Time

Can it really be true that this year is almost over? Surely the calendar must be wrong! It can't be December 29 already. 

But, yes, one must admit, sadly, that it is. Another year almost gone and what have I accomplished? Very little, it would seem.

To be honest, 2025 has been full of challenges for me. The challenges have been primarily related to my health, beginning with a fall in January that resulted in injuries that put me in the hospital for a few days and is still requiring regular follow-ups by a home health nurse, something which I hope to dispense with very soon.   

So, all things considered, 2025 has not exactly been a stellar year for me and I am hoping for better things out of the coming year.

I remember my mother remarking on the fact that the years get shorter as you get older. That didn't make any sense to me at the time, but now I understand all too well what she meant.  

All of which brings to mind the lyrics of the old Jim Croce song from long ago,"Time in a Bottle." If I could save time in a bottle, how would I choose to spend it? Well, at least some of it would be spent right here, composing these posts for you, for I do look forward to the time we spend together, especially when  you respond. I plan to keep doing this in 2026 and I hope you will keep responding. 

Happy New Year!      

I'm still here!

Thank you to all my readers who have noticed and questioned my absence on these pages recently. As some of you know, I suffered a fall that required a few days in the hospital and then rehabilitation and, for a while, it limited my ability to post here. Happily, I am at home now and recovering and I hope to be back to my normal activities soon. 

Thank you again for your concern and please keep checking on "The Nature of Things." Hopefully, you will be seeing me here again on a regular basis quite soon. 

Poetry Sunday: When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple by Jenny Joseph

I've featured this one here before, but it is a particular favorite of mine. It is what I aspire to as I grow old, and so here it is again.

When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple

by Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.

And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves

And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired

And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells

And run my stick along the public railings

And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain

And pick flowers in other people's gardens

And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Vacay

 "This Week in Birds" is taking a vacation this week. It will return next weekend.

Poetry Sunday: Pity the Nation by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

 This seems somehow particularly appropriate at the moment.

This week in birds - #660

A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment:

Since I didn't post a TWIB last weekend, we actually have two "Birds of the Week."

                              Canada Jay
The Canada Jay was the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week for last week. The Canada Jay is, of course, a cousin of the very familiar Blue Jay and is of approximately the same size. Like all jays they are clever and opportunistic and are generally very tame and bold around humans. They are residents of boreal and subalpine forests from Alaska all across Canada and in mountain forests of the western United States from Washington and Utah to New Mexico and California.

                                        Lewis's Woodpecker
Lewis's Woodpecker is the Bird of the Week for this week. It is a bird of the western United States and northward into Canada. Its habitat is generally open coniferous forests, mature riparian and oak forests, and burned areas. Its population is considered stable at this point.

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It's time for Project FeederWatch once again. You can sign up to participate here.

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Extreme weather fueled by climate change is contributing to the drop in bird populations worldwide.

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Here are some tips on how to make your backyard a haven for birds in winter.

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The lemurs of Madagascar seem to be experiencing a baby boom, but that is not necessarily a good thing.

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Meeting Lucy, the famous Australopithecus afarensis fossil, at the Houston Museum of Natural Science years ago, was an unforgettable experience for me, and she is still wowing visitors - this time at the National Museum in Prague.  

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There are bills in Congress that would remove endangered species protections from grizzly bears and gray wolves, but polling shows that the American public is very much opposed to that idea.

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Did you know that the first bound books were put together in ancient Rome? Very clever those Romans.

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CBS News, following its acquisition by Skydance Media, has gutted its climate team. Sad. When I was growing up, CBS was the gold standard for network news.

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Do American Robins migrate? It somewhat depends on how you define migration.

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Snapdragons in the valleys of the Pyrenees can show us how evolution happens.

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Global fisheries are driving manta rays toward extinction. The Manta Trust is calling for immediate global action to protect manta and devil rays.

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A new species of bee has been discovered in Australia. It has been named the "Lucifer" bee.

