Here is a great link to Community Playthings an organization that encourages families, grandparents and kids to do cool activities outside all year! Read their blog “Bundle Up and Get Outside.”
Winding Pathways will soon a feature a guest blogger’s adventures with her kids outside ice fishing.
A guest Blog by Larry Paulsen of Ogden and Adams:
“I have a unique story I’d like to share. This happened just a month ago. I own a lumberyard here in Cedar Rapids and I do most of the buying of the materials we sell. I have gained some great friendships over the many years that I’ve owned the business and several of the suppliers have become close friends. One morning, around Thanksgiving this year, one of my suppliers called me and told me something he had done the day before. My friend is a very thoughtful, caring, and religious guy.
“He had to spend the night away from home and being an early riser was one of the only customers at a mom and pop restaurant for breakfast. Since it wasn’t busy, he struck up a conversation with the waitress. She was a single mom raising three kids on her own without much help from the kids’ father. With Christmas coming they talked about how commercial Christmas had become and she told him her son really wanted a pair of tennis shoes that were priced at $130. She said she had to tell him that they couldn’t afford gifts like that. The waitress wasn’t complaining or feeling sorry for herself. It was just part of the conversation. My friend said when he left the restaurant he left her a $100 tip. He told me he couldn’t afford to leave a tip like that but she needed the money worse than he did and it made him feel good to do it.
“That same afternoon, a good customer of mine stopped in and I told her the story. I asked her if she knew anyone who was struggling and could use that $100. She thought for a moment and couldn’t come up with anyone. About two hours after she left the phone rang. It was her. She said she had been thinking a lot about my question and she remembered a lady who she deals with, was divorced with three children, and recently remarried a guy who was terminated from his job because he was injured. Not only had they not had an income for two weeks but also the company denied him his past sick leave and vacation pay even though he had 120 hours of earned pay they owed him. It didn’t look like they would have much of a Christmas. She said he was now looking for work and really needed the money.
“As it was, I had been looking for a new truck driver/yard worker with little luck. The job requires outside work, good driving record, being physically fit, and ability to pass random drug testing. It’s hard to find people with all those qualities these days. I asked my friend if he might be interested and if so, he could stop in and talk to me the next day. Well, I’m pleased to say that because of the generosity of a friend to a waitress in need and who inspired me, I now have a great new friend and employee. Everything has worked out great.”
Editor’s note: We do make a difference in people’s lives. May that difference be positive. Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy New Year to all.
Guest blog by Jacqueline Hull about a Christmas gift in the southwest. “… told me this experience she had just before Christmas.
I hope you enjoy the story…. Sometimes life, its quirks, and inhabitants surprise us in the most delightful ways.”
“This is a short sketch about a Christmas incident that occurred in Sun City, Arizona, to a retired Air Force Vietnam Veteran Nurse. She has disabilities, and lives quietly at a senior residence. Each day is a challenge for her both physically and emotionally.
“On this particular day before Christmas the retired nurse went to the grocery store to purchase baking items so that she could make goodies for some of her friends at the residence where she lives. She always carries her money in a small change purse so that she can grasp it easily and store in her pocket.
“After collecting all the needed ingredients in a grocery cart, she proceeded to the checkout counter. The clerk rang up the cost and the nurse opened her change purse giving the clerk some bills. The clerk returned the change and the nurse put the coins in the purse. Without thinking, she left the bills on the counter and went home with her groceries.
“Upon arriving home she put away all the baking items and decided to check her purse. She realized that she didn’t have the bills. She knew that there should have been the coins but also a $20 bill and six $1.00 bills. But, they weren’t there! The nurse became quite flustered and anxious. Back to the store she went to inquire of management if anyone had turned in the above bills.
“The store manager noticed her coming into the grocery section and noted that she seemed upset. So the manager asked if she could help. Tears brimmed in the nurse’s eyes as she explained what she thought had happened – that she had inadvertently left the bills at the checkout and that she really needed to find them. The manager went to a register and as she opened it, she pulled out exactly a $20 bill and six $1.00 bills. The nurse wanted to know if someone had found it. The manager let her know that it was a gift and Merry Christmas.
“Peace on earth and good will towards everyone.”
Jacqueline Hull, guest blogger
Reading by a cozy woodstove.
Although electronics minded people often claim that paper books are either dead or dying, we disagree.
Few things are as pleasant as spending winter hours curled in a comfortable chair by the wood stove reading a real book.
Even better is sharing a book with a child or grandchild. A new sharing book is Walking With Bigfoot, a Beginners Guide to the Common Trees of North America by Sharen and Mark Mellicker. It can be ordered online.
Many years ago nature study was just that. Naturalists urged people to learn outdoor specifics, such as how to identify trees, fish, rocks, birds, or some other object. Later came a movement where specific knowledge was de-emphasized and considered less important than just going outside and absorbing nature. In recent years there’s been a blend of the two. Often having some specific knowledge of aspects of nature helps create understanding of our environment.
