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Birds are Us
Early morning. Unhurried and peaceful. A time to sit out in the balcony with my cup of coffee, feel the freshness of the cool breeze and listen to the trill of bird song. As I watch them chatter, squabble, mate, and play, I am struck by their resemblance to humans. They are not just like…
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Gecko on the Wall
Eeks! There’s a gecko on the wall! If that is you shrieking, we are united in our fear of house lizards. A gecko on the wall twenty feet away is one gecko too many for me! So why write about them, you might ask? Alas, inspiration comes in many forms, and not always in the…
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The Disappearing Donkey
This is a tale of the disappearing donkey – those overworked and undervalued creatures that are disappearing from our own backyards. Some may sneer at my choice of subject, still others may see this diminution as a progressive step! But do not be hasty, dear reader. For the dons who study donkeys have detected a…
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What was the name again?
Like many of my previous encounters, this one too happens during my morning ramble. Meet Ramgoat dashalong. What was the name again, I hear you ask. The little plant with its sunny bloom goes by this rather mysterious and unaccountable name; besides its given scientific name of Turnera ulmifolia. Nicknames can be singularly apt and…
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The world from my balcony
The balcony is where my day begins, a time of stillness before the rush of life beckons. There was once a time when the world from my balcony stretched out to the eastern horizon over scattered dwellings and lush fields of corn. I could see the sun rise and follow its journey over the vast…
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Fly Past
Alas, no spectacular flights of supersonic aircraft enter into this saga. Unheralded by buglers and drummers, this fly past is inspired by an encounter with that two-winged six-legged bane of the human race aka the housefly. That a creature as ignoble as a fly should inspire prose will raise eyebrows in many quarters, but I…