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A new report says that the social costs of plastics in the U.S. may total more than one trillion dollars per year. 

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There is some rare good news for the world's most endangered cetacean, the vaquita. Some new calves have been born, giving hope that the species may yet be saved from extinction.

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At least sixteen banks, including JP Morgan Chase and Citibank, continue to fund oil and gas extraction in the Amazon. 

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A rare Salvin's Albatross was rescued and underwent surgery to remove fishhooks from its stomach. The bird made a successful recovery and has now been returned to the wild.

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Archaeologists believe they have found a 3,000-year-old map of the cosmos at an ancient Maya site in Mexico.

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Hawaii has the unfortunate distinction of having more endangered species than all of the other states combined. 

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Here are forty of the finalists for this year's Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards. Enjoy!

Our current situation

Political cartoonists are very adept at making their point with a few strokes of a pen, and of course they have a rich trove to draw from (literally) in our current situation. Here are a couple that I thought hit their mark pretty squarely in the last week.

Didja miss me yet?

Some of you may have actually noticed that I have been absent from these pages for a few days. The reason is that I have been in the grip of a seriously nasty bug which has kept me feeling quite miserable. I am recovering slowly. Perhaps my age is slowing my recovery - I just don't bounce back like I did when I was younger. At any rate the recovery is much too slow to suit me, but I'm doing my best to be patient and to be a good patient. And I hope to return to regular posting here quite soon. Thank you to those who have noticed and have actually asked about my absence. I appreciate you more than I can possibly express.  

Poetry Sunday: The Haunted House by Felicia Dorothea Hemans

Okay, I'm a bit late for Halloween, but here's a poem that I came across last week and I liked its images. So even though I'm late, I thought I would share it with you. I hope you find it...interesting.

The Haunted House

by Felicia Dorothea Hemans

I seem like one
Who treads alone
   Some banquet-hall deserted,
Whose lights are fled,
Whose garlands dead,
   And all but me departed.
           —Thomas Moore, “Oft in the Stilly Night (Scotch Air)”

See’st thou yon gray gleaming hall,

Where the deep elm-shadows fall?

Voices that have left the earth

     Long ago,

Still are murmuring round its hearth,

     Soft and low:

Ever there;—yet one alone

Hath the gift to hear their tone.

Guests come thither, and depart,

Free of step, and light of heart;

Children, with sweet visions blessed,

In the haunted chambers rest;

One alone unslumbering lies

When the night hath sealed all eyes,

One quick heart and watchful ear,

Listening for those whispers clear.

See’st thou where the woodbine-flowers

O’er yon low porch hang in showers?

Startling faces of the dead,

     Pale, yet sweet,

One lone woman’s entering tread

     There still meet!

Some with young, smooth foreheads fair,

Faintly shining through bright hair;

Some with reverend locks of snow—

All, all buried long ago!

All, from under deep sea-waves,

Or the flowers of foreign graves,

Or the old and bannered aisle,

Where their high tombs gleam the while;

Rising, wandering, floating by,

Suddenly and silently,

Through their earthly home and place,

But amidst another race.

Wherefore, unto one alone,

Are those sounds and visions known?

Wherefore hath that spell of power

     Dark and dread,

On her soul, a baleful dower,

     Thus been shed?

Oh! in those deep-seeing eyes,

No strange gift of mystery lies!

She is lone where once she moved,

Fair, and happy, and beloved!

Sunny smiles were glancing round her,

Tendrils of kind hearts had bound her;

Now those silver chords are broken,

Those bright looks have left no token;

Not one trace on all the earth,

Save her memory of their mirth.

She is lone and lingering now,

Dreams have gathered o’er her brow,

Midst gay songs and children’s play,

She is dwelling far away;

Seeing what none else may see—

Haunted still her place must be!

