by Winding Pathways | Feb 5, 2016 | Children/Play, Geology/Weather, Nature, Wonderment
Kids enthusiasm about playing in the snow is evident with snowmen around town, tracks across yards, piles of wet boots and mittens and gay laughter ringing through the town. Two children share their reasons they love to “Go Outside and Play!”
-
-
Musher Devany Souza on her magical “first snow” trip to Alaska
-
-
Part of the fun of snow is making snow angels.
-
-
An intrepid sledder walks back up the hill.
-
-
Smiles in the snow!
-
-
Drying out the clothes
-Savannah. “I like to play outside when it’s snowing because we can do several different things. We can throw snowballs at each other. We can make big snow forts and hide in them. We also slide down our icy slide so we can go extra fast. So all together, we play in the snow whenever we get the chance.”
-Breanna. “When it’s snowing I like to go outside. The reason I like to go outside is because I like to go
sledding really fast down a hill. I also like to build
snowmen while my brother and sister go find accessories. I like to find cool
foot prints in the snow. And I think it is fun to throw snowballs at my brother and sisters. And that is why I like to go outside.”
by Winding Pathways | Jan 4, 2016 | Nature, Travel/Columns, Wonderment
-
-
Our winter wreath will soon sport hearts and last us through the season.
-
-
Wintering woodpeckers, including the pileated, gobble up suet.
-
-
A lone Carolina Wren has hung around and appreciates the suet on our outdoor Christmas Tree.
-
-
Eagles have come down from the north. As waterways freeze over they concentrate below roller dams.
-
-
Lonely winter grill
-
-
A cautious squirrel scoping out the action.
-
-
The birds have not yet flocked to the High Bush Cranberries but will later in the winter.
by Winding Pathways | Jan 2, 2016 | Nature, Reflections/Profiles, Wonderment
This great book is colorful, factual and encourages folks to “Go Outside!”
As kids growing up, we read books our classmates would have considered weird. They were field guides to birds, mammals, fish, wildflowers, rocks and the weather. Color plates of animals, trees and all sorts of other living things fascinated us. Range maps taught geography, and the text good writing.
With the rapid growth of apps to help identify many objects of nature, field guides may be slipping from winter reading lists, but there is one new book that any nature lover should have handy.
The Secret Lives of Animals includes 1001 tidbits, oddities and facts about North America’s wild animals. It’s not a book to read cover to cover. It is one to pick up when there are a few spare minutes for learning and enjoyment. There’s learning on every page. We see two audiences who will enjoy having this book close by.
Kids and adolescents: With colorful illustrations and loads of facts presented in succinct form it’s a fascinating book for youngsters. We would have loved to have had this book by our bedside when we were young to glean wildlife snippets in moments before sleep.
Adults: The book is studded with interesting facts and makes a good one minute or three hour read. Any trivia lover will enjoy it as well as people who delight in wildlife.
Our favorite part of the book appears frequently and is called GO OUTSIDE. Going outside and enjoying nature is what we advocate at Winding Pathways and The Secret Lives of Animals gives readers something new to look for outdoors and then encourages them to put the book down, pull on the boots and go explore outside.
THE SECRET LIVES OF ANIMALS-1001 Tidbits, Oddities, & Amazing Facts About America’s Coolest Animals, by Stacy Torino and Ken Keffer with illustrations by Rachel Riordan. FalconGuides. ISBN 978-1-4930-1191-9. http://amzn.to/1PMc5EJ
by Winding Pathways | Dec 19, 2015 | Reflections/Profiles, Wonderment
A couple of times each week I walk the nearly two mile circumference trail around Cedar Rapids’ Cedar Lake. It’s a great way to get exercise and watch a diversity of wildlife in the downtown area.
On Sunday, December 13, 2015 a near magical encounter occurred. Heavy rain was predicted for the afternoon so I planned my walk for late morning. Light drizzle was falling as I approached a parking lot surprisingly full on such a gloomy day. A woman was putting snacks and beverages on a picnic table. When I asked her if she was planning a winter picnic she replied, “Nope, you’ll see a bunch of runners on the trail. We’re raising money for a friend who has leukemia. He has limited health insurance and is having trouble paying medical bills. He’s not able to work and has two young children.”
