Fireflies and Garden Butterflies

Thirty years ago, I heard former President Jimmy Carter give a talk at Fresno State University. One of the vignettes in his presentation was of when Emperor Hirohito was asked by journalists what he thought of the air pollution conditions in Tokyo, he answered, “I don’t see many butterflies in my garden.” That reply supposedly set off quite a debate about what should be done to relieve the poor air conditions in the city. Fireflies, like butterflies, do more than just bring delight to our grandchildren - they are one of many indicators of the condition of the web of life we live within and are all connected. As so go those on the margins, so go the rest of us.

Ground Hog Day In June

Not February 2

Lately, every day is Groundhog Day in our yard on the Maryland Eastern Shore. Look at those shadows, nothing is going to bring back winter at this point in time.

Another Comment About Eastern Bluebirds

When we moved the first time to the East Coast, the most noticeable new bird for us was the Northern Cardinal. I saw my first one morning in the cherry tree outside our second floor bedroom window. They were common to our yard, so we saw them all of the time. It wasn’t until one of our visits back home to Oregon that I saw my first Bluebird near a wetland reserve in Corvallis. There were no

Sialia sialis

Bluebird sightings at all in Maryland our seven years there. This year out in the Eastern Shore and after putting in a fence, trees, and shrubs the past summer, Bluebirds are as common as Cardinals were in Annapolis. The difference being here we are surrounded by cornfields and grasslands compared to the wooded suburban neighborhoods on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay. Right now I hear the neighbors riding lawnmowers, Mockingbirds, Sparrows, Purple Martins, and the Barred Owl occasionally caterwauling off in the woods beyond the field, instead of the distant constant purr of cars and the occasional siren of emergency vehicles a few blocks distance to the boulevard. The rural lifestyle suits us well: enjoying this lovely Saturday afternoon of Fathers Day weekend, following a day of selective shopping for a few climbing roses, and medium-sized crepe myrtles, hostas, and assorted potting plants to finish off our garden planing this season. And the smell of the barbecue cooking chicken on our deck for the first time this year

The Other White Meat

Vulpes vulpes, Queen Anne's County

To cap off a perfect evening meal, just as we finished dinner, Jan saw a Red Fox running through the conservation reserve area next to our lot. A little while earlier, we saw an adult Ground Hog make its way through the same area. After we ate our BBQ chicken and first-of-the-season sweet corn, we kind of had an idea about what Mr. Fox probably would have thought of Mr. Ground Hog had they crossed paths: “Ah, the other white meat.”

Memorial Day 2018

 

What toll extracted

When you have seen grief on mothers’ faces

Wearing buttons with sons’ pictures that look like you

Waves of death and rows of white head stones

Carried caskets varying in weight

Knowing that remaining portions of recovered bodies differ

Depending on how much is left after being blown apart by IEDs

Drilled into your head to have your buddy’s back at all times

But you don’t reenlist when your buddy does

To not be there when he is killed on a bridge in Afghanistan

While you are safe at home

Go to his funeral

Leave with these thoughts

And then your cork pops.

November 17, 2010