Monday Morning Poem: Sumer Is Icoumen In

Middle English Version

Sumer is icumen in,
Lhude sing cuccu!
Groweþ sed and bloweþ med
And springþ þe wde nu,
Sing cuccu!
Awe bleteþ after lomb,
Lhouþ after calue cu.
Bulluc sterteþ, bucke uerteþ,
Murie sing cuccu!
Cuccu, cuccu, wel singes þu cuccu;
Ne swik þu nauer nu.

Sing cuccu nu. Sing cuccu.
Sing cuccu. Sing cuccu nu!
…..
Modern English Version
Summer is coming in,
loudly sings the [...]

Sheep in Folktales- Mary Had a Little Lamb

Perhaps the most famous four line rhyme in the English language, Mary Had a Little Lamb is based upon and incident in the life of one Mary Sawyer, who grew up in Sterling, MA. But that is about all authorities can agree upon when attributing authorship to the verse.
Two New England towns claim bragging [...]

Cats in Art – Renoir

Medieval Images of Sheep Shearing

from a 12th century illuminated manuscript, source unspecified

Harvesting and sheep shearing at the Chateau Eyampes
Duc du Berry Book of Hours (c. 1410)

This tapestry was woven in Tournai with silk yarns around 1470. The original is displayed in Brussels in the Royal Art and History Museum. This tapestry probably belongs to a “Series of the [...]

Science News: Baby Chimps Ace IQ Tests

For 21 years, I worked as a school psychologist in a Connecticut public school district. Among my many duties was administering intelligence tests as part of the process for identifying learning problems. Over the years, I  completed more than a thousand assessments for kids from preschool to grade 12. I retired (early) nearly 5 years [...]

Monday Morning Poem: The Lamb by William Blake

The Lamb

Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Gave thee life & bid thee feed.
By the stream & o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice!
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee

Little Lamb I’ll tell thee,
Little Lamb I’ll tell [...]

Monday Morning Poem: The Tiger, by William Blake

I’ve always loved the Blake poem about the tiger (see below) A few years back, there was a program on PBS about domestic cats, “Tiny Tigers”. If you think about it, that’s exactly what they are! Here are some of my favorite books about cats:
The Tribe of Tiger by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas.
How to Talk [...]

Animal Myths: Touching Baby Birds

If you touch a baby bird, will its parents reject it?

Text: Mat Coward / Images: Hunt Emerson

The myth
If you touch a baby bird its parents will abandon it, outraged by the Evil Stink of Man.
The “truth”
Birds have little or no sense of smell, and will be unaware of your molestation. Besides, they will not lightly [...]

Our Own Little Lion King

This handsome little guy came to us via our daughter, who discovered that his previous owners, who had recently moved away, simply abandoned him. Her house is across the street, and when she discovered his plight, she took him under her wing, naming him Mr Oh (O for orange.) She already owns two Siamese, who [...]

Nature: Winter World, by Bernd Heinrich

How they do that
Working at a historic house, I often comment to visitors that it’s difficult to fathom how people survived the New England winter before the advent of central heating. As for animals….. how do they DO that, with no houses or heating at [...]