Tag Archives: Musings

Going Native

Posted on October 15, 2016 by Randy Tindall

Our yard—front and back—is a curious place, located at a cultural and environmental crossroads.  Depending on one’s point of view, our yard is a treasure, an eyesore, an oasis of biological diversity, a blight on the neighborhood, something to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Landscaping, Musings, Native Plants, Society, Uncategorized, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

A Seagull Named Emma

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Randy Tindall

We have never had a seagull in our backyard, at least to my knowledge. So let me be clear up front that if you are expecting a heartwarming tale of an errant seabird squawking its way into Nadia’s heart or … Continue reading →

Posted in Insects, Musings, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Long Travelers: Leaf-cutter Bees, Part II

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Randy Tindall

Life travels, and a lot of it has made the journey to our backyard.  That includes Nadia and me–a few hundred miles from my point of origin for me and considerably more for Nadia.  Some of this life travels north … Continue reading →

Posted in Insects, Musings, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Cutting-up in Columbia: Leaf-cutter Bees in the Yard

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Randy Tindall

One of the joys of yard-watching in our urban wilderness is that you never know what you might find and where curiosity might take you.  One fine summer day as I patrolled our domain, camera in hand, I came across … Continue reading →

Posted in Insects, Musings, Photography, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Forest Unseen: A Book Review

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Randy Tindall

  Where backyards are concerned, size really doesn’t matter.  Even a square meter can yield a world of insight. David Haskell’s wonderful award-winning book, The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature (Penguin Books, 2012), begins its preface with a … Continue reading →

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Beyond the Fence

Posted on January 24, 2014 by Randy Tindall

Our backyard is inexhaustible. No, I don’t mean that it never gets tired, although that may be true, but that it is so much more than a plot of land enclosed by a battered fence out behind our house, as … Continue reading →

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There is something in silence

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Randy Tindall

Even in the relative peace and quiet of our backyard, my mind buzzes.  While a titmouse is making its monotonous, but very determined, call to attract a mate, while the wind whooshes through tree branches, and a red-shouldered hawk cries … Continue reading →

Posted in Musings | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

The Upper Left-Hand Brick

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Randy Tindall

NOTE:  This posting has an error.   The apple-like oak leaf gall is caused by a midge, not a wasp.  The leaf gall of the wasp is an elongated gall along the veins of the leaf.  I will update the … Continue reading →

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Men of Rice

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Randy Tindall

This is not really about our backyard, except that that’s where I was when the memory washed over me, early one morning, about 4 a.m. or thereabouts, as I shivered and stared up at the sky, hoping to see the … Continue reading →

Posted in Hiking, Musings, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Specially and diversely unique. Or something…

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Randy Tindall

It was waaay past time to turn the compost in our backyard. One of those jobs that seem much worse in anticipation than they actually are, turning compost is something I can put off for a very long time.  Now, … Continue reading →

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