A Trip Around the World From Your Pantry

Notes from a French Kitchen By Marie-Christine Perry As our new way of life becomes a routine, we are faced with shopping much less often and more randomly, and with having to be creative with our pantry. If you, like me, are well stocked on the basics and find you are bored with the recipes […]

Going to School but Staying Home

By Wiley WoodPhoto by Ann DeCerbo When Virginia Coleman-Prisco told her school-age children that spring break was over, one of them piped up, “Does that mean we can go back to school?” The answer, of course, was no, school would still be online. Going to Botelle School these days means sitting down at an internet-connected […]

Another Warmer Than Normal Month

Norfolk’s March 2020 Weather    By Russell Russ  March was warmer than normal, just like January and February were. What happened to winter in this part of the world? For most of this winter there has been little snow, frequent days with above-average temperatures and no real cold temperatures. By late February many people had given […]

April, Foraging in Your Backyard

Text and Illustration by Leslie Watkins Ever wonder what you would do if you ran out of food? Would you starve? There are accounts of people lost in the wilderness, famished in the midst of all sorts of edibles. We are surrounded by berries, fruits, herbs, mushrooms and greens. The trick is identification. Get yourself […]

The Moon at Perigee and Venus Shining

By Matthew Johnson April is a wonderful month for naked-eye viewing of the celestial sphere. April’s full moon, the pink moon, occurs April 7. The moon at this time is at perigee (closest to Earth in its orbit), thus this moon will be called a “super moon” by the media since it will appear larger […]

Invasion of the Aquatics

By Doug McDevitt No, it’s not a B-grade horror movie with actors strutting in cheesy costumes, but if we’re not careful it could be a horror. As spring approaches and many of us look forward to taking up water sports again, not least for the social distancing and healthy outdoor exercise they provide, we need […]

Norfolk’s February 2020 Weather

Seventh Warmest February on Record By Russell Russ  The typical winter weather to which Norfolk has historically become accustomed continued to stay away during the month of February. There were brief glimpses of winter with some cold temperatures and a little snow, but for the most part it was a very unusual February as far […]

On the Bright Side of Interplanetary Dust

by Matthew Johnson One little-known celestial phenomenon is zodiacal light. Seen as a glowing wedge of diffuse light tilted in the direction of the sun’s path, zodiacal light is created as the sun backlights particles of interplanetary dust between itself and Earth. These illuminated remnants from the passage of comets, the collision of asteroids, and […]

March, Nature Appreciation

Text and Illustration by Leslie Watkins Nature gives freely. She provides us with fruits, nuts, grains and leafy greens both directly and indirectly through the animal products we use for food, warmth, protection and a myriad of other things. But do we truly appreciate and respect Nature’s gifts, or are we taking her for granted? […]

The Wuhan Coronavirus

by Richard Kessin Of the scourges that the natural world can throw at us, a new and lethal virus is one of the most frightening.  At first we don’t know where the virus came from, what proportion of victims it will kill, how to treat it, or how far and fast it will spread. Viral […]