Opinions

A pair of egrets had found a nice place in a local farm pond to watch the world around them on a sunny spring afternoon.

Missing a royal invitation...and other stuff...

Ugh...Monday morning...went out to the car...had to scrape frost off the windshield of the car...on the 24th day of April. Guess we might as well look forward to snow flurries on July 4th... Meanwhile... I asked The Other Half Monday night if we had received our invitation to the coronation of...

An armadillo wandered into our yard, and the neighbor’s yard, on a sunny day last fall. As noted in a previous column, the critter did not seem concerned at all about the presence of a human being with a camera.

No moose loose in garden...at least not yet...

Did you happen to see the story about the moose that was on the loose up north? As in Alaska. Specifically, the moose was on the loose in Anchorage, Alaska, according to a story, accompanied by a photograph, which appeared in the April 10 issue of USA TODAY. Or maybe it was a photograph accompanied...

A Canada goose looked like it might have been trying to make friends with some turtles on a log one afternoon last week at the pond at the Lincoln Memorial Picnic Grounds in Jonesboro. The turtles did not seem to be very interested in their visitor.

Spending time on Saturday evening with 'old friends'

So many things to write about...and so little time... Didn’t expect to wake up and see frost on the windshield Tuesday morning. And yet, there it was...with a promise of more to come on Wednesday morning... Meanwhile*... For all of you sports fans out there, let’s start with a little bit of soccer...

The wind was blowing so hard last Friday morning that it caused the entire Jonesboro Square to tilt. Or, maybe the photographer just couldn’t hold his camera steady... This week’s column makes mention of Mr. Lincoln...and some other good stuff, too...

A couple of books with local connections...

Oh. My. Gosh. Did you see snow flurries falling last Sunday morning? At about 8 a.m. in the little corner of the world your writer calls home. The flurries lasted for about 30 seconds... ...and were followed by spring’s arrival on Monday... Meanwhile... Last Thursday afternoon, I paid a visit to...

Yup...another pic of a pileated woodpecker. The photographer just finds them to be fascinating birds. This one was seen last week in Union County.

Mother Nature is playing tricks on us...

After getting home from another exciting day of editing copy, generating a couple of actual stories and taking a few photographs, I suggested to The Other Half on Monday evening that it might be good to check the calendar. Given how some of the events of the day had unfolded, I was starting to...

Strange birdfellows? Your writer consulted with a fellow scribe at The Paragraph Factory if “strange birdfellows” seem appropriate for this image of a mockingbird and a killdeer. The fellow scribe was OK with it.

Little bit of this...little bit of that...

Once again this week, we’re going to go with a little bit of this...and a little bit of that... Is it just me, or does the wind pretty much just keep on blowing...day...after day...after day...? It’s been nice seeing crocuses and daffodils... Meanwhile... Yours truly went for a walk (big surprise...

Super Bowl snackers? We had a couple of special visitors on our front porch last Sunday night. The picture is a bit fuzzy ‘cause it was shot through two windows. An attempt to join the critters on the porch for a better photograph was unsuccessful.

Starting new holiday tradition?

Last Sunday afternoon was nearly perfect...in terms of the weather...and the little adventure your writer experienced in the bright February sunshine. All in all, it wasn’t a bad way to spend some time on an unofficial national holiday. National holiday? Sure. Unless you were hiding in, or under,...

A Chinese “weather balloon” passed through the sky over Union County last Friday evening. I’m guessing the folks in China spend a lot of their time worrying about the weather in Southern Illinois.

Look...up in the sky...

Late last Sunday morning, Bob and I were sitting out on the front stoop, enjoying the warm sunshine, which was quite welcome after our recent rounds of snow, sleet, ice and cold. The promise of spring could be seen on both sides of the stoop: green leaves popping up through a layer of unraked...

Some treasured finds...trilobite fossils which were discovered while wandering around in Union County.

Mammoth bones...teeth from big ol' shark...

At least I don’t need insulated chest waders, boats, diving apparatuses or remote-operated cameras to enjoy one of my favorite pastimes. Last weekend, I was doing a little bit of catching up by reading copies of USA TODAY which had shown up in our mailbox just across the street. The mailbox, by the...

Magical Mystery Tour? Nah. With apologies to Messieurs Lennon and McCartney, I do not think there is mention of a southbound freight train in “Magical Mystery Tour.” I’m guessing there has to be a country music song with lyrics about such a train... By the way...the photograph is explained in the column...

Thank you, Clarence, for paying attention...

Do you believe in guardian angels? We’ll get back to that question in just a bit. But first, a few words about one of the photographs which accompanies this week’s column. During the afternoon of the 11th day of the first month of the now not so new year of 2023, yours truly went for a ride out to...

Opinions

Missing a royal invitation...and other stuff...

No moose loose in garden...at least not yet...

Spending time on Saturday evening with 'old friends'

A couple of books with local connections...

Mother Nature is playing tricks on us...

Little bit of this...little bit of that...

Starting new holiday tradition?

Look...up in the sky...

Mammoth bones...teeth from big ol' shark...

Thank you, Clarence, for paying attention...

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