This is a photo of a “possum” (opossum), Didelphis virginiana, that was in our yard last week. I had to shine a flashlight on it in order to take a picture because my camera doesn’t have a flash suitable for night photos. It is the largest possum I have ever seen. The possum is [...]

The red fox returned last week. About 9:30 p.m. I heard the alarm calls for a few minutes, then silence.  It’s strange how this is the first time I’ve heard it calling since March. That’s from vernal equinox to summer solstice, almost. Does it have some kind of internal clock that sends it to this [...]

    In the late ’90s I was walking up the main road to the back entrance of the Palace. I encountered a very large turtle on the side of the road opposite the Palace driveway. It had a shell that was about 12″ in diameter, so I knew that it was very old. I was [...]

This is the herb motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) in flower:

    There is a chorus outside my window. This haiku seems appropriate for this first day of summer:
The cricket
proudly pricks up its whiskers
and sings.
—-Issa
(trans. by Stephen Addiss)

Today marks the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. It is also the first official day of summer.

    Today is celebrated as West Virginia Day, in honor of the entrance into statehood of West Virginia. It split from Virginia in 1863 and today marks the 144th anniversary. West Virginia is noted for great natural beauty, an abundance of wildlife, and a huge variety of plants. This is a photo of [...]

flicker: digging in our lawn
ruby-throated hummingbird: staring at me,  from the opposite side of a glass storm door
turkey:  flushed into flight on Rt. 88, at the old farmhouse near the sharp turn (past the cemetery)
turkey:  ambling down the road across from our deck

“I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular . . .”
—-from When Death Comes, by Mary Oliver

This is the young buck who visited our yard. His antlers are about 3-4 inches long.