Valued Visitor: With the world currently in an increasingly indescribable place I continue looking for answers. My stash of golden goodie articles turned up the one below. I really enjoyed writing it and believe it is another that has even more relevance today than it did when I penned it a few years ago. It is longer than some, but sit
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As of this writing I haven’t yet been able to discover a proper name for the spider shown above. Despite that, and as a budding amateur arachnologist, I’ve observed that her work hours are unique: 100 percent at night! [No wise-cracks, thank you.] And I assume it is a she because the female in the orb-weaver [Araneidae] family usually weaves the large web. [The
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There are still days when my type-A personality and life’s work ethic haunt me. Must every one be stuffed with irrevocable To Do’s? Not that I have to convert to a life of lassitude. But simple, unscheduled pleasures with no other aim are now mandatory. One recent morning was a perfect example. I had made a commitment to myself to
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I just realized that this is the one-year anniversary of desktodirt. And for new readers I bet most haven’t yet gone back to read good articles from the early days. So, from time to time I will reach into the past to present an article that you may enjoy again, or will for the first time. The first-ever article is about a
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Ray Wylie Hubbard put on quite a show Friday night at Round Top Festival Hill. If you’re a non-native and have any hope of being adopted in the Lone Star State you need to know about this native son. Never having seen him before I have to say that the man can entertain! Even the concerts are bigger in Texas!
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I had pressing business in Houston this week. That gave me an opportunity to relive, for a day at least, what used to be called generically the rat race. No offense to Houston, of course. It was a good place to call home for sixteen years. Driving past former residences, restaurants, places of employment and event venues was like saying
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I look at all the ivory colored flowers in my berry patch and smell a home-made dewberry pie. An offer to make it comes from one of the best pie persons in Fayetteville. All she needs is enough of this blackberry-like fruit: a quart will do. Of course I can’t divulge who it is. I don’t want to show favoritism within
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Ernie and I got a late start on our evening walk to the way back. On our return under a dusky sky his nose stopped and backed off something in a tuft of weeds: a snake. Without hesitation I picked up my pal and put him inside the shack. There was no need risking his getting a mortal bite. Immediately
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The Right to Privacy. I know, I know, it’s gone. Well, some of us won’t give up keeping it alive despite the onslaught. And there is one like-minded man who has done something major to support it. His name is Gabriel Weinberg. His creation is a real live, legitimate SEARCH ENGINE called DuckDuckGo with no tracking. Please don’t let your
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Ernie has now been with me since the end of last December. At about fifteen months old he gets to roam safely, free of big-city traffic and tumult. With his amazing nose he has replaced chasing tailpipes with pasture-resident rabbits, cows, goats and field mice. And I know he is happy because he tells me so. On numerous occasions sitting outside
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