I am fortunate to have multiple natural areas within relatively easy driving distance of my home. Each has its own character, and Tensas NWR is know for Louisiana black bears. But in June of this year, what captured my eye were the patterns created by the ubiquitous dwarf palmetto. Palmetto is not an easy plant to love. It’s spikey and kind of mean looking. Indeed, the points and edges of the leaflets when dry are quite sharp. The fans of leaflets jut out of the ground on short petioles and at odd angles to each other. I have spooked deer…

“More,” in more ways than one. As I said in yesterday’s post, Black Bayou Lake NWR became my escape from the house early in the pandemic. Of course, I have been an outdoor person most of my life and an enthusiastic naturalist for many years, but… this year was different. Don’t we know! The Refuge became my refuge from the stress of uncertainty, economic strain and concern for the well-being of humankind. But something else happened as I increasingly realized that city travel was out for awhile, maybe a long while. I had long relied on city travel to do…

As Covid-19 bore down on us, and not yet being fully cognizant of all that meant, an organization to which I belong went ahead with our planned annual conference in Jacksonville, FL. I had not considered not going, but as I headed to the airport, I wondered… It was a good conference. No one got sick. But after I got home, I learned that the woman I had lunch with on the last day learned after she got home that she had been exposed before going to the conference. She never got sick, nor did I. But I needed no…

I just went to my calendar and scheduled this year’s trillium walk. It has become a “must do” for me every February. Trillium is an ephemeral wildflower. If you don’t go at the right time, you will not get to see them. Many Louisiana wildflowers bloom on and on, some for months. Not so trillium. It’s here today, gone next week. It’s name comes from its trinitarian structure: three leaves, three sepals offset from the leaves so that they cover the edges where the leaves meet, and three flame-like petals. We have three species in Louisiana, all having red flowers….