My late afternoon visit to the garden cage was to be routine: check the plants need for water. With an ambient temperature index close to 100 degrees that was prudent to do. Something more pressing intervened: at ground level a snake had become entangled in the bird netting that is draped around the entire perimeter. It keeps the rabbits and
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** Note to visitors: There are articles about Fuzzy the toad appearing in June, July and August, 2014 editions of desktodirt. The toads in this piece are probably his offspring. How cool! ** This past Memorial Day we had the worst storm in a record-breaking six-month’s of them. In the early morning darkness the howling wind lifted the cover off my barbeque
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I first did it a couple of weeks ago. There was an early evening respite from being inside watching the soaking rain. A southerly breeze began kicking up and the rear of the truck seemed a good place to sit and enjoy the jostling air. I knew that Ernie would agree as he lights up at any opportunity to be
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It was 7:23 a.m. Ernie started this adventure with has amazing eyesight. Looking through the Shack’s glass doors he became transfixed: he was focused on something outback. I couldn’t confirm the source of his alarum. Frustrated being inside the Ern squealed and ran to the side door for a better peek. There, circling the neighbor’s goat family, was a coyote! Just days before
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Encounters with turtles have started to accumulate. From a distance a couple of weeks ago I saw this mottled green thing hustling down the driveway; it resembled a wobbly football. Walking closer I realized it was a turtle. Two days ago Ernie sniffed out the same guy in the outback pondering his inability to fit his shell through the neighbors welded wire
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Valued Visitor: With the world currently in an increasingly indescribable place I continue looking for answers. My stash of golden goodie articles turned up the one below. I really enjoyed writing it and believe it is another that has even more relevance today than it did when I penned it a few years ago. It is longer than some, but sit
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As of this writing I haven’t yet been able to discover a proper name for the spider shown above. Despite that, and as a budding amateur arachnologist, I’ve observed that her work hours are unique: 100 percent at night! [No wise-cracks, thank you.] And I assume it is a she because the female in the orb-weaver [Araneidae] family usually weaves the large web. [The
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There are still days when my type-A personality and life’s work ethic haunt me. Must every one be stuffed with irrevocable To Do’s? Not that I have to convert to a life of lassitude. But simple, unscheduled pleasures with no other aim are now mandatory. One recent morning was a perfect example. I had made a commitment to myself to
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I just realized that this is the one-year anniversary of desktodirt. And for new readers I bet most haven’t yet gone back to read good articles from the early days. So, from time to time I will reach into the past to present an article that you may enjoy again, or will for the first time. The first-ever article is about a
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Ray Wylie Hubbard put on quite a show Friday night at Round Top Festival Hill. If you’re a non-native and have any hope of being adopted in the Lone Star State you need to know about this native son. Never having seen him before I have to say that the man can entertain! Even the concerts are bigger in Texas!
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