April 29th, 2011 | General, the world and Mother Nature, Time Passes
A student stayed after class this past week to ask a question. She seemed a little hesitant and I encouraged her to go ahead. “Are you watching The Borgias?” She blushed. “Now in what universe would I not be watching a costume drama with Jeremy Irons in the lead...
March 12th, 2011 | General, the world and Mother Nature
The most recent deluge and its run-off have charged the Susquehanna River and the fearsome weight of the water is muscling its way to the Chesapeake Bay. Flood stage is 23.5 feet in these parts. This morning, the river reached 27.7 feet and it is expected to crest at...
August 5th, 2010 | General, the world and Mother Nature, visual arts
Bill Powers led the Final Five into the woods. China Chow, draped in earth-toned cloak, presented them to “Nature herself” and gave instructions to incorporate something they found, something “without a pulse,” into their works. She also mentioned that this task would...
May 17th, 2010 | General, the world and Mother Nature
Heavens, but the bluebirds are dumb. We love our little azure bits of bliss, and go to great lengths to provide them with their favorite flavors of suet. They flutter berylline around the feeders, uncertain how to cling and unwilling to reach through the mesh to the...
February 10th, 2010 | General, the world and Mother Nature
It is not that there is nothing to do; indeed, there is far too much that needs to be done. I need to reconfigure class schedules to deal with days lost to snow, to write lectures for classes starting in less than two weeks, to sort through messes on tables and boxes...
June 25th, 2009 | Gardens and Gardening, General, the world and Mother Nature
Last night, about ten o’clock, I opened the front door and invited the cat inside for the night. The weak glow of the houselights quailed in the glare of the nearby streetlamp; there seemed little to draw me outside. Theo (Theodora Maud, really, named in part...
