Nature
 

Or Natvre. Have you noticed that people who have to live close to nature are rarely sentimental about it? People who write gushy prose and poetry in praise of Natvre almost always live in big cities.

So it has been since the Greeks invented the the bucolic poem. Theokritos, the inventor, was born in Syracuse and lived in Alexandria, both big cities.

BH

Re: Nature
 

It's peak redbud around here right now. I was driving down I-95 south of Wilmington and the redbuds were fabulous in hue and abundance. I'm lucky I didn't wreck from all the rubbernecking.

Re: Nature
 

I've found a patch of paw paw trees within a mile or two of my house. It piques my interest because distribution charts show tiny pockets of paw paw near my house, but I also know that cultivated paw paw can escape into the wild.

I'm waiting to see if they bear fruit or not. From what I've read, wild paw paw needs to cross pollinate from genetically variant plants. Patches that have escaped into the wild from specimens are typically only one strain, they spread by the roots, and so don't bear fruit.

Anyway that's what I think I remember reading. Also, paw paws are supposed to be fairly delicious, so if they fruit, I want to taste of them.

Re: Nature
 

Now when you pick a pawpaw
Or a prickly pear
And you prick a raw paw
Next time beware
Don't pick the prickly pear by the paw
When you pick a pear
Try to use the claw
But you don't need to use the claw
When you pick a pear of the big pawpaw
Have I given you a clue ?

Re: Nature
 

After driving past that cluster of plants many times, it seemed that they'd been mis-ID'ed as paw paws or were just the self replication of an escaped specimen plant. Last fall in September and October I scoured the many stalky trees often while driving by without spotting a single flower or fruit. Just the other day, though, and much to my delight, I spied a perfectly recognizable green fruit of the paw paw. I confirmed it within a day or two on the next pass by, so it wasn't just seeing things. Now I have to make some time to go see if I can get one or two to sample. Luckily, there's a public parking place for fishing at a park just up the road, so I can get within a quarter mile or so of the patch by car. Supposedly the fruits don't last long or keep well, so I need to hop to.