Jack Frost...
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Froggy goes a-courtin’
The wood frog has a large North American range (Photo: Garrett and Kitty Wilkin, Creative Commons license) . My mole Tboy (that’s spy, not insectivore) tells me Valentine’s Day has had its intended...
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