Seed Swaps

by | Jan 15, 2026 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Garden/Yard, Garden/Yard

SEED SWAPS A FUN WINTER GARDENING EXPERIENCE.

Man looks at container of heritage seeds.

Heritage seeds.

January 31, 2026, is SEED SWAP DAY. It’s on our planner, and we are headed for a fun weekend in Decorah, Iowa, to take in the swap.

According to the Seed Saver’s Exchange seed swaps have been happening for at least 10,000 years. These are simply times for gardeners and farmers to gather and swap their favorite seeds. We attended last year. Check out this link to learn how to organize a seed swap in your area.

Quality Seeds

We buy many of our vegetable seeds from Iowa based Seed Savers Exchange located near Decorah, Iowa. Seed Savers Lillian Goldman Visitor Center is open daily, except certain holidays, from March through October. It houses a gift shop with quality gardening tools, books and assorted themed products. Their website and catalog offer a wealth of gardening information and welcome visitors to their Heritage Farm. Trails, trout fishing, and views of the Driftless region’s valleys always delight us. The grounds are open for free use year-round. Hiking trails wind through or near pastures, meadows, forests, orchards and garden plots. Trout anglers are invited to wet a line in the stream that nurtures Iowa native brook trout.

Seed Exchange

Colorful beans in a bowl.

“I Love Seeds!”

The Seed Savers Exchange also holds a seed swap every year. It’s a good way to meet other gardeners and return home with free seeds. The produce from our last summer’s garden was fabulous! Two in particular we loved. Acorn squash, from heritage seeds, were abundant and TASTY. Crisp kale lasted into the fall. The seeds came from last year’s exchange.

Seed Savers swap in Decorah posts how to organize your own exchange in your area. Join the winter exchanges around the country.

 

Magical Fog

by | Jan 8, 2026 | Birds, Geology/Weather, Nature

Advection fog can occur in windy conditions.

Warm air flowing over cooler ground can create fog.

When we looked out our windows on the morning of December 27, we saw……. nothing!  Well, we saw magical fog. It was so magical that it obscured the nearby houses and stores we normally see.

Fog made us feel like we lived in a remote area and reminded us of Carl Sandburg’s poem.
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

Unusal Occurance

Cedar Rapids usually isn’t a very foggy place. Fog is most likely during winter, but sometimes a year goes by without a pea soup fog. Other American cities, especially along the northern East and West Coasts, often are foggy.

Marion walks the labyrinth or horseshoe loop of our drive nearly each morning. These foggy pre-dawn days were mysterious and colorful with neighbors’ lights glowing.

After a quick look out the window on that December morning Rich bundled up, set up his lawn chair, and sat in the backyard facing Faulkes Woods. As is normal on thick fog days there was neither wind nor sound……until wafting from the foggy woods came the delightful call of a Carolina Wren. The combination of fog and our resident Carolina Wren made it a truly magical morning.

Carolina Wrens

This tiny and active bird isn’t up near the house like summertime’s House Wrens, but prefers to stay down in the woods. Tough to spot because of its small size and penchant to stay hidden, its clear call affirms the bird’s presence. It’s an easy call to learn and is especially melodious at a time of year when few other birds vocalize. Our wren seemed to love the fog as much as we did.

To learn more about this lesser-known wren and hear its calls on your computer go to Cornell Lab, All About Birds. eBird

Types of Fog

There are at least five types of fog. Check out the National Weather Service’s Website to learn more about these types of fog.

We’re glad Iowa isn’t as foggy as the coasts of Maine or Washington. Day after day of thick moisture would get gloomy. Instead, we revel in the quiet beauty of our rare fog.

 

Walking Safely On Ice

by | Jan 1, 2026 | Geology/Weather, Preparedness

We love being outside even when the weather is awful and the world is icy. It doesn’t keep us inside but, we do a few things to help us walk safely in an icy world.

Orthopedics’ “Delight”

Icy deck.

Ice on deck.

Ice makes walking treacherous. Orthopedic physicians are busy during icy periods treating people who’ve slipped and fallen. We’ve developed a strategy to make walking safer when ice coats the world. Here are a few tips:

Boots and Traction Devices

Man touches slide on gripper on bottom of boot.

