Lizard

One lost little lizard 

in a huge middle school courtyard 

searching for another.

Lockers shut. 

Clangclangclang.

Who are you? 

Kids gossip. 

Chatterchatterchatter. 

Who are you? 

Books fall. 

Clatterclatterclatter. 

Who are you?  

The bell rings.

                             Dingdingding.

                             Everybody leaves.

                             Stompstompstomp.

                          Who am I?                                                        

Fire and Ice

 

          Knowing Nature 

               is back....
                  yet again....                            

     This blog entry started when I was talking to my dad's parents, up in Minnesota. They mentioned that they were getting some cold weather already, and meanwhile that made me think of gym class earlier, which was SO HOT!

     And that made me think of a poem I had seen when I found the Yellowstone one in my previous entry. So, here goes.

 

Some say the world will end in fire; 

Some say in ice. 

From what I've tasted of desire 

I hold with those who favor fire.🞻

But if it had to perish twice, 

I think I know enough of hate 

To say that for destruction ice       Is also great    And would suffice.    -Robert Frost

🞻Has this guy ever experienced a Florida summer?

     This poem got me thinking, so look at the predicted forecasts on Saturday, September 7, for... 
                                       

Tampa, Florida: 92 degrees Fahrenheit 

Toronto, Canada: 71 degrees Fahrenheit 

St. Paul, Minnesota: 66 degrees Fahrenheit 

Mexico City, Mexico: 76 degrees Fahrenheit 

Washington D.C.: 83 degrees Fahrenheit

     

Big Blue Sky

Knowing Nature is back again with poems for you!

           Many, if not all, of my loyal blog readers know that I went to Yellowstone this summer. While doing a bit of research on it, I've found some poems that I'd like to share with you.

Forget all your troubles,  forget all your cares.

And go to the park with bison and bears.

 Moose go grazing. Gray wolves stalk.

 Great elk climb, and pronghorn walk. 

Rivers flow and geysers spout. 

Fir trees rise, and lilies sprout.

 Brown trout swim and falcons fly. 

All beneath a Big Blue Sky.

-Douglas Florian

          That inspired me to create a Yellowstone poem of my own. So, here goes:

Everything is calm. 

The hot springs are flat, flat as can be. The geyser is merely a hole in the ground. 

Everything is calm. 

Then the geyser bubbles... once...twice... 

and

 it

 ERUPTS!

 A wild frenzy. shouting, awe, silence at the majesty. A scramble for photos. It shoots up far above each head. And then it's gone... 

and 

Everything

 is 

calm.

Winter

     Knowing Nature proudly presents:Winter by Lindsay Paulson

Silvery flakes drifted downward, 

glittering in the bright light of the snow moon.

The blackbird soared.

A robin flew alone that night,
gliding over the dunes
 just out of sight.

They ducked and looped as the wind was blowing

Hoping, dreaming, for just one boon.

But they ducked and looped, never knowing.

A Chilly Surprise

Knowing Nature

A Chilly Surprise

Many of you know I recently went on a winter trip up to Massachusetts. Well, I'm coming back, and with me I'm bringing lots of info about the weather up here- and more than a couple laughs!

Time to BLOW YOUR MIND!!!!!

Hey, you!

Are you ready for something to 

BLOW YOUR MIND?

    Because Knowing Nature presents, without farther ado, the 

TARDIGRADE !

   The tardigrade is a tiny invertebrate, only about the size of a period at the end of this sentance. They have a special skill to survive in dangerous places.

 In extreme places such as deserts, deep under the sea, in ice, in boiling water, and outer space, there they are. At 304 degrees f , there they are. At -459 degrees f, there they are. After 10 years without food or water, there they are.

So, what's their trick? Tardigrades live in damp enviorments like moss or water. When the going gets tough, they dry out. Once the're rehydrated, they resume thier buisness like nothing happened; even after a century of deactivation. They've even been around since before dinosaurs, thanks to that special ability!!

Ferocious Fighters

Ferocious Fighters:

Indian Gray Mongoose VS Indian Cobra

        Somewhere on the plains of southern India, a mongoose scurries into a cobra's path. Uh- oh! Here comes a battle of two ancient enemies. Careful: the winner might surprise you!       The cobra rears up and hisses. He fans out his hood. He strikes.....  and hits his target. But the mongoose doesn't care. He has a slight immunity to cobra venom. The cobra is confused. He strikes again and his fangs are deflected by the mongooses thick fur. The mongoose dances out of reach. It pounces on the cobra and crushes the cobra's skull. This feisty mammal has found its next meal.