Nature: An Unrequited Love As Valentines approaches, I'd like to declare my undying and unrequited love for nature. Nature, of course, doesn't care about me. Red in tooth and claw and all. But, like other quasi-relationships I've known, a lack of reciprocity doesn't phase me. This love for nature has now led me into the … Continue reading Nature: An Unrequited Love
Wed to Water Water. Its molecules bind and bubble, strongly pulling one another into droplets, rivers, oceans, and human bodies. We're made primarily of water, and our aqueous aspects yearn to join the flow, to dissolve and just float. They say the human body can vary in hydration from 50-75%. I propose that the more … Continue reading Wed to Water
Enmarshed Enmarshed is the best kind of word - the made-up kind. It's also a stolen word, filched from my friend Autumn Ware's blog, which only adds to its appeal. What does enmarshed mean? Intertwined, connected, with many pieces making up a whole (Jessi's Dictionary). A net is enmarshed. In fact, "marsh" is a local … Continue reading Enmarshed
An Abundance of Curiosities When you're down by the sea, and an eel bites your knee, that's a moray... I got excited this week, reading about eel life cycles in An Abundance of Curiosities: The Natural History of North Carolina's Coastal Plain. So excited, I had to stop and draw a diagram: Larvae --> glass … Continue reading An Abundance of Curiosities
Susurration of the Sea I recently read a poem by Danielle Hanson in Last Stanza Poetry Journal Issue #13 (I'm in there, too), titled "Bringing Home the Ocean." Hanson uses the word sussering in her gorgeous poem, and much like the ocean itself, that word has been following me home all week. After a life … Continue reading Susurration of the Sea
Coquina Soup Last week, I came across a quote in An Abundance of Curiosities: The Natural History of North Carolina's Coastal Plain (Bolen and Parnell), that took me back to the summers of my childhood. “With a little effort, gourmands can acquire enough coquinas as stock for a savory broth or chowder.” I call baloney, … Continue reading Coquina Soup
Egg Snatcher You probably don't think much about eggs, except for that point last year when they cost five dollars a piece. Brown or white, organic or the cheapest possible, extra-large or medium. Sunny-side up, scrambled. These are our choices. Not so for oologists. I recently finished The Falcon Thief, by Joshua Hammer, an account … Continue reading Egg Snatcher
Stoneflies and Centipedes The downpour began in earnest at bedtime, which was convenient, since we were getting in the tent anyway. The tarps, over the rainfly, over the tent, blocked out most of the waning sunlight. It was dark - too dark for reading bedtime stories, yet I persisted, even as water seeped in along … Continue reading Stoneflies and Centipedes
Super Power Cultivator Our neighbor gave my son a “Super Power Cultivator” for his fifth birthday. Here it is, in its Power-Concentrating Box: "How do I use it?" he asked. “Use your imagination,” she said. So, he speaks into it and tell it what superpowers he wants to gain. "I want to go faster," he … Continue reading Super Power Cultivator
Pollywiggle Pollywog I have a soft spot for amphibians, partly because they're so soft and vulnerable. Ask me my favorite animal, and I'll say "salamander." Unless I'm holding your Jello-boned cat; then he's my favorite. Or watching the blonde squirrel in my yard; then she's my favorite. But all the other times, it's salamanders. They're … Continue reading Pollywiggle pollywog
Jessi Waugh Writer 