being not doing

Dragonflies mating on our porch post.
I went outside this afternoon to enjoy the unseasonably warm day, and after my mole eyes adjusted to the sun, I noticed a pair of dragonflies mating on our porch. These dragonflies have been around the yard for a while now, and I also see them in the town […]

Wild persimmons.
Last year we foraged wild (American) persimmons from an undisclosed location in our county. All the hippies we know seemed to be wild about the fruit, and having stumbled across a few trees we decided to give them a try. Persimmons being extremely astringent when not quite ripe, it was hard to […]

Over the past 13 years, the federal government has spent $27 million on the restoration of gray wolves in the United States. Western states have also spent money, although it’s hard to identify the costs related to wolf reintroduction specifically versus things like public land management and rangers generally. With about 1,500 gray […]

Praying mantis on the front porch one evening last week.
Praying mantis on the back wall this afternoon.
Praying mantis on the front window this time last year.
I was delighted to catch sight of mantises of two different colors in our yard this year, although probably both of a single species. The brown color and the […]

Male Polyphemus Moth in our backyard.
This has been a great summer for sighting large insects in our backyard! I can’t take too much credit, as they’re attracted to food sources already present that I simply leave alone. The cicada killers love our yard, possibly more so than other sandy-soiled backyards in our town […]

View of the falls from the Maid of the Mist plaza.
We’re back from our Midwest driving tour, having celebrated with both families and made brief stop at Niagara Falls in between parties. We also appear to have recovered from the head cold we contracted in Niagara and passed between us for a couple of […]

I’ve updated my lifelist to reflect the sightings of the past month or so. I still need to find usable photos (e.g. those in the public domain or licensed for non-commercial use) and enter a bunch of latin names, but the list of birds itself is now complete.
Through doing this update I’ve realized that […]

I spent most of this past week visiting family in the hospital on Western’s campus in London (Ontario). While there, I took the opportunity to walk along the Thames and check out the breeding birds. Many were familiar — Yellow Warblers, House Wrens, Grackles, Robins, Chipping Sparrows, Catbirds, and a Great Blue Heron […]

The lavender bursting out in new growth.
My garden notes these days are trending more toward the ‘to be undertaken when I have more time, money and energy’ and away from ‘done done done!’ Happily, growth continues without me: the lavender has taken to its new home and is sending out all kinds of shoots, […]

Rhubarb Ginger Galette, round two.
We celebrated Memorial Day by attending a party at ‘our’ farm: Even’ Star Organic Farm, where we’re members of the CSA. We’d had a fun time at the autumn party and enjoyed the drive down, which included stopping on the way for pumpkins and honey at a farm stand in […]