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Sparkling snow!

I was away from Marlinton the first weekend with thick, soft snow, and lent my new-to-me skis to birding friend Kathy. When I got back to town, she and her beau encouraged me to head out that evening before heat and rain washed it away the next day or two. It was soooo beautiful! A…

Wishing peace

Happy New Year! In case you’re wondering where I can be found, I took a position as a botanist/ecologist in the South Zone of the Monongahela National Forest, with USDA Forest Service, in February 2023. I’m in Marlinton, WV, learning lots, with a terrific crew, and slowly figuring out how everything works—I have a red…

A bit about wildflowers for the Blue Ridge Discovery Center

The folks at the Blue Ridge Discovery Center reached out to Mount Rogers Naturalist Rally trip leaders and other folks who might help write about the plants, animals, geology, and ecology of the region for a local guidebook they are working on. Since I’ve been helping John Kell, recently retired biology professor at Radford University,…

Mom’s doing great

I’m redoing the blog site to be more work oriented, so changed the “About” page that had this photo. Things are still “in the works,” but hope to update bit by bit. The blog will be more ecology oriented though I will do at least one more re rest of time in Morocco. Mom is…

Couscous & Bridge Over Troubled Water

This is typical breakfast soup of crushed barley topped with olive oil called belboula. More than enough. Notice the ashtray. That’s the one thing about here that would make it hard or impossible for some to visit. Although several people have mentioned not using or at least reducing sugar in tea (and encourage me to…

Sea slug video clip

My first sea slug up close, so I googled to doublecheck. Many are brilliantly colored; search « sea slug images. » Even though not bright, still beautiful, aye? Still, try the google search if, like me, sea slugs are pretty new.

Sweet pea

Bees in Rabat

The first day I walked into the grounds at ICARDA, just a few steps in, a wild bee ran into me, hitting my face mask. I took it as an appropriate sign of welcome! Since then, no more bees have run into me, but I’ve been using my phone to capture photos of plants and…

Around town

Just a few more photos from the first few weeks here.

Oudaya, the medina, and Chellah

These are mainly street images of the oldest part of Rabat, called Oudaya, that sits on the highest point in town overlooking the beach, and some of the outer edges of the medina with old style architecture that I love. The photos with blue in the walls are all part of Oudaya. I’ve only taken…