Parrot

Of the (approximately) 350 species of parrots now existing, 130 are listed as threatened or worse by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Photo: Public Domain, pdphoto.org

Toll House Cookie

Toll House Cookies were invented by Ruth Wakefield in 1930, while baking a batch of chocolate sugar cookies for her Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts. She had run out of baking chocolate, and substituted pieces of broken up semi-sweet chocolate, thinking it would melt into the batter. When it didn't, she found she had invented a delicious new recipe.

Picture copyright © Jigzone.com

The Cloister

"Solitude is independence."

--Hermann Hesse

Picture copyright © Jigzone.com

St. George and the Dragon

"It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.”

-- J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

Illustration: St. George Fighting the Dragon, Raphael, 1505, Public Domain

Carlsbad Caverns

The bat population of Carlsbad Caverns has declined drastically over the years -- from an estimated 8.7 million in 1936 to about 200,00 in 1973. No one knows exactly why, but it is assumed that chemical pesticides are primarily to blame.

Photo: Carlsbad Caversn, National Park Service Photo, Public Domain

Forest Fern

According to Finnish tradition, if you find seed of a bloooming fern on midsummer night, you will be able to travel under the cloak of invisibility until you reach a region rich in hidden treasure caches.

Picture copyright © Jigzone.com

The Brook

“And this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.”

-- Wm. Shakespeare, As You Like It

Photograph: Rocky Mountain National Park, National Park Service Archives, Public Domain