When I woke up this morning, I could tell that there was something different with the sky, because the sunlight through the blinds left orange patterns. I also smelled smoke, but had thought someone was having a fire in their fireplace. Nope. The sky was a familiar, smoky haze. Uh-oh! An internet search yielded the information that Western

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I think my pothos plant is a fan of the 1987 song “Walk Like an Egyptian” by the Bangles! Photo copyright 2023 by Vanessa Kier All my previous pothos grew down unless they were held up by a support. But this plant is growing up and out all on its own. Here’s the official video. Your ear

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I am absolutely loving the Merlin bird identification app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. My favorite feature is the Sound ID. I activate the app, tell it to record, and as it’s capturing the birdsong near me, it identifies the birds I’m hearing. One of my longtime grievances is that I can so often hear

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This is what spring in New England looks like near me. Gorgeous!I think these are snowdrop crabapple trees. Photo copyright 2023 by Vanessa Kier Wild Violets. I think they’re pretty, but apparently they’re considered a weed! Photo copyright 2023 by Vanessa Kier A friend identified this hyacinth for me. Photo copyright 2023 by Vanessa Kier

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Right now, I’m engrossed in two series that I didn’t think I would like. The first is Hugh Howey’s Silo series. I’m reading the second book, Shift, which gives the origin story of the silos. Boy, has it sucked me in. This is not a series I expected to return to. While I enjoyed Wool, I

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Today the temperature got into the high 60s Fahrenheit. When I walked past the local college, the students were out in tank tops and bathing suits, sunbathing on the lawn.  A sure sign that spring is here. And yet…tomorrow it’s going to be 20° colder.  During the winter, upper 40s seemed like a heat wave. Now it seems

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