Columns

It is raining, hard, as I write this column. There are no birds on the river’s edge and the oak leaves are blowing with abandon from the nearby trees. Squirrels, who earlier I watched gather acorns in preparation for the storm have retreated into their nests. All seems cozy and well with the world.

February will be a difficult time for the City Council,

Raven’s future

Donald Trump wants to build a wall across the United States’ southern border and make the Mexican government pay for it. He wants to keep out rapists and illegal immigrants. Others want us to put up barriers and keep Syrian refugees out of the country. Some of our fellow Americans even want to register or deport all Muslims, including those who are American citizens.

You can smell it in the air, feel it in your bones, see it in the beginnings of color change — summer is ending and with it the tremendous energy force of Mother Nature’s race to produce food. The food’s consumers are more than just human. They include the animals that share our planet. Hence, the seeds of weeds and trees feed the birds. Melons, winter squash, and tree fruit fill beaks and stomachs of hundreds of creatures hiding in nests, burrows, blackberry brambles.