The greater diversity of plants we have in our garden, the more creatures we attract. Fewer chimpmunks are roaming around the rock walls that surround our raised beds, and now we know why: the snakes have arrived! I love snakes and am very fascinated by them. I adore their gorgeous skin and have not been above spending close to $1,000 on a python Bottega Veneta bag. But that was in another life. Now I prefer to admire them alive and in my own yard. We have established that there are at least five and are beginning to understand their habits—when they like to take the sun, when they are on the move, when they rest. It's all about being warm, but not too warm. I am slightly relieved that these are just common garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) because they only have a tiny bit of venom which doesn't affect humans.
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You won't believe this, but there was ANOTHER bear in the yard and this one was ENORMOUS. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a picture because it was night. (This one is an approximation I pulled off the web.) We came home late and I was puttering in the kitchen when I heard some loudish crashing noises outside. Thinking it was G, I called out to him but he was in the bedroom, on the other side of the house! He immediately ran over with the night-vision goggles (the best birthday present I ever got him) and spied a huge bear UP IN THE TREE behind our house. It was trying to pry open our metal bird-feeder to get at the black sunflower seeds we've since learned are a bear favorite. (The feeder is now dismantled. Sorry, Tweety.) Then I looked through the goggles and was TERRIFIED! The bear was looking right at me and, because of the night vision, his eyes were like big green saucers. My heart was pounding and it didn't help that the sister-in-law was giving me a blow-by-blow over the phone of how a bear broke into David Letterman's house and ripped the door off his fridge. WTF? Our house started to feel like a cardboard shack. G said the bear was over 7 feet tall!!! But eventually it scrambled down and lumbered away, and later I fell so sound asleep I didn't even hear it come back in the middle of the night. Good thing G stays on the alert...
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I was minding my own business, sitting in my little study, and happened to glance out the window in time to see this dude ambling across the lawn. Naturally my heart began to pound like mad! I was actually on the phone at the time (with a client) but threw it down and went charging to the front door with my iphone. I actually opened the door and stepped out as I wanted to get a good shot for G (diehard bear fan, I knew he would be crushed to miss this) and the bear—a teen, and male, I think, for no good reason—locked eyes with me and froze for a good 30 seconds before turning and loping down the hill. I'm not ashamed to say I was deeply thrilled.
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photos by george billard

It's been two months since we closed the door on the Bowery loft and made the move up to our little 1935 cedar-shingle cottage in Sullivan County. I moved to New York City on June 6th, 1985, right after graduating from Harvard. I remember seeing Rubén Blades at the Village Gate that first night in town. It was quite a wild ride for nearly 25 years (with a 4-year hiatus in Los Angeles), but the time just felt right for something else. G and I had been spending increasingly more time upstate, and loving it. To date—and winter has not kicked in yet—I have no regrets. Living in nature is magical, inspiring, relaxing. I was working for Johnson & Johnson last year on the launch of a new product and came across some research that said just being in nature reduces stress. Your eye alights upon a wildflower or a monarch butterfly or a bald eagle—not on a homeless person or dog poop or a steaming manhole. Don't get me wrong, I love the city. It's just that this suits me fine right now. A couple of days ago, when our nature-loving friend Philip was visiting from the city, we went to check out the nearby Basha Kill. This beautiful wildlife preserve lies in the valley between the Shawagunks and the Catskills, once inhabited by Native Americans and then, in the 1700s, by European settlers.
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How jealous are you that we saw this amazing lynx while driving back from the city on the Palisades Parkway the other night?! (OK, maybe not this very one. It was dark and we were going 6o miles an hour, so stopping for a photo really wasn't on. But I swear, it looked just like this.) Suddenly, there it was—standing stock still at the edge of the road, illuminated by our headlights, a halo delineating the little tufts at the top of its ears. We were both gobsmacked for a moment and then turned to each other and said WTF was that?! As soon as we walked in the door, we googled it and it was immediately clear that we had seen a Canadian lynx. It is extremely rare to see them in this area but evidently there was some attempt to increase their population in these parts about 20 years ago. I can't really describe to you how beautiful it was: silvery, majestic, sleek. I will carry this vision with me forever.
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photos by george billard

Can you actually believe that this is a fairly common and harmless spider? My jaw dropped when I saw this babe casually gliding across the side of the house. It's a marbled orb weaver (Araneus marmoreus). I wonder if her appearance had anything to do with today's ladybug invasion. I looked out the window at this gorgeous sunny morning and saw clouds of winged creatures filling the air—a truly extraordinary sight. Next thing I know, they are bombarding the house, finding any crack and cranny to slip inside. This is an annual occurrence, and I've certainly noticed them in the house during other fall seasons, but I've never been present to actually witness the onslaught. They're looking for winter shelter. Poor things, the inn is full. If they didn't smell so funky, they might be welcome. I've heard their particular aroma described as a cross between burning rubber and burning hair but I think it's more like ear wax (TMI?). Apparently, they are attracted to light surfaces but our house is green, so WTF? Fly away home, ladies—or risk getting munched by Mlle. Spider... 
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