Walking With Bigfoot is a children’s book well suited to winter reading. It helps kids learn specific tree species and various details about each one while enjoying the travels of Bigfoot through forests. It’s a fact filled story book that will pique the interest of folks of all ages in trees.
Another favorite is Emily M. Stone’s Natural Connections, Exploring Northwoods Nature Through Science and Your Senses. It can be ordered online from the Cable Natural History Museum.
Iowa native Emily Stone is Education Director at the Cable Natural History Museum in Wisconsin. Her book follows north woods nature through the four seasons. The book, from her columns, is filled with reflections, facts, and illustrations of plants, insects, birds and more drawn by children.
Winding Pathways encourages you to don warm clothes and go outside and play during cold winter months. Then, come inside to enjoy a cup of cocoa and the fireplace or furnace’s warmth while reading a truly enjoyable book.
Warm pleasant weather lures families into their yards for gardening, barbecue cooking, and simply enjoying the weather or quiet conversation.
Unfortunately, most people retreat inside as soon as the weather turns cool and don’t enjoy their yards until spring’s gentle sunshine warms the earth. Fascinating happenings occur all fall and winter, and we enjoy going outside no matter what the weather is.
Often Rich quietly sits on the back deck with his binoculars. There’s
Rich often sits outside observing nature.
plenty to see as nuthatches, woodpeckers, and chickadees flit around bare branches and wing to feeders while juncos seek tiny seeds on the ground. Squirrels come and go, often chasing one another, and each morning a flock of wild turkeys troops up to our yard from nearby Faulke’s Woods. It’s all fun to watch.
There’s only one downside. It’s cold. Fortunately, manufacturers have made great strides in recent years developing clothing and other products that make being outside comfortable on even the coldest days. Deer hunters and ice fishermen can sit for hours in frosty places and have learned how to stay warm. Rich follows their example with layers of clothes and a warm jacket. Toes, fingers, and ears are the most likely body parts to feel the cold, so he dons a stocking cap, warm pair of mittens or gloves, and felt lined boots when sitting on the deck.
Bring along these lightweight warmers for outdoor activities.
*He augments these with hand and toe warmers. The best brands we have found are HotHands and Grabbers. A simple air tight packet keeps the natural ingredients stable. Cut open the outer seal and air activates the process with resulting heat that lasts six to 12 hours depending on the brand and type of warmer – hand, toe or body. These light-weight, disposable packs are great for late season outdoor sports, yard work, emergency crews, and just being outside. When the elements are cool, we cut open the packet and sprinkle the iron-vermiculite mixture on the ground then recycle the packaging.
*Milwaukee Tool Company, best known for its quality drills and saws, has recently brought out battery heated jackets, vests and coats, and these sound ideal for enjoying the yard in winter. We’ll be testing them soon and will let visitors to Winding Pathways know how well they work to keep wearers toasty on cold days.
Don’t let the cold keep you from enjoying your yard. It’s fascinating in winter, and with leaves off trees visibility is often better than during the summer. Here’s one more tip:
Many animals visit the yard after dark in winter. Step outside with a flashlight and shine it on the bird feeder. You might discover a raccoon, opossum, deer, or even flying squirrel enjoying seeds intended for birds!
*(Note: These are independent, unpaid reviews of products.)
Anyone who has ever spent hours picking green beans knows it’s a thankless job. Aching backs, mosquito bites, and soaked sweatbands, all for a few pounds of produce that is consumed almost embarrassingly fast. Last spring, I made a resolution. If I was going to toil under the summer sun in that special brand of syrupy humidity unique to south-central Kansas, then I was going to make it look good.
I decided I wanted a green bean labyrinth. My indulgent husband got quite a kick out of the idea, and planted the seeds in the sketched-out shape I left for him on the kitchen counter one morning. It’s a simple labyrinth, just a few turns, and the lines are three plants thick. We planted three different varieties: Jade, Royalty Purple Pod, and Dragon’s Tongue.
Two great flushes of beans gave us about twelve pounds before a sudden heat wave crumpled all but the inner circle. It was still a job to “go pickin’,” but the labyrinth made it easier. And, it was always nice to suddenly find myself in the middle, and even nicer to see I’d already filled my basket without realizing it. Sometimes when my husband got home from his landscaping work we would walk the labyrinth. We’d talk about our days or plan a camping trip, or dream about what the orchard will look like in a few years. Those few minutes to reconnect before moving on to our respective evening chores would keep us going. Then the pig-weed moved in, and by that time the grapes were turning, leaving the labyrinth to slowly dissolve back into the ground. The field where the green bean labyrinth was is already planted to red clover and will be fallowed next year. Since the next plot in rotation is a bit too narrow to hold a proper labyrinth, it might be a few years before the next vegetable labyrinth takes shape. It’s worth the wait.
Editor note: Below is a You Tube video about drawing three and five circuit labyrinths. Lars Howlett is a skilled builder and facilitator connected with The Labyrinth Society.