gronskapeski

Saying goodbye

It has been six months since I had to say goodbye to Bradley. I still feel the pain. I tried to write about him many times, but every time a thought would enter my head, my brain would shut down. It still does. Grief is painful. Bradley was my cat, a black tuxedo I adoptedContinue reading “Saying goodbye”

Hawks in the Bronx

Couple of years ago, I was walking to work on a sunny morning day. The busy streets of the Bronx filled my ears with the sounds of accelerating cars, rushing pedestrians, and elevated subway passing overhead. Typical morning commute commotion. Out of nowhere, with a lighting speed, a big raptor fell from the sky. InContinue reading “Hawks in the Bronx”

Uncertainty

Waiting. There is a time where you are not sure if what you have done is right. To me, the knowledge that you could have done nothing, and nobody would judge you, is not freeing. Living with knowledge that I could have done something, but did not is much worse. I had to chose. OnceContinue reading “Uncertainty”

Chasing the waves

Sanderling (Calidris alba). Sanderlings are master predictors of the motions of the Ocean’s waves. As the waves go back and forth, the sanderlings find a perfect moment to begin their sprint run, dig some sand dwellers, and safely run away. For such a tiny body, they are master sprinters. Their beak is about the sizeContinue reading “Chasing the waves”

Fashionista gulls

After my third attempt to photograph piping plovers at the Far Rockaway’s ended up in a failure, I began to feel disappointed. To protect the plovers, a part of the beach was closed. I walked for hours with my long lens camera, only to learn that the plovers moved to the other side. I wonderedContinue reading “Fashionista gulls”

Mysterious crab

I walked confidently on the yellow sand, staring at the shells deposited on the beach by the powerful waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Movements of the water displaced tiny pieces of sand along the shore, exposing sand dwellers quickly snatched by the seashore birds. As we were walking along the water, my sister screamed suddenly,Continue reading “Mysterious crab”

When the sounds disappear

My childhood house was located right by the forest. We used to call it the park, but only because there was a trail from one village to the next, parallel to a tiny stream. I would spend countless hours walking that trail. Regardless of the time, my ears would fill in with songs of birds,Continue reading “When the sounds disappear”

Preserving the unknown

One cannot miss what one does not know exists. A book by Michelle Nijhuis, Beloved Beasts, Fighting for Life in the Age of Extinction, presents several classic examples of animal species severely affected by human activities. Michelle describes animals which became symbols of conservation. Many such species are still with us, while some can onlyContinue reading “Preserving the unknown”

Insect pain.

As a child I remember looking at the sticky yellow tapes handing in people’s houses. Fly traps. Countless flies died on that yellow piece of tape, trying to escape in vain. Back in the 1990s, an upgraded version of a fly trap displayed in countless stores was an electric fly trap, with neon purple long,Continue reading “Insect pain.”

Full Moon in the sky

Look up and you will see the full Moon. Today, is one of the few days where all of the Moon’s mountains and craters are exposed, at least on the side of the Moon visible from the Earth. We cannot see the dark side of the Moon, maybe we can leave that to the astronautsContinue reading “Full Moon in the sky”