One boot without gripper. One with.

We have summer and winter boots and shoes. Every fall we stow our summer boots in the attic and bring down our winter ones. In the spring we reverse the process. Summer boots usually have less aggressively textured soles of harder rubber designed for walking on concrete, rocks, and packed trails. Winter boots, in contrast, have soles with aggressive treads often made of softer rubber that grips ice. Usually winter boots are also insulated to keep feet toasty warm on frigid walks.

When it’s really slippery out we pull traction devices on our winter boots. Made of a stretchy material that makes them easy to pull on over boot bottoms, they have tiny metal spikes that stick into the ice to give a grip. Just don’t wear them inside!

Trekking Poles

Trek poles. One with rubber stopper. One with sharp end to use on ice.

Trek poles

Trekking poles, canes, and walking sticks all serve the same purpose. Stumble a bit and they give a third point of contact with the ground, often preventing a fall. When it’s warm out Rich prefers using a strong wooden stick when he walks on soft or uneven ground, but he switches to a trekking pole when it’s icy.

Here is the tip! Take the rubber bottom off and use the tip!

Rubber and wooden bottomed  poles slip on ice. A sharp metal point that looks like a nail is built into many trekking poles. It’s easy to jab it into slippery ice to get a more stable grip. Often trekking poles come with a rubber sleeve that can be slipped over the sharp point for use when it’s not icy.

Grit

At Winding Pathways we avoid using chemical ice melters. Salt is amazingly toxic to plants and many animals, especially aquatic ones. It also corrodes cars. Other chemical “ice melters”  are less than good for the yard or environment. Here are some traction boosters we use:

contrast between grit with sharp edges and sand that is round.

Grit and Sand

Sand: Sand is easy to find. Each fall  we buy a few bags of “play sand” at a building supply store. It’s intended to be used in kid’s sandboxes, so it is clean and uniform.

Chick grit:  Even better than sand is chick grit found where supplies for chickens are sold. Sand is mostly tiny round stones that roll when sprinkled on ice. Chick grit is tiny particles of hard dense rock that has been crushed to size. It has sharp edges that stick to ice better than sand. We put a few pounds of chick grit in cans near our doors. It’s convenient to sprinkle it on icy stairs and walkways.

Wood ashes:  Back when nearly everyone heated with wood or coal, ashes were commonly sprinkled on icy walkways for traction. Ashes still work but have a downside. When they get moist the slurry sticks to boots and easily gets tracked inside to leave residue on the floor.

On all the above, remember WIPE YOUR BOOTS OFF CAREFULLY before entering the house/a building. This avoids tracking in excess and unwanted sand, grit, ash.

To sum it up, BE CAREFUL and avoid a nasty slip on the ice.

 

Labyrinth Walks 2025

by | Dec 25, 2025 | Labyrinths, Reflections/Profiles

Reflecting on labyrinth walks this year with a link to some of the past.

What Will the Year Bring?

Early in the year, facing low back surgery, I was uncertain how many labryinth walks I would make. It turns out later in the year offered many opportunities.  Here are some I took in this past year.

This past winter’s weather was a dud.  One week of winter with some snow.  But, mostly, cloudy, rain – not snow – and just day after day of waiting.  At least the labyirnth was accessible for me early on.  You can see the burn areas and the tan path to walk.  In February we drove north. The Keweenaw Peninsula had boatloads of snow, so I suppose my snow angel is “cheating” but with their labyirnth under feet and feet of snow, this will do.

We also stopped at Westfield, WI, to take in a labyirnth created by families in memory of a beloved son, son-in-law by the families. This labyrinth is well worth a walk. I hope counselors, pastors, and people in general will walk this wonderful labyrinth especially in these uncertain times.
Below is part of Roger Schmidt’s story he shared. We later talked on the phone.

