Just Coz

Moth Mullein

We have a six year old with us this week. And already, we’re remembering that every answer to the question of why is followed by the question of “but why?”

“But why does the moth mullein have anthers that look like little orange slices?” asks the curious photographer? “And what’s the deal with those fancy purple hairs that make the filaments look like feather boas?”

And the best I can come up with as photographer or grandfather is often “just coz.”

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fred
fred

Fred First holds masters degrees in Vertebrate Zoology and physical therapy, and has been a biology teacher and physical therapist by profession. He moved to southwest Virginia in 1975 and to Floyd County in 1997. He maintains a daily photo-blog, broadcasts essays on the Roanoke NPR station, and contributes regular columns for the Floyd Press and Roanoke's Star Sentinel. His two non-fiction books, Slow Road Home and his recent What We Hold in Our Hands, celebrate the riches that we possess in our families and communities, our natural bounty, social capital and Appalachian cultures old and new. He has served on the Jacksonville Center Board of Directors and is newly active in the Sustain Floyd organization. He lives in northeastern Floyd County on the headwaters of the Roanoke River.

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  1. Well, Sissy, all I can say is you do have a handle on the cartoons! You’re right on the money. And yikes, my script is amok, comments running into the main column. WOnder if there’s a fix for that? Oh WorkPress geeks, what to do?