Early this morning, stepping out of the house to take my morning walk, I looked across the street at the neighbor’s cactus. It’s a beauty and must be about 15-18′ tall. It reminds me of the ones that grew in my house, limited to a height of 10′ by the ceiling.
The blossoms of my neighbor’s cactus are amazing. By the time I returned from my walk they had already closed up for the day.
The native Japanese honey bees have no issues traversing the mesh installed over their hive entrance. The hornets do not come close to fitting any part of their murderous bodies through the wire.
Minka – Our Japanese Farmhouse – with video
Ravens can solve puzzles, trick other animals into helping them out, and communicate with each other at a level even apes can’t match. And now we know they can hatch plans.
Ravens are so smart it’s actually kind of disconcerting, new study finds | Popular Science
I think ravens and crows are awesome.
The real question is will finding out that animals are intelligent change our view of the natural world and thus our behavior?
Designers don’t have power to stop extinction says Paola Antonelli
Broken Nature: Design Takes on Human Survival, the XXII Triennale di Milano, will bring together 120 architecture and design projects from the last 30 years that explore humankind’s fractured relationship with the planet.
The whole interview is worth reading, because it is truly perspective changing.
Artist/Naturalist Nils Udo
It was toward the end of the dry season. It had not rained for months. The earth was concrete hard. We had to proceed most carefully so as not to damage the more delicate roots. Seven people dug, scraped and shoveled for a week. After the photograph, the hole was, of course, filled in.
– Nils Udo
American Painted Lady – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The American Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) is a butterfly that is found throughout North America.
I have hundreds of these in my yard this month.
