On my studio doorstep, in afternoon sun, I found half a luna moth’s wings. I’ve longed to see this favorite in the wild, and this is as close as I’ve come. It was left at my feet, like my cat used to leave birds and lizards, in offering. Like most, I haven’t been feeling especially grounded, and […]
A Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) purloining from a single Drumstick Allium (Allium sphaerocephalon). It kept flying away to sample others in this cluster, and even my hand at one point, then returning to its steady focus. Today I learned these critters are nectar thieves—they don’t pollinate in return for their delicious dinner. Even worse than […]
Teeny tiny acrobats braved the summer breezes in my Karl Foerster grass this afternoon. Japanese Beetles are known to ravage gardens (as though the damn deer and woodchuck were not sufficient), but are also of the Scarabaeidae family, and so, feel lucky–especially when (determinedly) getting lucky.
This weekend, dear friends came up to stay in our guest digs and meet us on the porch for some experimental socially distanced revelry. On the fourth, we spatchcocked a chicken (along with grilled peaches and grilled Caesar salad) and christened our new-to-us bbq, but first hiked a nearby conservancy we’d yet to visit. The […]
A few days ago, at the peak of the monsoon that shrouded my birthday, I went to my garden to refill the birdbath and found a tiny, silvery moth floating on its surface. Thinking it hindered by wet wings, I slipped a leaf beneath to offer a bit of traction, but the moth seemed beyond […]
O Cuntadino Sutta lu Zappuni by Sicilian Soprano of the South Rosa Balistreri.
The view from our best dust, mid-trip, with gorgeous light and a murmuration of swifts.
As we moved through Modica’s melancholy decay and many shades of green, I pondered the possible significance of the gifts of Siracusa, two of which tie to melancholy myths of prophets—one beheaded, one disbelieved and eventually murdered. I love the notion of being a conduit for messages from the beyond, as writing sometimes feels. I […]
We drove to the hillside commune of Modica, and while hoofing up the mountain to check out the Baroque alta (upper region), befriended a man who guided us to the main (and most decorative) drag. He showed us various buildings, including his own, once housing his medical practice (now retired), and when departing, gave me […]