“Everyday is a Holiday” (Andy Polk)

“Yes it is on the Westfield School Property.  I am quite sure that if school is in session it would be appropriate to go to the office and ask if you need permission.  If it is not a school day you can just park next to it and walk it.  I was the Superintendent at the time it was built and it was dedicated to my son in law who was killed in a tractor accident.  I built it with the assistance of Andy’s father and both of our families. I hope that you enjoy the journey.  Be sure to read the bricks as there are many that have messages engraved on them.  Andy was a beloved math and physics teacher and around 2000 people attended his funeral.  There were so many we had to have it in the school gymnasium.”

Something I CAN do!

While recovering I was happy to participate in and lead Friday Lapheld Labyrinth walks with and for Veriditas. Promoting The Labyrinth Society’s Gathering “Celebrating the Spirit of the Labyrinth” was great and a dry run for my talk in late October early November, “Spirits of the Labyrinths.”  Dia de los Muertos, All Saints and All Souls Days.

Embrace ‘Ayni’

This followed by a last minute request to help a colleague in Tasmania who had inadvertently double booked the time. “Embracing ‘Ayni’ through Solvitur Ambulando” or “What Can We Do When We Can’t Do Much?”*

*From online source Global Volunteers. “The Quechua word for this mutuality is “ayni”, meaning “today for you, tomorrow for me,” suggesting that giving comes before receiving. “Ayni” (eye-nee)   is the only commandment of the Incan religion that the Andeans know and keep until this day.”

Growing Together

round lap labyrinth.

Lap labyrinth.

What a happy way to contribute during what could be an otherwise slow recovery time.  Then, as fate has it, my colleague/friend, Tina in Tasmania, and I did a catch-up ZOOM.  As she shared why she needed a fill in for her presentation, another idea grew like summer blooms. Remember, this was summer in Australia and late winter in North America.

Competere*

 

Her community worked to prepare soil, grow and tend vegetables, pull weeds, sweat, complain and laugh together, gather and preserve fruits of their labor as they competitively “Grew Together.”  I was reminded of how the Friday Lapheld Finger Labyrinth walks had been growing since COVID-19 (March 2020 in the USA).

  • Tina shared how a high shcool friend  and she bounced off ideas as they “competed”. From the Latin root word “competere” meaning to strive together, to seek together, to meet/coincide. Perfect!

“Growing Together” became our theme for an August Friday Walk. We engaged a conversation of how different groups can “grow together” and then invited our global labyirnth community to walk and share after. Amazing comments!

Mr. Rogers Inspirations

Again, filling in for colleagues, in late fall the theme, “Channeling Mr. Rogers: How the Ancient Path of the Labyrinth Can Guide Us as Modern Day Helpers,” struck a cord with participants in our Friday Handheld Finger Labyrinth walks. Technology expert, Annika, enthusiastically embraced the idea of short “chat rooms” so more people could participate.  The music selection initially was instrumental versions of Mr. Rogers’ songs. As tehcnology has it, something else happened and a riotous selection of similarly named songs popped up. People laughed as they delighted in this anomoly of music. Chats were followed by the closing plenary session. People shared such poignant comments as to fill my heart with appreciation for the opportunity to work with them and for branching out into a different way to engage people.

Stepping into Wellness

Sculpture of girl pointing north with Surprise Lilies behind her.

Surprised by Joy.

The “dud” winter proved helpful as I could walk the horseshoe drive for exercise.  Flat surface and enough steps to gain back strength. By spring I gingerly began walking the labyrinth using trek poles.  A measure of balance was the challenge of walking to the center on the raised limestone rectangles.  Over time I regained balance. By summer I was happy to see the flowers and as usual was delighted to see the blue lobelia and the Surprise Lily.

 

Travels Yield Labyrinths

August found us motoring to Chattanooga via Land Between The Lakes.  A fascinating history of taking over land, manipulation, regrowth, restoration. And, hugging the west side of Kentucky Lake is this wonderful little labyrinth. St. Peters of the Lake. A picnic, walk and into the Land Between the Lakes itself. Then on to Chattanooga.  Jessie and I endured heat on our walkabout to find the labyirnth at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. A respite inside the sanctuary revealed an elaborate and child centered altar. Terra Haute, IN, was a complete surprise.  Set off in Hawthorn Park a lovely labyirnth in honor of a family greeted us. Again a broiling day. So the coolness and sighing of the trees and quiet calls of summer birds soothed the soul.

