Oak Tree Lesson In Healing

by | Feb 5, 2026 | Garden/Yard, Nature, Trees

A backyard black oak tree recently taught us about healing. Both of us have had surgeries during the past year, and an assortment of scratches and cuts over the decades. Recovery from surgeries seemed slow. We were impatient.

Discovery Yields An Idea

One day, when loading a pile of split cordwood into our wheelbarrow and wheeling it to the woodstove, a hunk of oak caught our attention. Weeks earlier, we’d missed something when we cut, split and stacked the wood from this venerable but storm- damaged tree.

The piece of wood was remarkably different from other chunks that were mostly triangular in cross section. This piece was flat and about the size and shape of a book.  One surface had normal looking bark while the other side showed marks of a saw that, years before, had been used to prune off a large branch. The tree had grown over (healed) its wound. But we wondered how long did it take?

Curiosity

Rich took out the sander and smoothed off an end. Counting the annual rings he learned how long the healing process took. Answer: About a dozen years for the tree to grow back over the cut…..the healing process. The tree patiently worked, year after year, to gradually expand living wood over the cut.

Nature Heals

Scar on maple tree from the 2020 Derecho. Almost grown together.

Healing is slow

We’re watching another tree heal. A young red maple in our front yard took the full force of a 140 mile an hour wind during an August 2020 derecho. The storm blew the tree’s top almost parallel to the ground. Fortunately, it didn’t break, but the force popped a section of bark off its trunk. Now, five growing seasons later it’s nearly healed over.  Patience.

Perspective on Healing

Mn's hand with scab on a cut.

Healing takes time.

Those trees gave us a perspective on patience and healing. While hauling wood Rich scraped some skin off his wrist. Gradually new skin replaced the scab over a few weeks. That’s a lightning fast heal. Earlier in the year Marion had back surgery and Rich had cataract surgery. Both of us were eager to heal quickly, but our bodies mimicked our oak tree. Healing takes time. Patience and self-care are important elements of healing. Skin heals relatively quickly. Muscles take longer, and nerve healing is a pokey process – about an inch a month after an initial recovery period.

Impatience is likely a natural human reaction to healing, and being impatient slows down the healing process.  The tree taught us that health can be regained. It just may take a while.

Crafting Beauty

The piece of wood we found was too important to toss into the woodstove. Rather, we polished the inside and drilled two holes on the bark side, to hold candles.

Now, when we get impatient with the slow pace of our own healing, we light candles and remember the tree’s patience.

Healing Happens

We send our thoughts to anyone who’s recovering from surgery or a wound. Take heart. Healing may seem endless but the human body is as remarkable as a tree’s bark. Healing happens.

How Long Do Wild Animals Live?

by | Jan 29, 2026 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Amphibians/Reptiles, Birds, Garden/Yard, Mammals, Nature

Meet Our Geriatric Downy

Red tufts of feathers on top distingush a male Downy from a female Downy woodpecker.

Red cap on male Downy.

We often see a geriatric Downy woodpecker at Winding Pathways. He’s at least five and a half years old. More likely six or seven.

How do we know? Well, back in the spring of 2021 Dr. Neil Bernstein brought a class of college students to our backyard, strung a nearly invisible mist net and soon started catching and banding birds. One was a male downy woodpecker. Neil gently attached a tiny aluminum band to the bird’s right leg and released him.

Spotting the Band

For several years we watched the bird eat suet from a feeder near our back deck.  When the light’s just right and the bird’s right leg is visible, we can see the band. Our last sighting was in late 2025. So, he’s been banded four and a half years, and was likely at least a year old when banded.

Could it be a younger woodpecker banded by Neil or someone else miles from our yard?  “Not likely. Downy woodpeckers are homebodies. He probably has lived right here in your yard continuously since he was banded,” Neil recently told us.

We haven’t been able to restretch a mist net and recapture the bird. If we could read the tiny numbers on the band we could confirm whether or not that it’s the same bird. It likely is.

Wildlife Longevity

Most wild animals live a shockingly short life. It wouldn’t be a good idea to sell a life insurance policy on nearly any wild animal. They die young. Wild turkeys live a few years. A cottontail rabbit is not likely to live to its first birthday. The same for most songbirds and mammals. A whitetail deer could live for eight or ten years but few reach their second or third birthday. Usually, wild animals succumb to a predator, die in a storm or are hit by a car. Many birds meet unfortunate deaths when they crash into windows or overhead wires.

Reproduction is Important

Since few animals survive long enough to reproduce, their species continues because those that do make it to reproductive age have many babies. That’s especially true with fish. A largemouth bass or bluegill, for example, could live for upwards of ten years.  They lay thousands or even tens of thousands of eggs, but nearly all die soon. Of the lucky few that emerge as young fish many are gobbled up by bigger ones. Only a few reach old age.

Longevity Champions

Shiny shell and red colorings of a painted turtle.

Turtles are longlived animals.