This week in birds - #659

 A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment:

It is perhaps appropriate that on this Halloween the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week is a blood-drinking bird, the Vampire Ground-Finch. It is believed that the bird's behavior of drinking blood evolved from its habit of pecking at parasites as it cleaned them from the plumage of larger seabirds. The bird's range is two tiny islands (Darwin and Wolf) in the northwestern corner of the Galapagos Islands. Charles Darwin only ever visited the main Galapagos Islands and so he never encountered or described the Vampire Ground-Finch.

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Earth is growing dimmer, reflecting less light back into space, and the Northern Hemisphere's light is decreasing even faster than the Southern Hemisphere. 

*~*~*~*

Horseshoe crab blood has long been used in making safe medicines but now alternatives that could spare those creatures are being tested.

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For the first time in its long history, it seems that mosquitoes have invaded Iceland.

*~*~*~*

The current administration in Washington has approved increased drilling for oil and gas in Alaska's national wildlife refuge.

*~*~*~*

A marine heatwave in the summer of 2023 has left critical Florida corals functionally extinct with too small a population to reproduce.

*~*~*~*

This is an example of the web of an orb-weaver spider. Apparently these spiders "decorate" their webs in order to better locate their prey.

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In other news of spiders, it seems they don't like loud noises any more than we do. New research has found that they build their webs differently in loud conditions.

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Florida panthers have been facing extinction for a while, but now they have been saved - at least temporarily - by genes from Texas pumas.

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Climate change made this week's Hurricane Melissa much more powerful.

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Bats that glow? At least six species of North American bats glow green under UV light, but the purpose of the glow is unclear.

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Did the famous Moai of Easter Island "walk" to their current location on the island? New research shows how that might have happened.

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How did Indigenous Americans transport a tree weighing in excess of five-tons more than a hundred miles 900 years ago to the pre-Columbian city of Cahokia?

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To hide from predators, some animals try to blend in with their surroundings while others display bright colors as a warning. Which strategy works better?

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Bowhead whales have a lifespan of more than 200 years and it is possible that that holds a key to longer lives for humans.

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Without more effective protections, isolated indigenous groups of humans could vanish within a decade, according to a new report. 

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Not only a repository for the dead, cemeteries can also offer a place of protection for the wild.

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A new study indicates that dinosaurs were thriving on North America before that famous asteroid hit Earth some sixty-six million years ago.

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It appears that Australian rainforests are now emitting more carbon than they absorb and that is an ominous finding.

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Scientists have discovered a polar rhino that roamed the Canadian Arctic some 23 million years ago.

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Want to attract owls to your property? Here are seven strategies that could help.

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Is there a Loch Ness monster lookalike lurking in the waters of Lake Tahoe? Legends of "Tahoe Tessie" hint at the possibility.

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Monarch butterflies are migrating and the first roosts have been reported in Mexico. 

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And finally, may I wish you a happy Samhain! As the wheel turns and darkness deepens, may you honor what has been and gently let it go. May the quiet Earth remind you to rest and root. In the stillness, may your inner light burn steady and true. Bless Samhain. 

Poetry Sunday: October by Paul Laurence Dunbar

October truly is one of my favorite months of the year and I think it must have been one of Paul Laurence Dunbar's as well because he wrote this lovely poem in honor of the month. Dunbar was an American poet and novelist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was the son of parents who had been enslaved before the Civil War. He was a remarkable poet who overcame many obstacles to become the first African-American poet to gain national recognition. I hope you enjoy his description of this "Whole-hearted, happy, careless, free" month.

October

by Paul Laurence Dunbar

October is the treasurer of the year,

And all the months pay bounty to her store;

The fields and orchards still their tribute bear,

And fill her brimming coffers more and more.
But she, with youthful lavishness,
Spends all her wealth in gaudy dress,
And decks herself in garments bold
Of scarlet, purple, red, and gold.
She heedeth not how swift the hours fly,
But smiles and sings her happy life along;
She only sees above a shining sky;
She only hears the breezes' voice in song.
Her garments trail the woodlands through,
And gather pearls of early dew
That sparkle, till the roguish Sun
Creeps up and steals them every one.
But what cares she that jewels should be lost,
When all of Nature's bounteous wealth is hers?
Though princely fortunes may have been their cost,
Not one regret her calm demeanor stirs.
Whole-hearted, happy, careless, free,
She lives her life out joyously,
Nor cares when Frost stalks o'er her way
And turns her auburn locks to gray.