Although she didn’t ask for a contribution, I handed her ten bucks and began a counter clockwise walk around the lake, just as a knot of runners was just finishing their first clockwise circuit and were enjoying snacks. They again set off running and soon I began meeting them on the trail.
The word was out. All had heard that a stranger in a blue raincoat had given $10. Every runner I passed smiled and said, “Thanks.” One woman stopped me and said, “Thanks for helping my brother.” Then, an older man stopped and said, “I want to shake your hand. You helped my son!”
Later in the day I thought how fortunate I was to have been able to give a tiny gift to help a man I didn’t know and be thanked by so many dedicated people. What a wonderful Christmas gift they were giving a dear friend of theirs and me, a stranger. Rich
by Winding Pathways | Nov 28, 2015 | Birds, Children/Play, Labyrinths, Nature, Travel/Columns, Wonderment
-
-
Lisa organizing the build.
-
-
Hudson, WI, has a new labyrinth at Healing Waters Health Center. Created by Lisa Gidlow Moriarty and assisted by several volunteers.
-
-
Carefully laying stone in the new labyrinth
What fortune to have contacted Lisa Gidlow Moriarty who was constructing a labyirnth at Healing Waters Health Center in Hudson, WI. Rich and I joined the crew and after the lines were drawn using high technology of a bucket and rope and a tire iron to gouge the circuits, we placed rocks that had been hauled in. The concentric circuits quickly asserted themselves and the labyirnth was completed in no time at all! The day was cold, but the hearts and spirits warm. What a fun experience.
The children are quick to spot birds and squirrels.
Time with extended family in the Twin Cities was restful and hilarious as the children explored outside, spotted birds with “noculators”, and constructed wonderful toys from Legos.
Thanksgiving morning four of us walked a lovely labyrinth at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Plymouth, MN. Set down in a barrow area, the labyrinth is formal, well-maintained and has a light feel to it. While set apart, it is visible and still private. Well done.
Along the Mississippi
Our drive back along the Mississippi River yielded a fabulous view of Tundra Swans near Minneiska, MN, and a really terrific lunch at a humble looking (on the outside) but spectacular on the inside creamery now restaurant, wine tasting stop and cheesery near Alma, WI. Pretty fabulous. And, the countryside of The Driftless” area (NE Iowa, NW IL, SE MN and SW WI) is gorgeous even on grey November days. Decorah, IA, boasts are pretty great coffee shop and small businesses.
by Winding Pathways | Nov 16, 2015 | Reflections/Profiles, Travel/Columns, Wonderment
Winding Pathways usually blogs about wondrous happenings in backyards. It’s normally rural news about plants, wildlife and weather. Here’s a change from the Big Apple, America’s largest city.
In the midst of rush hour on November 10, on my way back to Iowa after a difficult visit, I, (Rich) took a bus from New Jersey to New York’s Port Authority. When the driver opened the door bus occupants flowed into a river of humanity snaking its way through the monstrous terminal-along corridors, down escalators and through more corridors, until finally we were outside by the New York Times Building.
Needing to find the shuttle to LaGuardia Airport I went to where I thought it would be. No luck. No shuttle. Rather frazzled and running short on time I found a young policeman and asked where the Airport shuttle was. He said, “You look tired. Just follow me”. He delivered me to the shuttle ticket guy.
Then something truly “New York” happened. After buying a ticket and getting seated on the shuttle the driver entered. He was a tiny Asian man who looked to be about 15 years old but certainly was older. I’d be surprised if he weighed 100 pounds and he spoke no English. A blond woman sitting near me also spoke no English. She may have been Scandinavian and could not find the proper ticket in her purse. She and the driver were not able to communicate, so the young driver exited and soon came back with a bus employee with a deep Southern accent who was about three times his size. She politely pointed to the proper ticket nestled with many others in the European woman’s purse.
Everyone smiled as the passenger handed her ticket to the driver. We were soon off to LaGuardia Airport with the young driver ably worming the bus through Manhattan’s snarly traffic.
Three people. None shared a common language. All wanted a positive outcome…….and that happened. It was wondrous.
