I’m taking the path of least resistance, tossing up some links from the past week or so, straight from my daily gatherings (using ROAM as mentioned below.) YMMV.
I took herpetology in Alabama and literally dreamed of being the one to discover a colony of them somewhere in the hilly sandy pine forest of southern Alabama near Auburn University.
Along with gopher tortoises, these reptiles were pushed to near-extinction by the manly sport of rattlesnake roundups. Both these creatures made bad choices of house-mates, and get gassed so the good ol’ boys can feel manly. The pity.
I can’t think of this animal without remembering the biology student that didn’t quite make the transition between module ONE where we studied the human body and module TWO on Animals.
The fill-in-the-blank asked for the name of the animal that had fur, webbed feet like a beaver and a bill. Her answer: A bill-ducked esophagus.
Cognitive Productivity using ROAM–the most promising tool I have used to capture, connect and create new connections for gathered information. But then not everybody scratches where I itch:
There are those who vote along party lines to ignore the impact of the corporations from their voting districts that make their living off of activities or products and activities that push us even faster towards the brink. They look the other way, see no evil; not a crime; fake news. In light of the valid conclusions of this short clip from David Wallace-Wells, I hope their children know. And are wise enough to be angry, and angry enough to act.
You have to listen for a full minute, maybe, to settle into the fast-paced recitation by this poet offering a powerful praise of those who care for those we care for–our pets.
I have always thought “how extravagant” when visiting “A-frame” homes–all that heated and overheated space high among the timbers near the ceiling. And now we’ll be living in one. And I have perhaps the hardest woman in America to keep warm. I’m looking for anwers.
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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