A very dear friend died just a few days ago. His death was not a surprise, coming at the end of a long and sad illness. His death is, in some terrible way, a good thing considering what had happened to his body and spirit. His death came, thankfully, only after we had...
I’ve written before about animals’ languages (whales’ song, bees’ dance, that sort of thing) but let’s turn this time to how animals feature in our own language. The many animal-related sayings, clichés and expressions: where do they come from, and what do they say...
Amazing that, once again, I fell into the same trap! Two weeks ago this column suggested we all celebrate a number of pet-themed holidays, and while two of the four highlighted were all inclusive (National Love Your Pet Day and World Spay Day) the remaining two were...
The official start of Spring is less than a month away but signs are in the air. (Makes sense, of course, since the official start of anything in the natural world is a human construct and means nothing to Mother Nature who keeps a far more subtle calendar.) Peninsula...
Maybe because my last two columns were about Valentine’s Day I remain in a holiday mind-frame and, happily, February still has four special pet-themed holidays to celebrate. February 20 is National Love Your Pet Day. Don’t get too excited since, according to the...
Valentine’s Day is hands-down my favorite holiday. Yeah, yeah, I know all the negatives: rates of depression skyrocket mid-February along with chocolate sales figures; the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre is among the bloodiest dates in mob history; it’s really all a...
