It looked like a tiny pebble, there on a leaf of my loofa gourd seedling. But it had the conical eyes of a gecko, and a smidge of white fluff coming out its rear. How could I not stop everything to figure out what it was? Continue reading “Planthopper nymph”
Category: Nature
Banded Snails
[Dartmoor, Devon, England]
I didn’t mean to fall in love with snails. But a quick glance at my camera roll shows a disproportionate ratio of snail pics to family pics, or even to wildflower photos. Snails have not been on my radar till this Dartmoor visit. Then again, on a previous trip here, I fell in love with cow pies. Continue reading “Banded Snails”
Look Around (England)
For a couple of weeks, I’ll be looking around not nearby in Nashville, but in England: Dartmoor National Park, mostly, plus a few other places on our way to and from. We are lucky to be here. Continue reading “Look Around (England)”
Toadlet
Presenting: a fresh American toadlet.
Yesterday it still had a tail.
A few days ago it breathed through gills and was a vegetarian.
Today it has lungs and a carnivorous gut.
What a cutie. Continue reading “Toadlet”
Naked Ladies and Cicadas
Hippocampus Magazine has published my short essay, “Naked Ladies and Cicadas” in the May issue, and I am thrilled.
Do visit. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Links to my other essays in literary journals and magazines are at JoannaBrichetto.com.
Red-shouldered bugs and a fresh assassin
I knew they weren’t box-elder bugs, but what? Hundreds and hundreds were mating and scurrying about on a (stupid) bush honeysuckle covered with (stupid) English ivy. So I type “red shoulder bug,” into BugGuide and guess what they are?
“Red-shouldered Bugs.” Continue reading “Red-shouldered bugs and a fresh assassin”
What a butterfly looks like
My “What a Butterfly Means” was published last week. I wrote it after watching a newly eclosed gulf fritillary butterfly on a passionvine at Warner Park Nature Center’s organic garden. Continue reading “What a butterfly looks like”
Sycamore currency
On American sycamore trees, buds are breaking. Under American sycamore trees, balls are breaking. Continue reading “Sycamore currency”
Star of Bethlehem: Thug of my Yard
Once upon a time, a new grass appeared in the yard. At first, I thought the narrow leaves were wild onion, but they didn’t taste oniony. They didn’t look oniony, either, not on closer inspection: each wore a silvery line down the middle of the green.
Later, when these mystery leaves began to yellow, a flower stalk emerged. It was staggered with green and white striped buds. Exquisite! Then, the buds bloomed into white, six-petaled flowers even more exquisite.
It was Ornithogalum umbellatum L.: Star of Bethlehem.
I hate it.
Continue reading “Star of Bethlehem: Thug of my Yard”Nashville’s Mustard
[This is a post from 2017. For the newest Nashville Mustard post, see “Meet the Mustard” (link)]
There are swaths of yellow right now in Elmington Park: small yellow blooms massed in the lawn. I hope the city doesn’t mow soon, because the yellow is Nashville mustard—our mustard—and it needs to go to seed and spread. I saw it on the way to Hebrew School, and as soon as I could, I went back and parked the car in the lot, then parked my body flat on the grass.
SIDEWALK NATURE 