This week in birds - #658

 A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment:

This is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week. It is the Groove-billed Ani, a bird of the most southern tip of Texas, into Central America and on into the northern and western parts of South America. The bird is given the common name of "Tick eater" which is a bit misleading, but like Cattle Egrets, it does enjoy dining on the insects that are stirred up by the feet of cattle.

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Although the federal government is shut down, some employees are still working - those who issue permits for oil, gas, and mining operations, for example. Priorities...

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And no more climate research in the Arctic region, it would seem. Will we even notice when everything finally melts?

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It seems the phrase "survival of the fittest" may be somewhat misunderstood.

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A close friend of Vice President J.D. Vance has just been appointed to take over the NIH Environmental Health Institute.

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Was the evolution of our species shaped in part by our exposure to lead? New research seems to indicate that.

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Colorado is building the "world's largest" wildlife overpass, giving big animals like elk a safe way to pass.

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Here's a link to fifteen images from this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards.

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A 3,500-year-old Egyptian military fortress has been discovered in the Sinai Desert.

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A zoo filled with misfit animals is almost out of money for its operation.

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A maternal lynx named Lena was rescued from a fur farm and now she helps to raise young orphaned animals including kittens, bear cubs, and puppies.

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The North Atlantic right whale is one of the planet's rarest whales, but the good news is that its population is growing.

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Fire Island, New York's only federal wilderness area has seen an explosion of the population of feral cats which has dire consequences for the islands native birds.

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Off Santa Cruz, California, those feisty otters are at it again - stealing surfboards.

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The first discovery of hand and foot bones of an ancient cousin of our human ancestor, Paranthropus boisei, suggests they were capable of making and using simple stone tools.

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The "Coral Triangle" is a biodiverse patch of ocean around the Philippines and Papua New Guinea that seems to be resilient to climate change.

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In Sequoia Park, California, a young black bear broke into the zoo in order to visit the zoo's bears.

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A 1-in-30 million calico lobster was recently caught off the coast of Massachusetts, after which she found a home in the Northeastern University's Marine Science Center.

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The green sea-turtle is making a comeback and the once endangered critters have now been reclassified as "a species of least concern."

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A new study has found that lizards with missing limbs still seem to thrive amazingly well.

*~*~*~*

A California student took chickens from a slaughterhouse. Was it a rescue or a crime? (As one who grew up on a farm and whose early playmates were often chickens, I'm definitely on the side of the rescuer and the chickens.)

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Finally, here are the finalists from this year's Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards. Enjoy! 

Poetry Sunday: The Zen of Housework by Al Zolynas

This one caught my eye with its title. I'd never thought much of housework as being a "Zen" activity. My interest was piqued and so I read.  The line about the glass being full of the "grey wine of domesticity" made me smile. And so I decided to share it with you. Let me know what you think. 

The Zen of Housework

by Al Zolynas

I look over my own shoulder

down my arms

to where they disappear under water

into hands inside pink rubber gloves

moiling among dinner dishes.

My hands lift a wine glass,

holding it by the stem and under the bowl.

It breaks the surface

like a chalice

rising from a medieval lake.

Full of the grey wine

of domesticity, the glass floats

to the level of my eyes.

Behind it, through the window

above the sink, the sun, among

a ceremony of sparrows and bare branches,

is setting in Western America.

I can see thousands of droplets

of steam—each a tiny spectrum—rising

from my goblet of grey wine.

They sway, changing directions

constantly—like a school of playful fish,

or like the sheer curtain

on the window to another world.

Ah, grey sacrament of the mundane!