Flora and fauna

At long last, I'm home in Philadelphia! Friends, neighborhood hangout spots, the sideyard garden, sensible public transit,* and -- most importantly -- my favorite husband ever all point to good summer times a-comin'. 

Before I left Nashville, though, I found time for a weekend adventure with my friend Carrie, an up-and-coming docent at the Nashville Zoo (and an all-around all-star to boot). She has beautifully blogged about our escapade here, so click through and read that. Go ahead, I'll wait.



All done? Here are a few other photos from the zoo day:

 (I was fascinated by these life-sized statues of donors to the zoo that occasionally appeared in different settings. Just...wow.)


The day after the zoo trip, I got to hear Nicaraguan revolutionary, priest, and poet Father Ernesto Cardenal read from his new collection of poetry entitled The Origin of Species. He calls this "science poetry," and I was moved by it. Click here to check out a reading he did a few days before he came to Nashville -- from what I can tell it's similar to the presentation he gave at Vanderbilt. 


Then Saturday, I biked down to South Philly to find the Wild Foodies, a Meetup group for foragers of wild edibles. We mucked around near the pond in FDR Park and I got to sample curly dock, burdock, mulberry leaves, and garlic mustard, among other delectables. I've been wanting to learn about foraging in these here parts for quite a while, but I figured it was in my better interest to go with people who know what they're doing. 

 Lesson one: check. Now on to finishing our garden for the year.

* I know, I just wrote that about SEPTA! This should tell you more about Nashville's system than anything else could.