Eventually, Mister Frank, who was 81 at the time, asked if I could come in and help out in the morning. Of course I agreed I wanted to see more of what and who was about. So I showed up at 10 am, banging on the locked front door. Shuffling steps approached. Mister Frank's visage appeared from the gloom.   ...Read more

The blue jay is acting a bit self-conscious. Pin feathers coming in make him look quite awkward and so he compensates by acting with more bravado and investigating things more fiercely. If I leave the back door open he will hop right up to the threshold and survey the inside of the house   ...Read more

One of the nice things about July is that the ginger plant blooms. This is probably the last year I get to see this one do it. It's growing by the front door & some of the stalks reach 8-feet in height. This year there are about 16 stalks.

A ginger plant like this is a truly wonderful thing. I tend to cut all of the stalks down to the base in November when they are looking a little reedy. So during the winter the root looks kind of like a nasty scar. People who are unaware of what a wonderful thing emerges from the homely mess will give me a questioning look like "why do you have something like that by your front door?"   ...Read more

On American farms, the most important innovation of the last century is the tractor. From its introduction as a steam-powered behemoth, the tractor enabled a farmer to accomplish more work with less labor. The farmer was able to till and harvest larger sections of land. Tractors are versatile too! There are all kinds of attachments that can transform a tractor so it can be used to drill holes for fence posts, muck out the barn, or any of dozens of chores around the farm. The tractor soon became an indispensable helper that allowed the farmer to finish the innumerable chores about the farm more quickly. What this really meant was that more chores could be added to a list that already seemed endless. In the business world such a thing is known as "increased productivity." Such improved efficiency in an industry already so lucrative as farming promised even greater profits which could then be spent on... yes, more farm equipment and higher bank payments, which leads to in even greater efficiency. This is easily proven by counting the many retired farmers that live in penthouses on Fifth Avenue.
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Raspberry, the word can evoke images of a Bronx cheer, a bright-red variety of soda-pop or a small, delicate fruit with a subtle taste that some feel is akin to heaven on earth. My first experience with this fruit was nowhere so divine.   ...Read more

Consider, if you will, the plight of the suburban squirrel. They have no written history, therefore their only link with the knowledge and experiences of their ancestors is through oral recitation. With squirrel's memory what it is, things get rather garbled over time. They tell of a time when when they ruled the planet, dogs and cats would run from them and it was the cars that were confused when facing a squirrel in the middle of a road.

Today’s Suburban Squirrels live in an environment evolution could never have conceived, nor does it seem that there could be one for which they are better adapted. Their predators are few. Cats, adolescent males with slingshots, and radial tires.   ...Read more

She was right up my alley, but she was in someone else's car.... When I saw her, I was mesmerized. Standing like a deer in the highbeams, transfixed in awe and wonder at the light, never realizing as soon as I had stopped, I was roadkill, my muscles twitching as my blood jelled on the pavement beside me.   ...Read more