Jul 23, 2013
Africa. Driving along the coast of the Cape Of Good Hope, we came across 2 ostriches just hanging out by the side of the road. I hadn’t realized how big these birds can get with males reaching up to 9 feet in height and weighing over 300 pounds. And they can’t even fly, but they sure can run. An ostrich can sprint over 43 miles an hour. And with those strong legs they can kick a lion or human to death in one quick thrust. Yikes! So it is interesting that ostriches are raced in Africa and even some parts of the US with a jockey on their back, just like horses. Of course there is much debate about the cruelty of this practice, but then again we eat ostrich meat, enjoy their eggs (one ostrich egg is the equivalent of 24 chicken eggs, use their skin for leather and adorn our hats with their feathers (ok, some people do although they don’t do much justice to my baseball hats). And what about one of my favorite sayings that ostriches stick their head in the sand to avoid conflict, just like I try to do. Unfortunately, it is not true. They will lie down and press their head and long neck to the ground to be less visible if danger approaches, but they don’t bury their heads. Damn. I guess I’ll just have to come up with another saying. ... read more
Jul 17, 2013
Savannah, GA. A cool plant that you can eat (according to most websites although a few sites caution against ingesting it), keeps rodents and deer away from your landscaping, repels ticks and mosquitos, and will protect you from vampires. Why doesn’t everyone have one, I wonder? In South Africa, they are even planted around houses to keep out the deadly mamba snake (if you remember the skulls and crossbones snake rating used at the Serpentarium in Wilmington, the mamba gets 5 skulls indicating the most dangerous of all snakes). And as an added benefit, they attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Way cool. Society garlic, a perennial from South Africa, has a garlicky odor and taste with a pretty lavender flower that can decorate any salad or plate of food. The leaves can be eaten in place of chives and they are easy to grow. While they are not tolerant of really cold weather, this particular plant has thrived in Savannah, GA which gets pretty chilly. So what is not to love? Especially the vampire part. And why do vampires stay away from garlic? Well apparently vampires have an increased sense of smell so the odor of garlic keeps them at bay. Works for... read more
Jul 9, 2013
Palm Beach, FL. Having just committed to a 3 week trip around the world beginning in Oct, I now find I need yellow fever shots, extra pages added to my passport, country visas. Yikes! We start in Florida traveling west to Panama, then Easter Island, Fiji, Australia, Bali, India, Kenya, Portugal and then back to Boston. So how do I keep up with the changing time zones? How many time zones even exist in the world and what is a zone? Well, there are 40 time zones according to one website (37 according to another). With a time zone referring to the Earth’s surface loosely divided by 15 degrees of longitude (not even sure what that means) there are 24 standard zones (see map) with another 16 zones that use 30-45 minute increments after the hour. The U.S. actually has 9 time zones (yep 9, including Alaska, Hawaii and Samoa). Ok, really? Yet, China has only one time zone for the entire country and then throw in daylight savings time. And how about outer space? The common practice is to use the time zone of the launch site. Wow, this is way too complicated. I am just glad I start and end in the same zone, 40 zones later (or is it 37?). >... read more
Jul 3, 2013
Palm Beach, FL. I wasn’t sure what this was when Gibbs, my Havenese, and I came across it on the beach until a friend pointed out it was a homeless hermit crab. Homeless? If I had only known, I would have tried to find it a new home/shell. Hermit crabs are decopod crustaceans which simply means they have 10 legs (deca is Greek for 10) who live in shells made and abandoned by other animals. As the crab grows, it must find a new, bigger shell. And sometimes there is intense competition for new shells. Crabs will sometimes gang up on a crab who is perceived to have a better shell (gee that sounds like human behavior) but they also form queues in what is known as a vacancy chain. When a bigger shell becomes available, hermit crabs will line up from largest to smallest. The biggest crab takes the new shell and then they each swap shells for the newly vacated one until they all have new shells. Kinda like musical chairs, but more civilized! And hermit crabs make wonderful pets according to an ad on Petco’s website which describes them as lively and cute. I wouldn’t go so far as cute, but you need to really like your hermit crab since they live 20 + years if properly cared for. Ah, if I had only known. Gibbs might have a new playmate!... read more
