I confess I've never gotten close enough to a snail to watch it eat. But this is adorable (in my humble opinion of course). After seeing this video I started to think about how snails carry their homes on their backs and the fact that they have two two pairs of retractable antennae on their heads. One pair contains their eyes while the second is used to navigate through smell. They're pretty nifty critters, don't you think?

This is a juvenile Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens). Cute isn't it? But don't let its cuteness and size fool you. Even though it is less than 5 inches long, this amphibian is a poisonous carnivore with the ability to regenerate severed limbs! Eastern Newts begin their lives in ponds with dull-green skin, fin-like tails, and feathery gills. After a few months, they migrate from their breeding ponds to begin their terrestrial juvenile years, metamorphosing to an orange/red skin color with light spots/bumps outlined in black. At this stage, they develop a neurotoxin that can be secreted from these bumps, which is quite dangerous if ingested. After a few years in their juvenile form, they return to their breeding pond as adults, metamorphosing back to a dull green color and fin-like tail, though they retain their spots and some of the toxin. This serves as a warning to fish not to eat them. But what is most surprising about these newts is their ability to regenerate limbs, tails, jaws, spinal cords, eye lenses, and even heart tissue after injury. They are pretty tough little changelings. - Information provided by The Central New York Land Trust

Many of you may already know Rachel Carson, but for those who don't, she has been a heroine of mine for decades. She was a marine biologist and nature writer whose book, "Silent Spring," ignited the global environmental protection movement. In it she outlined the dangers of pesticides - asking her readers to imagine a world in which we no longer had bird songs because they'd all been poisoned. The book led to a nationwide ban on DDT and other pesticides and ultimately led to the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). An amazing woman.

I recently completed my book "We Stand in the Middle," and built most of it out in the 3D virtual world of Second Life. This allowed me to see, hear, and feel what I was capturing in words and was great fun besides. This video shows the start of the story which begins at a boat dock at the entrance to the property the main character has inherited and takes visitors on a boat ride to the main house. A poem by Mary Oliver is being read aloud throughout the ride. I hope you love the poem as much as I do. It's called, Long Afternoon At The Edge Of Little Sister Pond

"What the Old Ones Knew," is a series of daily short videos that celebrate the wonder and beauty of life on Earth and our connection to her: https://youtube.com/shorts/9plX_OjTscY?feature=share Please like, share, and subscribe to the channel to keep the love going :-)