It was on March 14, 1903 that President Theodore Roosevelt established the first federal bird reservation, Pelican Island, a five-acre mangrove island in the Indian River Lagoon on the east coast of Florida near Vero Beach.

My fascination with the moon started when I was four years old. My mother said would wake up in the middle of the night and say to her, “There is the moon, isn’t it pretty?”

The common cold has plagued humans for a very long time, and it is my turn to feel the virulence of the virus that causes it. In fact, it could be one of many different viruses that give us the symptoms of the common cold.

Historically, eating snow was common. An early report comes from Roman Emperor Nero (54 – 86AD) who mixed fruit or honey with his snow. Grape pulp snow was a particular favorite.

Asparagus is one food beginning with the letter "a" that has a penchant for passion. Avocados are another amorous “a” known to have aphrodisiac attributes.

The roots of my obsession (and affection) include turnips, parsnips and rutabagas. These ground-growing goodies will provide the last of the local harvest, leaving me with a long wait for the Island’s spring greens and a few months of well-traveled, grocery-bought vegetables.