Elaine Mansfield

I dislike flying, even though I’ve taken many flights to Europe, Asia, and around the United States. In the last ten years, distorted sound and imbalance from Meniere’s Disease with increasing hearing loss in the ear with

I feel the gentle pinch of grasping butterfly feet on my fingers before she walks on to taste flowers and freedom. She pauses as she explores a goldenrod for the first time and sways in the wind

This year, I rarely see an adult Monarch butterfly in the fields or in my butterfly garden. There are some out there because they leave evidence– a few tiny Monarch eggs deposited under milkweed leaves. It I

As the sun moves toward the horizon, seven people sit around a table on my son Anthony’s stone patio—two women, four men, and one white haired crone. Two of the men are my sons, but I haven’t

As darkness descended, the last Mourning Dove baby peeked over the rain gutter edge. Its sibling had already left the nest. That morning, I saw a parent feed the nesting baby by regurgitating half-digested seeds into the

I watch the birds nesting near my home. Are they OK? Will a House Sparrow kill the Bluebird babies like it killed the Tree Swallows? I saved one newborn Swallow out of six in that nest. Then

He stands on a wood fence near my back porch, fluffing his feathers and waving his head side to side. He struts back and forth keeping an eye on his Lady Love who watches his every move.

We walk down a dusty road under a green tornado sky. After sharing family Sunday dinner of corn on the cob, fried chicken, deviled eggs, and sliced tomatoes, Grandpa asked me to take a walk with him.

I feel the heart pull of Eros as I walk downhill to check on the baby Chickadees. I knock on the nesting box door to make sure Mama is out and open it gently. They’re gone! Can

You won’t find bones or bodies. Instead you’ll find natural stone markers, buried ashes, and feathers. Dried flowers, prayers written on small pieces of paper, and Tibetan prayer flags. Vic died on June 3, 2008 and his