Life...A Changing Kaleidoscope March 2024

Falco, NYC’s hero 🦉 St Pat’s Day ☘️ Kitty Woes 😿 Lunar Fun 🌝 Ukrainian Easter 🐣 OH Deer Problems 🦌 Wit & Wisdom 🤓

March 01, 2024

Mission Statement 

Curated information to make small choices which impact our natural world and inspire us to nurture nature. Plus, a dose of wit + wisdom.

Lone Flower, hemmed in with snows and white as they
But hardier far, once more I see thee bend
Thy forehead, as if fearful to offend,
Like an unbidden guest.

                    —William Wordsworth

Question: I have a bridge but no water flows, strings, but no arrows. What am I?

Question: If a band plays music in a thunderstorm, who is most likely to get hit by lightning?

Question: I have a scroll but no quill. I have a neck and ribs but no legs. I have a saddle but no horse. I have a bridge but no water. What am I?

Hello Friends,

For those of you who are not in the Metropolitan area and are not aware of Falco the Eurasian eagle-owl who escaped captivity and became New York City’s hero—there was sad news this week.

After a year of freedom, he crashed into an apartment window which dealt him a fatal blow.

In his one year of freedom, he became a symbol of hope for many of those who followed him. Although everyone feared for him due to the dangers he would encounter, Falco never looked back or attempted to return to the safe comfort of his cage in the zoo.

Perhaps many of us who are too timid to seek out our more fully realized selves envied him.

Some saw him as the embodiment of the American dream. Others may wish they were bold enough to “spread their wings.” Haven’t we all yearned at one time or another for a life beyond the one we lead?

I think that given the wars and oppression we are witnessing today; Falco gave us the most meaningful lesson of all.

Falco’s short life showed us that his freedom, while bundled with danger, was well worth the risk.

R.I.P. Falco. You woke up what we tend to take for granted and without paying attention, can be lost. Given a choice, a free-living existence is worth everything despite the risk.

See you in April!

St. Patrick’s Day
While no one in my family is Irish, I did have a cousin who married an Irishman, so that gives me some leeway to write a bit of blarney about St. Patrick’s Day.
Do you know that St. Patrick was born in Britain as Maewan Succat?

Kitty Litterbox Woes
Is Mr. Whiskers ‘forgetting’ he has a litter box?

Most often the problems aren’t his, it’s in his box which you may not have been cleaning out daily.

He also may dislike the littler you’re using. 90% of cats prefer clumping litter.

Lunar Fun
MARCH 25: The Full Worm Moon

This full Moon marks the beginning of warmer weather. It’s named Worm Moon because this is when the wormlike insects larvae emerge from the bark of trees and other winter homes.

Pysanky: Ukrainian Easter Eggs
Ukrainian Easter eggs, called PYSANKY, are a form of folk-art dating back to the 1st century A.D. The word “pysanky,” means to write or inscribe. If you study the detail on these eggs, you’ll see why.

The eggs are covered with painstakingly, intricately hand drawn designs of religious motifs or nature steeped in tradition handed down through generations.

Art by Stephanie Piro

How Can We Control Our Deer Population Humanely?
One way is what has been done for ages. Sharp shoot and cull the herd.

Nothing wrong with that if the animal is used for food purposes.

But there is another way.

PZP

When You Return Those Clothes - Our Planet Pays
Online clothes shopping has never been easier. Browse, click, and receive — all without the hassle of going to the store and trying on clothes in front of those fitting room mirrors that make you look a bit strange.

Not quite sure of size? Order two or three to try on at home. Return ones which don’t fit where they go to — you were going to say another customer, right?

Wrong.

“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for the destruction of our race.

                                                                               —Rachael Carson

Answer: A guitar
Answer: The conductor
Answer: A violin

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