"The Whip of His Own Remorse" is now complete!

Thanks to a donation from Anthony & Shirley Barrette, "The Whip of His Own Remorse" is now complete.  Read about Stylet's crushing discovery of what his precious berettaflies have been up to.

This unlocks the next poem in the Berettaflies thread, "The Inner Transition," which can be posted as soon as it gets sponsored.  That will feature Stylet approaching Valor's Widow.

Milkweed and Monarchs

Someone finally got around to fielding a study which indicates that milkweed is necessary but not sufficient for monarch butterfly survival.   Other factors contribute to their steep decline.  Sure, you can grow milkweed, that's a great thing to do.  But don't think it will "save the butterflies."  It just slows the loss a little.  Other factors lie outside what humans are willing to change, such as pesticides; or able to change, such as climate change.  Even on a national scale, responses are limited, because monarchs have transnational migration routes.  Serious conservation efforts would require collaboration between America and Mexico, which seems unlikely.

The Creation of Water

New studies indicate that Earth may make its own water deep below the surface.  Just in case Gaia wasn't awesome enough already.

As a Pagan scholar, this makes me think about goddesses who created life by themselves, without assistance from a god. Parthenogenetic life formation relates closely to a shift from celestial water to cthonic water.  Alternatively, one might argue that either underworld gods are more life-oriented than formerly thought, or we should really be looking for cthonic goddesses.  On the third hoof, this raises interesting points regarding those underworld deities who are hermaphroditic. This could make for some fascinating ritual inspiration.

Discuss. 

Poem: "A Dangerous Thing with Style"

This poem came out of the March 7, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from curiosity. It also fills the "money" square in my 12-1-16 card for the iPod Shuffle Music Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the Cuoio & Chiara thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

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Wednesday Yardening

I didn't find time to post this on Wednesday. I planted three irises in the wagonwheel garden.

( Walk with me ... )

Trail Mail Vol. 1, No. 5, March 24, 2017

The newsletter from Trails for Illinois encourages forwarding. So here is some nature and pathfinding news from my area.

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Friday Yardening

Today I planted three Here Lies Butch daylilies beside the patio where the herb gardens are, and mulched around them.

Weather is warm but very blustery.

There are still two white eggs in the mourning dove nest by the kitchen window.

The barrel garden has a purple hyacinth budding beneath it.  The first of the purple grape hyacinths have opened near the patio.  Daffodils are budding in the inner ring around the maple tree, and a purple crocus is blooming there.  I saw the first blue-and-white violet blooming today.