Author Archives: Roger Gosden
Yarns about Mountain Lions
Ask local folk if mountain lions (aka cougars/ pumas/ panthers) still prowl the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia and you’ll likely get a nod or they might bend your ear to tell a tale. But if you visit the WV … Continue reading
Posted in Animalia, Memoir
Tagged Division of Natural Resources, mountain lion, Pocahontas County, West Virginia
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Wood Stork
Compared to the handsome storks of Europe in Hans Christian Andersen’s story and those that carried us in a natal cradle, American Wood Storks look like old countrymen with bald, wrinkly heads exposed to too much sun. A featherless head … Continue reading
Posted in Birding, Inge Curtis birds, nature
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Urushiol Pain and Products
A week after nightly creaming my face and arms with hydrocortisone I’m still itching. Each exposure makes the reaction worse next time. A few people, including our gardener, are lucky they don’t react to poison ivy, nor wildlife or pets … Continue reading
Posted in garden, Health, nature
Tagged Chinese ancestor chair, dermatitis, lacquer, lacquer tree, Poison ivy, Toxicodendron, urushiol
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Eastern Bluebird
One of our most popular residents, there is even a Virginia conservation society dedicated to Bluebirds. Someone who grew up locally told that they were uncommon when she was a child. Fifty years ago these cavity nesters had trouble finding … Continue reading
Posted in Inge Curtis birds, nature
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Happy and Grubby in the Garden
I suspect former neighbors laughed from behind half-drawn curtains: “There’s a weird gardener next door who toils in the midday sun.” But I didn’t care, wearing my green hat with pride and careless if anyone thinks I’m a throwback to … Continue reading
Posted in garden
Tagged Allotment, Organic gardening, Victory garden
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Roger musing about Peace with Nature 