Someone I just met asked me what my most recent degree was, knowing I used to be a nurse. I answered that I had obtained a second master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin at Steven’s Point in Natural Resources with a focus in Environmental Education and Interpretation (EE/EI). I responded that I was essentially…
Despite a rare and unique occurrence in the world of Lepidoptera, other winged species, besides monarch butterflies, migrate at this time of year. Hummingbirds are on the move! There has been a noticeable flurry of activity at our feeder over the last few days. The tiny birds drained the feeder yesterday. Today, there will be…
Today, I am taking the easy way out to post to my blog. However, it does not mean my post does not have value, it just means I’m trying to save myself some time, as I have other writing projects to attend to. The following is a reflection paper (book review) I wrote during my…
Today I am posting two blogs. The reason? Tomorrow, I host the Poetry Friday Round Up! What does tomorrow have to do with today? It has to do with the Poetry Friday participants that are down under and other places a day a head of the United States across the globe. I’ll post for Poetry…
I slept fitfully last night. I had some mild anxiety about a presentation today – the first student presentation I’ve done since the pandemic started. Although I was confident with the information I was presenting and how I was presenting it (this took a little bargaining), there was still that familiar twinge of fear and…
It’s August! The monarch butterfly season is in full swing! Soon, the monarchs we see flying through our yard will be on their way to somewhere else, and it’s not just the next yard! It will be on to the next state, and the next, and the next until they reach the over wintering grounds…
Last week, I wrote my first post about monarch butterflies for the season. Here is what’s happened since then. Currently, I have 9 chrysalises. A few should be ready to eclose soon. Eclosure is the process of the adult butterfly emerging from the chrysalis. Two just recently changed from the caterpillar to the pupa (chrysalis)…
As of leaving for our cabin on June 29th, I had only seen one monarch egg on milkweed in the field behind our house. Three or four monarch butterflies had flown through our yard, but as of this date, I had not seen any larvae or caterpillars. I know that less than fifty miles away,…
I’ve yet to see a monarch caterpillar this year. I have three types of milkweed in my yard and an outdoor enclosure waiting to raise a few monarchs. Inside the enclosure are butterfly weed and asclepias incarnata – rose milkweed, but the caterpillars are missing. It’s the end of June and I’ve only seen three…
One of our first stops in New York State last week was the Wegmans grocery store in Brockport. I grew up with this now well known grocery store chain and came to love it. Wegmans has a reputation for excellence – in how they treat their employees to how their stores are run and what…