On egrets …
On our living room coffee table is a lovely book “Nature Trails,” 1982, 144 pages, color nature photos taken by Mary Calvert, born and raised in Madison, a town on the Kennebec River.
In her photographic career, she began specializing in nature photography, and won many awards, studying wildflowers and birds. Among other honors in her photography and writing, she received the Deborah Morton Award at the 1983 commencement exercises at Westbrook College.
In her book the two pages on snowy egrets include this cutline: “This little bird has fluffy feathers on its head and tail which made lovely plumes for hats – when women wore hats. Due to this the snowy egret, as well as the great egret, was almost exterminated around the turn of the century.”
Under a half-page of several Indian pipe plants, she wrote: “After a good downpour I can often find the delicately lovely Indian pipes in my woods. These, like the other types of mushrooms and fungi, have sprung from decaying wood and vegetation.” She then writes this poem by Mary Higgenson:
In shining groups, each stem a pearly ray,
Weird flecks of light within the shadowed woods.
They dwell aloof, a spotless sisterhood.
No Angelus, except the wild birds’ lay, awakes these forest nuns!
Yet night and day, their heads are bent,
As if in prayerful mood!
Her pictures of the lady’s slippers (moccasin flowers) are in white, yellow and pink. Her pictures of animals, streams, waterfalls, trees, and mountain scenes are all well-done. She is a great artist, and it is a great pleasure to examine these full pages, in color, and read her comments, too.
… and peacocks
I read in the Aug. 28 New York Times a long article, datelined Miami, Fla., with a three-column picture of a handsome peacock standing on a Coconut Grove resident’s roof.
Peacocks are roaming in packs of nearly a dozen there, dropping their guano on $60,000 Mercedes-Benzes, and appearing frequently in the area of million-dollar homes. And they are multiplying.
But Marc Sarnoff, the city commissioner from Coconut Grove, says, “My primary concern is the peacocks.” He defended them as a living embodiment of Coconut Grove’s identity as a bohemian, anything-goes neighborhood.
The city has designated itself as a bird sanctuary. Peacocks (the males) and peahens (the females) cannot be trapped or killed.
Six or seven years ago, when only a handful of peafowl could be found on Micanopy Street, they enjoyed more support. Now, with as many as 35 settling in a three-block radius at any given time, opinions are mixed, the Times said.
A neighbor, Greg Conner, said that before peacocks arrived as the pets of a neighbor and started mating from January to April, he used to sleep with his windows open. He listened to the crickets, frogs and owls, shutting his book when he heard the local raccoon climb up his oak tree.
“But you know what,” he said, “I don’t do that anymore. I sleep with my windows locked right shut, in the nicest part of the year, simply because the peacocks on my roof will wake you up out of a dead sleep. And I’m a strong sleeper.” He added, “It’s a degraded my quality of life.”
He tried to get the birds removed in 2004, but discovered that it would cost about $100 each, and that it might be illegal. The city attorney said that trapping of any sort was not allowed, and that the animal control officers of Dade County must first determine if “peacock infiltration” had occurred – a task they have yet to take on.
Mr. Sarnoff said, “What I don’t want is to see the people on Micanopy take it into their own hands.”
So I expect we’ll be reading more about the peacock situation.
Age-old simplicity
Today’s recipe is from “Revolutionary Recipes, Colonial Era Food, Lore, and More,” written by Patricia B. Mitchell in 1988. This is from a 1991 revised edition, published in Virginia.
APPLE BROWN BETTY
2 cups soft bread crumbs
1/4 cup margarine (surely butter, in olden times)
3 cups apples, sliced (they need not be peeled, says the author)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup water
Saute in a skillet the bread crumbs in the margarine. Add apples, sugar, cinnamon and water. If the skillet is oven-proof, cover and put into oven. If the skillet is not oven-proof, transfer apple mixture to a greased casserole dish. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until apples are translucent and tender. If mixture becomes too dry during baking, add 1/4 cup water (apples vary on moisture content). Serves 4 or 5 people.
The author writes, “Apple Brown Betty is a less complicated dessert, probably more popular among the ordinary folk than the aristocracy. Its simplicity makes it perfect for today’s tastes.”
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