Archives

(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) Summertime. Hot. Humid. Perfect. Starting early helps maintain a modicum of comfort. Until the sun rises above the tree line. Now it’s like a sauna. With bugs. Sauntering around in a sweltering swamp is, admittedly, not everyone’s cup of chai. The distant calls of Barred Owls and an overflight of a couple dozen White Ibises help take one’s mind off any discomfort. Our… Read More

(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) Sea breeze. Invigorating. Gulls calling, mullet jumping, the unique aroma of low tide, fiddler crabs scurrying for cover. Gini and I grew up with these sensations along Florida’s Gulf of Mexico coast. It feels like home. Today we are visiting the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island just west of Fort Myers, Florida. Sanibel is a barrier island jutting into… Read More

(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) “Who would think there could be so much diversity out here?” Once again, Gini was absolutely correct. We humans are quick to assign stereotypes to our thoughts and ideas. When we first moved to west Texas, it looked so desolate. That impression was exacerbated by our military peers, who had also recently moved there, as they bemoaned the flat, brown landscape that, presumably,… Read More

(Click on image to enlarge, click again to zoom.) A splash to our right caused us to reflexively look in that direction, although we knew the source. An Osprey rose from the lake’s surface with a small catfish, shook off excess water and flew to a nearby pine tree limb to enjoy her finny snack. She and her mate have been busy with their annual home-improvement project. Soon, the branches will have… Read More

(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) There is something to be said for sleeping in. It feels good. Especially when the days are cold. Lounging about sipping hot coffee thinking about how your lazy self should have been up and out the door while it was still dark because how else are you ever going to encounter Nature in all its glory when it’s common knowledge there is nothing… Read More