Channeling Mr. Rogers 3.0

People pausing to assemble a fish puzzle like Mr. Rogers paused to feed his fish. Nurturing and being Nurtured

Quietly working.

“It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a neighborly day in the beauty wood, could you be my, Would you be my?” Oh how people love Mr. Rogers to this day. And we could use more of him in our world today. Each presentation of Channeling Mr. Rogers has its variations. At the core is Pause…Kindness…Helping. And, Prairiewoods Spirituality Center is a grand place to live these values as a small group shared kindnesses they have received and extended to others. Autumn is just the right season to live Channeling Mr. Rogers 3.0.

Celebrating the Spirits of the Labyrinths

We meander. Springfield, MO, proved a great place to stop and the Drury Hotels scored again with service and friendliness. We plotted a clockwise route to visit three labyrinths in the late afternoon. The sequence proved just right.  The first labyrinth at Unity needs more than love.  While initially a good idea, without maintanence the labyrinth painted on a section of parkling lot way back in a corner had declined.  Uninspired it is bordered by a dumpster and storage building, faded, weedy and simply neglected.  * Contacts with the church asking their plans to revive yielded nothing. St. John’s Chapel United Church of Christ labyrinth is nicely situated even close to major roads.  Set down it’s protected by trees so has a cozy feel.  It, too, needs some love and the members appear to have plans to refresh it. The most inspiring and well kept is St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church labyirnth.  Gorgeous!

 

Every year The Labyrinth Society hosts The Gathering.  In 2025 over Halloween, Dia de los Muertos, All Saints and All Souls Days we gathered at The Vines 4-H camp. Great time! Ingenious temporary labyrinths like the skull one this woman is walking.  And, reflections on creating a labyrinth from an old field.  Letting things happen and managing to a degree. (Note the reflection on the grass labryinth on the window to the left of the screen. Nearby Ferncliff Presbyterian Center’s labyrinth is tucked into the woods, tricky to find.  Worth it when you arrive. The website explains, “This 52 foot labyrinth of wood chips and rocks was built by students from Jonesboro, Columbine, Paducah who had been impacted by school violence and came to Ferncliff for healing over the course of five years.” The walk is not easy. Neither physically nor emotionally.  As my colleague and friend, Twylla, noted, “It’s all jumbled” and stirs up emotions.  In fact, the way is rough with rocks and roots. Healing is a messy path to walk.

 

Like the wise men in the Bible, we returned by a different route.  Our decision was simpler – we like to explore different places. So, Columbia, MO, found us exploring labyrinths, meeting friends for lunch and tucking in to another Drury Hotel. Prior to our visit the chaplain at the hospital and counselor at the high school all welcomed me with emails.

Again, our clockwise visits yielded the most serene for last.  The Rock Bridge Christian Church was an adventure getting to and finally in a round about manner, there we were.  It’s guardians are making renovations to the entry and near the center for accessibility.  A satisfying walk. Unity of Columbia maintains the labyrinth. The entry is lined with pavers of donors’ names and sayings.  A happy place. A friend whose wife had attended Hickman High School guided us via back byways to the school as traffic was building up. Students walked by as we watched. Later, Counselor, Paige Reed, explained that she and staff are working to refresh the labyrinth that was created in memory of a devoted friend and teacher.  Always a good feel to learn that. Last was a quiet walk at the Boone Hospital Foundation  labyrinth.

The Year Ends

The ONLY possible day for a burn was Sunday, November 23rd.  Clear skies and calm to light breezes finally followed days of fog and high winds.  The next two days fog rolled in again.  By then the Thanksgiving holidays were upon us.  And, a massive snow storm over that weekend.  I got in a walk on the burned labyrinth and am content now to let the labyirnth rest for the season.

Navigating Grief Through the holiday Season

People around a table in candlelight.

Managing grief through the holidays.

Through the Nassif Community Cancer Center, Sayde Alexandrescu, Lisa Hanigan, and I created a poignant program for cancer survivor clients. Ways to acknowledge grief and welcome in light during this season where “abundance” can add to stress.  A lovely program and a surprise of connecting with  the labor and delivery nurse, Bonnie, who helped us navigate the journey of our son’s birth years ago.  Intersections.

