How I mistook the 8 stalks of opium poppy for cosmos flowers in our new garden — A first-morning welcome in a new home is the view from the garden awash with lovely blooms. Standing tall, like a queen, was this pretty purple flower. I gasped, pleasantly surprised. I’ve always loved cosmos flowers. Eons ago, my next-door neighbour in New Zealand gave me seeds from her flowers…

Like the scarlet lily beetle whose beauty initially beguiled me, then it bugged me red — FROM being a news junkie most of my corporate and writer’s life, I am becoming a nature junkie — which is not a bad thing. Every day, I discover how nature is a natural booster of health, a giver of life lessons, and a remarkable source of creative ideas. But…

A bicolour cat welcoming me in a new neighbourhood and a Medium article prompted my flashback to a heartbreaking feline story — IT is mystifying when two or more things converge to nudge a memory so deeply buried. These two things occurred 10 hours apart, which prompted this recollection from long ago: First was this friendly welcome from a stranger’s cat last night. My husband and I were saying goodbye to family…

Honouring a promise even if delayed is the right thing to do — MOVING house, especially when you’re downsizing, is not a cakewalk. You have to decide which sentiment-laden house stuff would go with the move, or if the same would even fit in the downsized residence. But of all the nitty-gritty of moving, emptying closets, drawers and cupboards was tough for me…

And it may surprise us one day with what it heard from us — WHEN we express admiration for something, it does not mean that we covet what we admire. Maybe we marvelled — just by looking at photographs — at the beauty of Taj Mahal, or Eiffel Tower, or even the infinity pool at Marina Bay Sands. …

Is ladybug a bug? Is ladybird a bird and can it fly? Are all ladybeetles ladies? — BUGS bother me. They bother me a lot even by just imagining those creepy-crawleys. Think bed bugs, centipedes, mites, ticks, scorpions. Wouldn’t you feel queasy, too? However, ladybugs, also called ladybirds and ladybeetles, do not give me that sickly feeling. On the contrary. Their bright, happy colors are charming. …

Mate for life until one fell swoop — EVERY night, Anne sees a solitary blackbird on the apex of the neighbor’s roof. Be it a clear sky or be it wintry or misty, the bird would be there. Perched on the roof, singing melancholy songs like a virtuoso among other songbirds. The bird is calling out for its…