96 Two boys walked on the other side of Seneca Street. We were leaving the Climate Strike gathering on the Ithaca Commons. I watched these teenagers, one dark skinned with a snug T shirt showing his taut
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119 I’m excited about the spark in this week’s writing class! A food spark gives me delicious ideas. But first, I have to take out these ten monarch caterpillar babies from the large box Elaine gave me.
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478 With morning dew on the grass and the sun rising over the hill, I wander through the milkweed patch choosing the healthiest young plants to feed the Monarch caterpillars. I find Monarch eggs and tiny caterpillars
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305 I love the promise of eggs laid by songbirds in nesting boxes on my land. I should have learned by now that it’s foolish to get attached. Life is fragile and precarious, especially this cool wet
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127 Monarch butterflies arrived in the Finger Lakes in mid June to sip thistle and milkweed nectar, mate, and lay eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves. As I
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98 My body droops into a familiar sinkhole. Hatred fueled killings and threats. Jailed migrant children. Climate catastrophe. Political nastiness and injustice grow worse as politicians rule by fear and rage. It’s all too much to bear.
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97 Under cover of night, hundreds of migrant children were moved to tent encampments surrounded by high metal fences in the Texas desert. How is it OK to jail children and separate them from their parents? Can
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124 When I wake up each morning, I head for the back porch to check the Monarch nursery. First thing. Who will hatch today? Does anyone need a fresh milkweed leaf? Who became a chrysalis overnight? I
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138 My son David and his wife Liz drove from North Carolina and met my local son Anthony for a beer at Two Goats Brewery on Seneca Lake before they arrived at my house. David and Liz
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109 My phone buzzes. The screen reads “restricted number.” Probably an advertiser, but it could be my mother-in-law’s Hospicare nurse, so I pick up. “Hi Elaine, it’s Ray.” Ah, the Hospicare nurse. “Virginia has an infection on
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