Reptiles may be the longevity champions, with turtles and tortoises sometimes living for decades, or even a century. A box turtle might live 35 years in the wild and much longer in captivity. But these long-lived animals lay few eggs and their babies mostly die when young. If they make it to young adulthood, they stand good odds to enjoy a long life.

Back To Our Downy Woodpecker

Our downy woodpecker has lived a charmed life. He’s not been snatched by a Cooper’s hawk, frozen in a blizzard, or died by an accident or sickness. The oldest known Downy lived for 11 years and 11 months. Most are lucky to live two years. Maybe ours will set a longevity record.

Helping Wildlife

His life may have been helped by having plenty of dead trees near our yard, the result of a massive windstorm five years ago. These old trees are filled with cavities that offer safe places to hide, escape storms, and raise a brood. Our Downy comes for regular helpings of suet at our feeder. That may help him.

We use the word “he” because male Downys have a blotch of red on the back of the head, making it easy to determine gender. Many Downy woodpeckers come to our feeder. We always look carefully to see if it’s our banded male.

 

Winter Squash

by | Jan 22, 2026 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Garden/Yard, Garden/Yard

Winter squash is just plain wondrous. One snowy December evening we dined on butternut squash as blowing snow swished by outside our window. Eating squash we had grown during last summer’s’ balmy days lets us extend our home-grown food for a full year. We’ll eat last summer’s winter squash until we plant lettuce in early April!

Three Sisters and Us

Native Americans had it right. In the early days of agriculture, they developed the “three sisters” crops of beans, squash, and corn. They’re now grown around the globe for their high-powered nutrition, great taste and ease of growing and storing.

In some ways we’re like Native American gardeners of years past. They had no modern way to can or freeze food so developed crops with long storage lives. Our garden yields an abundance of food but we don’t can or freeze any vegetables. Rather, we enjoy the easy keepers after frost closes down the garden. Our favorite is winter squash. We pick them just after the vines die in the very late summer and store them in a closet that stays cool but doesn’t freeze.

A Squash Primer

Botanists classify squash and pumpkins in the genus Cucurbita with a wide diversity of squashes falling into three separate species. Jack-o-lantern pumpkins and most common squashes are in the species pepo. Some giant pumpkins and Hubbard squash are in the maxima species while butternuts are in the mochata species.

Gardeners make it easy by just calling squash either winter or summer.

Summer Squash

Yellow summer squash, red tomatoes, green cucumber.

Sumemr produce.

Zucchini and crookneck are two common summer squashes. Best picked when small, they add to a delicious summer meal when lightly steamed or chunked up and added to salad. They don’t last long in storage so must be enjoyed fresh. This site explains a wide variety of summer squash.

 

Winter Squash

Various decorative squash in a pile.

Decorative squash.

Dozens of varieties of winter squash and pumpkins are a delight to the eye and pallet.  All have a hard skin that enables them to keep for months in storage. Some winter squashes only last for a couple of months while others can be stored for a full year.  They range in size from tiny acorn squashes to giant Hubbards. Pumpkins are actually squash. They keep for months under the right storage conditions.

Our Favorite Winter Squashes

Butternut: These are readily available in grocery stores and are easy to grow. They are, perhaps, the most versatile squash for the table. Butternuts make delicious soup but often we roast them.  Add a little butter and they are delicious-especially on a frigid January evening. The recipe link above requires more work than we do, and it is tasty.

Acorn:  These tasty squashes are amazingly prolific. Because they are so small, one squash is just right for the two of us for one meal. We cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds and microwave them.

Pie pumpkin: Yup these are squashes. Many pumpkins were bred to be jack-o-lanterns and are big to huge. They delight children. Big pumpkins are edible but the flesh is usually thin, stringy, and watery. We prefer eating diminutive sugar pie pumpkins that only weigh a couple of pounds. Often stores sell small pumpkins as pie pumpkins, but this can be misleading. All small pumpkins are not the pie type. True pie pumpkins feel heavy for their size and have thick flesh that’s not stringy, making it easy to convert to pie. We look for those that are squatty. The web has good information from cooking sites on the differences.

Big Squash: Many delicious squashes are huge and far too big for a family to eat in a day or two. When we lived in Idaho grocery stores would cut them up so customers could buy just a chunk. Probably our favorite big squash is the Blue Hubbard. Sometimes we’ll cook an entire big squash, put the cooked meat in a storage container and freeze it for later meals. Chunks of raw squash can be put in a plastic bag and kept in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

Scrounging Squash

Squash are easy to grow but there’s an even better way to get a winter’s supply free for the asking. Businesses and families often make Halloween displays of various squash, pumpkins, gourds, bales of straw and corn shucks. They’re happy to give them away right after Halloween. In the fall of 2025, our bank gave us many big pumpkins and two huge jarrahdale squash. One was all we could eat. The other we gave to a food pantry. Developed in Australia this squash makes delicious pumpkin pies……lots of pies per big squash.

Deer Love Squash

Deer eating a pumpkin in snowy yard.

Nutritious

Last fall businesses gave us more pumpkins and squash than we could ever use. We smashed and tossed them into our composter until we noticed local wild turkeys eating the seeds and deer visiting to eat the flesh. Cows love squash, and now we know deer also do. So, now we just smash pumpkins on the back lawn and hungry deer clean them up.

