I want the faith a vine has
when it grows up to the height of its trellis
and reaches up toward the sun.
Growing past all support.
Its only mission is to get to the light
which gives it life.
No turning back.
Follow the Light.
We inadvertently left a rope dangling in the water over the winter.
It became home to a colony of bryozoans.
These are tiny one-celled organisms that live in a colony called a zooid.
Since I didn’t think my new pet would enjoy a boat ride,
we cut the end of the rope off.
I wanted to get to know my new pet, so I measured it and took a small sample.
Here are its little cells. In microbiology red and green make brown.
Then we tied it to the pier.
Unfortunately, due to rope length, it is now floating upside down.
I feel like Horton with my own wet and slimy Whoville.
I will be measuring my Zooid periodically to check it’s growth.
I have had many stray dogs and cats wander up, but this is my first pet blob.
Such excitement!
Follow the BLOB!
We humans like our symbols. It allows us to make the complicated simple.
An icon conjures up more than just an image.
It’s bad enough that we have done this with flags and rainbows, but leave the flowers out of it.
Poppies are just poppies.
Lovely and tall with nodding buds
and fancy fringe petals
and shaker-top seed pods.
Let them be just poppies;
Not a source of opium or the cause of an addiction.
Not the crop of desperate farmers in a war-torn land far away,
Not a field of lost souls from a foreign war long ago,
Or a magical cause of sleep sent by a wicked witch.
They are just poppies.
Beautiful poppies.
Nothing more.
I have opened a very popular eatery.
On Monday night the favorite was Hosta on the Hill.
The buffet line was totally cleaned out.
The Tuesday night special was Daylily Delight. Only one juicy Whooperee flower left.
Yesterday evening, I prepared for last night’s feasting
by adding some stinky Society Garlic as a side.
If you are expecting jokes about getting a gun and making venison,
you will be disappointed.
You see I once was a bear, pregnant with twins.
NO, I am not crazy. I am a biologist. I took PROJECT WILD training.
In one of the activities, we were assigned an animal role.
I was a bear pregnant with twins. I had to capture at least three times more food cards than the others.
One total let me live, a higher total let one cub live and the highest total let all three of us survive.
At the end of the “game” I was exhausted and sweaty. I did my best. My totals weren’t high enough.
PAUSE…
Let that that sink in. Who got to survive you ask? If you are a mother, you know it doesn’t matter.
One of the munching deer is pregnant, that means at least one more “mouth” to feed…
And we have coyotes.
Mother Nature is my mother, too.
Flowers are Edible. Bring it Mama!
Here in North Carolina, the bearded iris show off in April and early May.
The daylilies don’t swing in to action until late May.
To fill the gap are the Asiatic Lilies.
May is their month to shine.
These are my daughter’s lilies. She’s a flower, too.
Follow the FLOWERS.
I love tiny plants.
I love fairies.
I think tree roots are fascinating.
Put them together. It’s magic!
The fairies like their new hang out.
Even a toad dropped by while I was working. (Not pictured) Was he really a prince?
We shall see. One never knows what may happen. When there is magic in the garden.
Even if it is just a little magic.
Follow the Fairies!
Danger has come to the bunny yard.
I blame it on the oaks.
They dropped too many acorns this year. Millions of acorns.
The vermin feasted and propagated. No foraging necessary.
Now, there are too many little squirrels and baby chipmunks and mice.
The snakes come for lunch. The hawks come for dinner. The owls come for a midnight snatch.
Whoooo else came in the night?
Something big and strong. Something that bends wire and tears fences from their posts.
I am mending my fences and locking my low windows.
Afraid of this danger that has smelled my bunnies’ scent and wants to join the feast.
I blame it on the oaks.
Follow the FLOWER to the root cause.
UPDATE: Tracks photo from inside the bunny yard today.
Coyote?
While I’m gone, will you water my wall?
It’s alive you know.
These aren’t just stacked rocks for sitting,
like a stone throne.
Little friends live among the lithos.
I’d hate to lose them.
Follow the FLOWER.
