Woohoo! Travel! I got home from a trip to a conference in March 2019 and immediately went into Covid-19 lockdown. Not until late September, 2021, did I board a plane again. Boy, did I miss it. I love where I live, but I also love to travel and specifically, I love to travel to big cities. I need my “city fix” a few times a year! It was quite wonderful to be back in Chicago. I wandered the streets camera in hand every moment I could. Yes, I saw an opera, and it was great to have opera back. But…
I am a wannabee biologist. When I went back to school in my 30s to begin collecting degrees, I chose the field of communication, and I love that field and taught in it for many years. I was afraid of the math requirements for doing natural science. But I was and still am a wannabee biologist. In retirement, I’m finally doing it. Not a degree. Haven’t time for that. But studying the natural world none the less, and hanging out with biology faculty–my former colleagues at the local university. So it was that I got involved in Dr. John Carr’s…
Beach walking pays off again! In July of 2021, I made it to the Gulf Coast of southwest Louisiana. The purpose of the trip was actually to deliver some furnishings to an Episcopal day school in Lake Charles, a task completed by noon. After lunch, I made a beeline for the coast, traveling straight south on La. Highway 39. Highway 39 is also known as the Creole Nature Trail, and when I have business in the southwest corner of the state, driving the Creole Nature Trail is a must. On this occasion, I drove straight south from Sulphur, La., to…
Have you ever paid attention to sand? Its colors and textures? The patterns derived from its interaction with water, especially waves? If you haven’t, do it. See, I’ve never been a beach person. That’s primarily because before becoming a devoted naturalist, the only purpose I knew for a beach was to lie on it to get a tan. But I was a fair child and teenager and the only thing lying on a beach ever got me was a serious sunburn. Today, I simply haven’t the patience for it. Boring. But… I have always loved being near the ocean, hearing…
I try to make it to Lake Martin at least once a year. In 2021, I made it twice, but the May trip was extra special because I had time to take my kayak and spend a couple of late afternoon hours on the water–just me and my kayak. I could do an entire blog post about this experience entitled “why I kayak.” I got close-ups of a broad-headed skink scurrying up and down a tree trunk. I watched an osprey eat a fish perched on the tiptop of a nearby snag. I was pretty up close and personal with…
Edge & Essence 