Come Walk with Me Again

Posted on 28 February 2026 by Isabel Gibson

As I write this, we leave Tempe tomorrow. As you read it, we left Tempe yesterday. And yet, in the eternal now of dogs and the internet, today we can walk together through Veterans Oasis Park in Chandler, enjoying this wee part of the space-time continuum.

OK, that’s enough physics for today. Maybe for the year. Let’s continue with biology.

This mallard was happy to pose–with and without some vegetation dangling from his beak–until a jet overhead distracted him. At least that’s what seemed to happen, as he rolled his neck, apparently to check out the loud noise from the heavens above us.

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Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Laughing Frequently, Photos of Faces, Photos of Fauna, Photos of Flora | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

All together now. Or not.

Posted on 21 February 2026 by Isabel Gibson

I hear voices. They’re not in my head: the singing is on the Facebook feed of my synagogue’s Friday-night service.

I hear voices. They’re not working hard, as near as I can tell: they seem to effortlessly cross time and space from Eastern-Time Ottawa to Mountain-Time Tempe via some magic we’ve named “streaming”, just as if that explained it.

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Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Thinking Broadly | Tagged , | 12 Comments

Benchus misplaced-us

Posted on 14 February 2026 by Isabel Gibson

Which came first,
the chicken or the egg?

This old puzzler has, apparently, been solved: Popular Mechanics (among others) tells me so.

When it comes to the simple answer to the question as it relates to Gallus gallus domesticus (a.k.a. the chicken), that riddle’s been largely solved thanks to evolution. At some point thousands of years ago, ancient chicken breeders chose two tame jungle fowl (gallus gallus) and the resulting union produced the egg of the world’s first genetically distinct chicken. In summary: egg predates chicken.

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Posted in Laughing Frequently, Photos of Built Stuff, Photos of Landscapes | Tagged | 10 Comments

More Fauntastic Fauna

Posted on 14 February 2026 by Isabel Gibson

Another walk at the Gilbert Riparian Preserve this past week gave me some new views. What’s going on this turtle’s head I can’t say (Any chance he appreciates his own reflection?), but in a human this would qualify as “enjoying the sun”.

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The Same Riparian Park?

Posted on 07 February 2026 by Isabel Gibson

You can’t step into the same river twice.

That’s the quote in my head, along with a vague sense that it was some Ancient Greek philosopher who said it. Maybe without the contraction: I believe that, like the arrow of time which determines causality, the arrow of casual also goes in one direction only. (Is it a coincidence that causal and casual use the same letters? Probably. Let’s keep going.)

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Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Laughing Frequently, Photos of Fauna | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Sticks

Posted on 06 February 2026 by Isabel Gibson

“They” say winter photography
is often “sticks and snow”.

Thus began a recent photo-story from a reader of this blog and Ottawa neighbour. In the back-and-forth that followed his post, he made the comment that, being in Arizona, I was in the land of “no sticks and snow”. Now, at our Arizona elevation I’ll give him the “no snow” part, but on the “no sticks” part, well, I must demur.

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Wren Comma Cactus

Posted on 31 January 2026 by Isabel Gibson

There are, I come to find out, 88 species of wren. That’s certainly enough to defy simple categorical descriptions, and in this they do not disappoint. Consider these facts:

  • All 88 species are found in the New World, except for the one that isn’t: the Eurasian wren.
  • In the New World, they live in almost every habitat: forests, deserts, and grasslands.
  • They mostly eat bugs, spiders, and other small invertebrates, but they’ll also eat seeds, berries, and occasionally small amphibians like frogs or tadpoles.
  • They can be quite bold or very secretive in nature.
  • While most wrens are non-migratory, some that live in temperate zones do migrate, but not all.
  • The Eurasian wren hangs out around people, but other wrens are solitary.

So, to summarize, wrens live here and there, eat this and that and that, are in-your-face unless they’re hiding behind your back, stay put through the seasons unless they don’t, and are extroverted unless they’re introverted. And, oh yes, some non-wren species have been mistakenly identified (and named, of course) as wrens.

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Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Laughing Frequently | Tagged | 8 Comments

The Tao of Soup

Posted on 31 January 2026 by Isabel Gibson

The soup was tasty,
but it was rich.

I stop myself mid-text. Have I chosen the right words? I take another look: soup, tasty, and rich are all correct. What I’m doubting is that but.

But often suggests an unfortunate trade-off between a good thing–tasty–and a less-good thing–rich. It’s what the book parody of The Lord of the Rings played on for humorous effect, lo, these many years ago now.

Hobbits are a short but nasty folk.

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Posted in Appreciating Deeply, New Perspectives | Tagged , | 16 Comments

Spam Philosophy

Posted on 24 January 2026 by Isabel Gibson

Harsh. Brutal. Ugly. Cold, hard.

All these adjectives precede the same word. Whatever can it be? What horrible, depressing thing is being described by all these words?

Oh. Truth.

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Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Feeling Clearly, Thinking Broadly | Tagged , | 16 Comments