Jun 28, 2013
France. One of the most famous bridges ever painted. The Japanese bridge (I haven’t been able to figure out why it is considered Japanese) is in Monet’s gardens in Giverny, 80 kilometers west of Paris. A sight to behold. Claude Monet, one of the key painters in The Impressionist movement, was also a master gardener and horticulturist. His greatest passion became his gardens and he was quoted as saying his greatest masterpiece was also his gardens. During his last 20 years (he died at 86), he painted a series of paintings depicting the bridge and the water lilies surrounding it. His painting entitled Le bassin aux nympheas (a water lily) sold in 2008 for $80.4 million putting it in the top 20 highest priced paintings ever. To stand on the bridge, under wisteria actually planted by Monet, and look out at the water lilies is an amazing experience. Here’s to life and gardening!... read more
Jun 25, 2013
Boston, MA. A stuffed Tasmanian Tiger seen at The Harvard Museum is something to behold. With stripes on its back and the features of a large dog or wolf, it was the world’s largest carnivorous marsupial (distinguished by the young being carried in a pouch).And one of only 2 marsupials where both sexes had a pouch. The last known tiger died in 1936 from neglect at The Hobart Zoo in Tasmania less than 2 months after it was declared a protected species. Hunted to extinction in Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea by European settlers, it is one of the most fabled, mystical animals of this century. But since it’s declared extinction, there have been thousands of unconfirmed sightings. In 1983, Ted Turner offered a $100,000 reward for proof of the continued existence of a tiger and as recently as 2005, an Australian magazine offered a million dollars for proof. Movies have been made including The Hunter starring Willem Dafoe, and numerous books have been written about the tiger. Even talk about cloning preserved DNA adds to the legend. So you never know. Extinct or not? Either way, a fascinating animal. Photo by Corrie Woods ... read more
Jun 21, 2013
Boston, MA. I just can’t get enough of the glass models created by the Blaschka’s back in the late 1800’s. In addition to the thousands of flower and plant models they made, there is a whole series of jellyfish, octopuses and other invertebrates made from glass by the father and son. > This glass octopus is in The The Harvard Museum collection and is stunning to view. So what exactly is an invertebrate? Well, 97% of animal species alive today are invertebrate, meaning they have no backbone. Really! I had no idea. > This includes insects, crabs, snails, starfish, and of course octopus. With 8 arms equipped with suction cups, 2 eyes and a beak much like a bird’s beak (the only hard part of their body), the octopus is a highly intelligent animal. They use both short and long term memory to solve mazes and problems and are the only invertebrate to use tools. In one study, they were given a coconut shell which they took apart and reassembled as a shelter. And they make great designs on pants. Take Billy Horschel in the last round of the U.S. Open. While he didn’t win, everyone was talking about his Ralph Lauren octopus pants. A brilliant marketing strategy on the part of the Ralph Lauren folks. Now how cool is that! > > > > > ... read more
Jun 17, 2013
Palm Beach, FL. It is always interesting when you move a plant. This plant was a little green shoot until I moved it one foot into the sun about a month ago and then it exploded into this beautiful flower. Oh, and I have had the plant for 8 years and this is the first time I have seen it bloom. It just goes to show how tweaking something can bring spectacular results. A little to the right, a little to the left. Trying something new. Now I just have to figure out the name of the plant. No easy task. I thought it would be readily apparent with all the Internet resources. But after several hours of searching, including reviewing some new plant identification apps, I came up empty. So if anyone knows the name of the plant, let me know. In the meantime, I am just going to enjoy its beauty. Just picking my head up, fine tuning the small things and falling in love with life. Now that is good! Enjoy! UPDATE: The flower is an orange allium. ... read more
Jun 13, 2013
