Listen to this article below I’ve grown my own food since I returned to Nigeria from the US in 2021—tomatoes, peppers, corn, cucumbers, cassava. The experience has been grounding. But more than feeding me, it has taught me. One thing I’ve noticed is that everything grows. Crops grow. Weeds grow. That alone is enough to […]
Every place where I’ve lived or traveled has been adorned with flowers. I’ve seen tiny blossoms clinging to a rocky, windswept hill near Alaska’s Arctic Circle. I’ve admired large tropical varieties in Florida, and bright blooms on cacti in the Arizona desert. I’ve walked through fields of wildflowers here in the Midwest. All these lead […]
A flurry of feathers flew into the air, and loud screeching gave the impression of a fox in a hen house wreaking havoc. The little guinea fowls scurried about as though their tail feathers were on fire. Fearful they might die of fright, I backed away and sat down on the edge of the tub […]
Imagine exposing yourself to hungry enemies every time you carry out one of your regular, mundane tasks. Neglecting it could mean illness or death, so you must do it repeatedly. Yet this places you in a particularly dangerous position, because while you possess a few effective weapons, you move slowly and see and hear poorly. […]
Did you know that lizards are often caught by their tail, but they escape by detaching the tail from the center of their backbone? The tail keeps wriggling, fooling an attacker into thinking it has caught its prey. Meanwhile, the lizard dashes into the nearest crevice. He’s not worried—he just grows another tail! It doesn’t […]
Quirky Brush Turkey Dads
Brush turkeys from Australia have a unique way to raise their young. Instead of building a nest, laying eggs, and sitting on the eggs until they hatch, brush turkeys rely upon heat from other sources to incubate their eggs. The male piles leaves, sticks, and brush into a huge mound or […]
Imagine that you are taking a leisurely stroll through the woods. Sunlight filters down through its green canopy, splashing onto the forest floor below. You relish the sunshine, but also the coolness beneath leaf-laden branches—blissfully unaware that each leaf above your head is, in fact, a tiny oxygen factory! While you stroll along, you take […]
I'm reflecting on a feathered friend. While not the largest or fastest, it has another claim to fame. As early as 1709, an American adventurer praised its beauty as far more beautiful than European birds. In his 1932 book, Birds of Minnesota, Thomas Roberts opinedthat it deserved first place among its kind not only for […]
I love trees. Today I stared for a long time at one of them through my window. Their wide trunks and solid appearance inspire me with confidence and a certain hint of reverence. On a windy day like today, I also consider how their root systems help them stay unyielding in stormy weather. But here […]
Although not very large, seahorses are one of the most beautiful of underwater creatures. Their changing pallet of colors functions to camouflage them from both predators and prey. Ranging in length from approximately ½ inch to a foot, (1.5 to 35 cm),1 their hunting success rate exceeds 90 percent, higher than that of even the […]