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A Thousand Words: Beautiful Couple
A picture is worth a thousand words, or so I hear. This beautiful couple showed up in a local stream, in a pond just upstream of an old mill building. It’s early spring (duh), and these gorgeous Hooded...
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The Promise Of Spring (Yeah… Promises, Promises)
The trees are not budding The grass is still brown The remnants of snowbanks Lay all around town The flowers aren’t blooming Except one or two But there, in the distance, A brief flash of blue? There’s...
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The Dinosaur Told Me…
The dinosaur told me “be careful” The dinosaur told me “beware” The dinosaur told me “it’s happened before, And the universe just doesn’t care” The dinosaur told me “Extinction Is the safest,...
View ArticleA Rare And Beautiful Thing
I know, I know. I’m not really here–but you know what happens; as soon as you say “I’m taking a break“, something shows up you just have to respond to. In this case, it’s NPR’s 13.7 blog, asking the...
View ArticleWhere The Hell Are The Bees?
The forsythia bloomed at the edge of the yard An explosion of yellow and gold; An abundance of nectar—but where were the bees? Disappearing… or so I’ve been told. So, yeah, the first few lawn-mowings...
View ArticleStephen King On God
“You’re missing the sunrises, sunsets, and stars; You’re missing the crops, and the bees.” You’re missing the point, Stephen King, if you think That we’re missing the moments like these The natural...
View ArticleDoes Life Have A Purpose?
What does it mean to be alive? What is life’s purpose, if any? Material stuff that wants, that strives, To turn its one self into many What does it mean to have an urge? What does it mean to struggle?...
View ArticleThis Time, The Apocalypse Is For The Birds
Predictions of apocalypse Are found in some religions This week, for something different, it’s The end of days… of pigeons In Moscow, birds are dying— Ah, but that is not the worst— The pigeons don’t...
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My New Neighbors, The Angels Of Death.
Well… they’ve got wings and they are looking over me, anyway. I discovered this morning that I have new neighbors. I had suspected them earlier, but they keep to themselves. But less than 100 meters...
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Clearly, I’m Not Burying The Bodies Deeply Enough
Yesterday, vultures. Today, a coyote. My little street is looking more like the wild west every day.
View ArticleNonhuman Rights On Trial
An octopus solves puzzles; A chimpanzee can add An elephant expresses When it’s happy or it’s sad A finch that’s after grub-worms Uses twigs and thorns as tools We thought them foolish animals They...
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That’s not a Tree of Life–THIS is a tree of life.
Neil deGrasse Tyson, on Cosmos, brings up the “Tree of Life” metaphor. I like mine better. Artist: Mike McRae
View Article“The Squid’s Embrace…”
Down in the depths Of the salty Atlantic A seaglider measured the signs of the sea– Monotonous work, And it isn’t romantic, At least, I’d be bored if the glider were me Up to the surface And down to...
View Article“A Greater Fool Than The Atheist”
There’s fools and then, there’s greater fools Like those who went to fancy schools For silly stuff like Kepler’s rules And other science stuff The planetary hows and whys Show God at work—that’s no...
View ArticleI’ll See Your Burrito-Eating Hamster, And Raise You A Dancing Snipe
PZ wants orders us all to cheer up. So, to that end…
View ArticleUnexpected Good News On The Cuttlefish Front
I have written before with bad news from Point Lowly, Spencer Gulf, in South Australia. That was from 2011; in 2012 the news was even worse, and last year things looked grim indeed. Unexpectedly, this...
View ArticleTornado Warnings, Now And Then
It was just the other morning When we heard the weather warning And we tried to drag the pets downstairs, for shelter from the storm I remembered, with a chortle, I was young once, and immortal, And...
View Article“It’s Nature’s Law–You Know, Like On Noah’s Ark”
Since the dawn of the world Humanities men mated with women, and women with men… it’s the way of nature. No mention of gay couples surviving the floods on Noah’s Ark, they were left to swim. That’s...
View ArticleBatty Bats!
So the cuttledog and I were walking, just a bit ago, and there were bats! There used to be bats aplenty, every evening walk we took, but then the white-nose fungus hit. The bats disappeared. I’ve seen...
View ArticleThe Plural Of Walrus
For Scicurious (still and always, the best ‘nym ever for a science writer) The walruses were gathered, Tens of K of walri strong With their floes unfroze, the walrae Joined a huge walrorum throng...
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