Marmota monax

It’s Groundhog Day! The groundhog, also known as the woodchuck (along with a bunch of other monikers), is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. Despite the popular tongue-twister, the etymology of the name woodchuck is unrelated to wood or chucking. It stems from an Algonquian (possibly Narragansett) name for the animal, wuchak.

leucadendron

Leucadendron is a genus of about 80 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, endemic to South Africa. We have the Wilson’s Wonder cultivar growing in a pot on our patio, where it looks good all year around, but especially when it’s displaying its yellow cone flowers.

boot care

I’ve been hiking in these boots for at least 25 years, and I don’t think I’ve ever conditioned them. But this winter, my socks have been getting soaked, so it was time to apply some waterproofing. I found an ancient can of Nikwax under the bathroom sink; it had separated into a sticky thick orange wax, and a light creamy grease. Hopefully the grease will do the trick, because that’s what I rubbed into the leather. 🄾