Cooking and Eating Squash

Squash and pumpkin seeds are rarely eaten but make a delicious and health packed snack. Squash meat is one of the most versatile of foods and can be prepared in dozens of ways. We bake, boil, or steam it, but for variety check out recipes abundant on the Internet.

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.

 

How Do Ponds Attract Wildlife?

by | Oct 16, 2025 | Amphibians/Reptiles, Garden/Yard, Nature, Water Resources

Wildlife Parade

Of all the wildlife attractions we’ve created at Winding Pathways nothing beats our tiny pond’s wildlife parade. Hardly the size of two king beds, it proves that even a miniscule water feature is one of the best ways to lure fascinating animals into a yard. How and why do ponds attract wildlife?

Simple: Animals need water. For shelter and nurishment.

We actually didn’t create our pond. It was here when we bought the property, but we’ve spiffed it up. At about 80 square feet and less than two feet deep its but a speck of water set beneath our dining room window.

A Pond Out of Place

Woman standing at colorful pond's edge.

Wildlife attractant

It shouldn’t even exist. Our house is built on an ancient sand dune. Water percolates quickly into the soil and no natural pond or stream would have a chance of staying wet here. Fortunately, the previous owners had a hole dug and lined with a waterproof membrane. They then had it lined with stones and planted water lilies in a shallow bit of mud over the membrane. We’ve added native vegetation and domestic flowers that attract insects, birds, mammals and amphibians.

Wildlife Attractant

While eating every meal we watch the pond. Wild turkeys, cardinals, titmice, nuthatches, and house sparrows, are among the regular residents that come to drink within a few feet of where we sit. This spring a mallard pair swam in tiny circles during the two weeks they rested on their way north, and a few times wood ducks have settled in to rest. Each summer and fall hummingbirds forage on the succession of plants like Solomon Seal, Purple coneflower, Obedient Plant and other seasonal flowers. Although there is plenty of nectar, they also seem to prioritize “scuffling” with each other. Insects routinely make their rounds to the flowers.

Squirrels, chipmunks, and deer visit routinely. Once a mink jumped in for a quick swim. Cagey woodchucks sip and scoot off when they spot any movement inside.

We can figure out how all these animals make their way to the pond’s edge.

Baffling Visitors

However, some visitors and temporary residents baffle us. Every spring toads and tree frogs call from the pond’s edge and lay their eggs in the shallow water. Where did they come from and how far did they have to hop? Do they use a “hop-ometer” to measure their hops?

Unusual Visitor Returns

bullfrog sitting in shelter of pond outlet

Safe from predators

In the summer of 2020 an amazing visitor arrived at our pond unannounced. That same year, COVID-19, the Outdoor Writers Association of America held their conference virtually and sponsored the photo hunt with the theme “home.”
Marion’s photo of a frog sheltered in the pond’s egress won third prize!

That was the last we saw of frogs until this summer. Then, while we were eating lunch we spotted a bullfrog sitting on a rock at the pond’s edge. Frogs and ponds go hand in hand but what’s puzzling is, like with toads and tree frogs, how this frog knew our pond was there and how it found its way to it. Our home and pond are about a half mile from Indian Creek, the nearest body of water. And, we’re almost 200 vertical feet above the creek!

Long Way to Hop

To reach our pond the frog had to hop a long way through thick woods and prairies filled with animals that would love a frog dinner. Hawks, owls, snakes, coyotes, raccoons, opossums, and skunks live in the area and would quickly convert a hapless frog into lunch. Somehow our frog survived the gauntlet of predators and a long hop.

Our frog gives us joy watching it and we marvel at how it was able to hop into our lives.

Opportunities To Create A Pond

Many wildlife lovers set up bird feeders and create diverse plantings to lure wildlife into their yard.  They might consider taking it a step farther and building a tiny pond to entice a stream of wildlife to visit. Wonder how to do it? Check out thisoldhouse.com/yards.  Scroll down for a good read. There are also several credible YouTube videos that show how to create a tiny yard pond.

 

Happy Yards

by | Oct 2, 2025 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Flowers/Grasses, Garden/Yard, Garden/Yard, Wonderment

Take a look around as you drive. Autumn eye candy delights and soothes us.  From small yards to acreages to vistas Happy Yards abound. Following are some Happy Yards we’ve noticed this fall. We thank folks for creating visual pleasure, habitat for small creatures that share our earth, and enhancing the health of soil, water and air.

To respect individaul homeowner privacy, we took photos that show only the beauty of the forbs and grasses.  Businesses, we stated the names and we thank for their creative use of small spaces to enhance beauty and promote healthy environments.

Enjoy the eye candy as autumn progresses and may we look forward to more come next growing season.

Readers can connect with various businesses across the country that promote happy yards. A favorite is New Hampshire Garden Solutions that regularly post fabulous photos with narrative of rambles in Marion’s native state.

We’ve written a number of posts on wondrous yards that we invite readers to look at.