Palm Beach, FL. This morning on the beach there were new tracks of female turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs. Turtles nest every 2-3 years, usually returning to the same beach to nest after traveling hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles. So how do they remember which beach (oh and it is most often the same beach where they hatched)? Well, sea turtles rank among the most impressive migratory species. Scientists are now tracking many turtles using satellites and GPS systems attached to the turtle’s shell. One of the latest theories on navigation, is turtles use the angle and intensity of the earth’s magnetic field to determine longitude and latitude. Wow. I am not sure what that even means, except a turtle can apparently navigate anywhere in the oceans and still come back to its original nesting beach. There are 7 species of sea turtles (we have 5 in Florida) and all are protected by the Endangered Species Act. And since only about 1 in 1,000 to 10,000 baby turtles make it to adulthood, I feel honored to have seen so many tracks in the sand as the sun came up over the Atlantic this morning. What a glorious day!... read more
Jun 11, 2013
Wilmington, NC. My what an interesting place, a serpentarium. Well that is a new one for me. A zoo that specializes in snakes may not be on everyone’s list of things to do, but it was high on my list when in town for my niece’s wedding. The Cape Fear Serpentarium is recognized as a leading world reptile collection with over 150 snakes, crocodiles and lizards. Cobras, pythons, mumbas and even a man eating crocodile. Very cool and kinda creepy at the same time. Pictured is a timber rattlesnake which is very prevalent in the Eastern US. Dean Rika, the owner and herpetologist (a person who studies reptiles) of The Serpentarium, devised a 5 scull and cross bone rating for how dangerous each snake is depending on venom, aggressiveness, and other factors. This snake gets 3 sculls which means you might die if you get bit and will likely have lasting debilitation. One scull means you will generally recover and 5 sculls (the max) means you will probably die or wish you had if you get bitten. Best not to have to try the ratings out! ... read more
Jun 6, 2013
Africa. Caught in the middle of a big herd of Cape Buffalos, our guide advises us to be still. There are hundreds of them and they just appeared out of no where. These animals are 6 feet tall, weigh 1,500 pounds and can run 35 miles an hour. Sit still, really! African Buffalos are considered one of The Big 5. I have often heard the term, but wasn’t sure what it meant. Big game hunters coined the phrase to reflect the ferocity of a group of animals when hunted. So we have the lion, elephant, leopard, rhino and cape buffalo making up the Big 5 and luckily today, most of the hunting is done with a camera. Although we know the hippo is the most dangerous animal alive, some experts consider the Cape Buffalo to be even more dangerous than the hippo as it kills more humans, on average, a year. And here we are, in the middle of them, in an open jeep. Yikes. Since a wounded Cape Buffalo is one of the few known animals that will purposely circle back on their own trail to lie in wait and hunt their pursuer, its a good thing we were only watching them. I wonder how they learned to do that? Pretty smart. Another of life’s many fascinations. ... read more
Jun 3, 2013
Africa. A dung beetle. One of the coolest bugs alive in my mind. Not only do they eat, breed and mate in dung, they are depicted throughout Egyptian history (the scarabs shown in ancient paintings), are the subject of an Aesop fable (The Dung Beetle and Eagle), and have recently been featured in studies on their GPS capabilities. Plus, they play an important role in agriculture. Wow. So here we have a dung beetle, on a road in Africa, rolling his ball of dung as fast as he can so robber beetles don’t steal it (and his girl, as the female often goes along with the ball). I’m not sure what I was thinking when I took this picture 5 years ago. Little did I know it would turn into one of my many new fascinations! This species of dung beetle (there are over 6,000 different species) harvests material from a fresh dung pile and shapes it into a ball. Then he rolls it away before some bigger beetle steals it? And he must roll it in a straight line, otherwise he just goes around in circles which invites robbers. New studies show, at night, they use the Milky Way as a guide making it the first known animal species to use a celestial compass. And they are very important in agriculture. Australia imported 23 species of beetle to clear dung from the fields which keeps the fly population down and off the cattle. Basic animal husbandry. They also improve soil structure by recycling nutrients. Who would have thought? Oh and by the way, they are the strongest insect... read more