This has been quite a year for labyrinth journeys.

  • Note: As a Veriditas trained Advance Faciliatator and who works informatlly with webmaster, Jeff Saward, in the UK, I connect with labyirnth guardians. Each labyrinth I visit, I reach out asking the status and after to either compliment or ask their plans to refresh, restore or consider decomissioning.

 

 

Nests Appear Like Magic

by | Dec 18, 2025 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Mammals

When autumn’s spectacularly colored leaves drift by our windows they signal the end of a season. That’s also the beginning of a new season – when nests appear like magic.

A few years ago we sat on the front deck as leaves tumbled off a nearby maple. “What’s that big shape up there?” Marion asked. We looked closer through binoculars spotting a bald faced hornet nest.

Hidden From View

During the growing season we didn’t know the colony of these big hornets were nearby, because  their growing paper pulp-like nest was deeply tucked among leaves. By the time we spotted it the nest had been abandoned. We watched as the weather gradually shredded it overwinter.

Winding Pathways is filled with wildlife, big and small, and many species nest close to the house, sometimes unseen during the warm months.

Birches and Bird Nests

On a warm late November day we pruned a river birch tree near the labyrinth, looked up, and spotted an abandoned robin’s nest built on a horizontal branch. Crafted of sticks, it was lined with dried mud and likely was a perfect home for a brood of  babies.

Crafty Crows & Cozy Squirrels

Dropping leaves also reveal bulky, loosely formed crow’s nests up high on trees. After brooding and fledging crows abandon the nests which, typically, quickly fall apart. Crows to generally return to the same area year after year.

The leafy nests of squirrels high in trees are called dreys. Although they prefer using tree cavities, when these are scarce they’ll make a drey.  Dreys are easy to spot after leaf fall. They’re usually at least 30 feet up and built in the fork of a branch. The ambitious animals  weave together sticks, leaves, and grass to make one and snuggle inside during cold windy winter nights.

While walking through our yard and area trails we often spot other wintery nests.  Here are a few of our favorites:

House Wren:  All summer we’re serenaded by singing wrens, and we love watching them bring delicious caterpillars into their nests to feed babies. They are cavity nesters and claim the wooden boxes we put out for them.  Each fall we open each wren house and remove the nest of woven sticks inside.

 

Baltimore Oriole: Orioles visit us in the spring but prefer nesting along nearby Indian Creek. Their nests often hang down from the branches of tall trees and are sometimes built way above trails, lawns or water.

Goldfinches: Goldfinches love tall grasslands, and build their nest in tall wildflower stems or dense shrubs surrounded by prairie plants. They nest in mid-to late summer andline their nest with soft plant down, like milkweed fluff.

Wild Turkeys: Unlike many birds turkeys don’t work hard to build their nest. They  just make a slight depression in the ground and line it with dry leaves.  A few years ago our neighbor was doing yard work when a female turkey rushed out from under a bush right next to the home’s foundation. He was startled!  Whether back in the forest or in suburbia female turkeys usually make their nest under a shrub and next to a log or foundation. Usually there will be a clearing nearby, and to a mother turkey a lawn is a good substitute for a natural grassy clearing.

Turkey vultures: While not exactly back yard birds, turkey vultures are denizens of summer thermals. We see them soaring in the country and over towns.  A basswood tree just east of our property has been the home of nesting turkey vultures since before we settled here in 2010. The Derecho of 2020 took out many trees and broke some off the basswood. But, mostly it survived partly because it is more holes than tree!

Foxes, coyotes, and woodchucks all have favored places to tuck in. Not nests but cozy homes. Deer bed down on warmer south slopes.  Various insects create nests. The photo gallery shows some examples.

Fall’s a great time to go on a nest hunt seeking a variety of structures built by birds, mammals and even insects. Sometimes they can be a challenge to identify, but a great source is nestwatch.org.  It will help discover what birds made nests tucked in trees, in tall grasses, on the ground, and even under house eaves.