Welcome to Winding Pathways
Winding Pathways encourages you to create a wonderous yard, whether that yard is an expansive acreage, a suburban lot or a condominium balcony. Go outside and play!
Join our email list
Sign up for FREE Winding Pathways emails (approximately weekly).
Lessons From A Terrible Car Accident
Rich helped triage a recent car crash near our home.
House Sparrow Blues
House Sparrow Blues One of our favorite Thanksgiving Day activities is enjoying a sumptuous meal while watching chickadees, nuthatches, cardinals, and woodpeckers enjoy the seeds we put out for them just outside our window. Thanksgiving 2023 brought mostly...
What to Do When Spotting a “Bald-Faced Hornet” Nest?
Autumn Reveals Nature's Wonders November’s wind stripped the leaves off one of our maples and revealed a big gray football-shaped bald-faced hornet nest. Although we’d walked under it all summer, we had no clue it was there. This fall many people will discover similar...
Windows, Deadly for Birds
Why do Birds Fly Into Windows? Windows, deadly for birds. According to the National Audubon Society, about one billion birds are killed every year when they crash into windows. About half collide with low commercial building windows with the rest crashing into home...
Setting Our Yard on Fire!
On Fire? Many readers know we burn our yard. What? Are we nuts? Fire kills. Fire destroys. Well, it can but it also cleanses and heals. It's one way to manage natural growth on properties. So, on a balmy early November day, we set our yard on fire! Flames towered...
How to Mulch Leaves
A few years ago we found a way to make removing leaves fast, easy, and good for the lawn. We actually don’t remove them but mulch ‘em in place. We’re old enough to remember childhood autumns when homeowners raked their leaves to the curb and set them on fire. Smoke...
Sweet Home Alabama
Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd is a “heartfelt tribute to the state of Alabama.” Adopted by Alabama tourism as its slogan the “catchy” phrase indeed speaks to the variety and comfort of this truly Southern Hospitality state. On a hot and...
Furless Tailed Squirrel Update
Update on Furless Tailed Squirrels Two winters ago, we noticed squirrels with nearly furless tails visiting our bird feeders. Our blog about them on Winding Pathways brought hundreds of visitors. Some from other countries! Apparently, we weren’t the only people seeing...
High Plains Adventures
A journey to the American Prairie Reserve and back.
What is a Magnet Oak?
We didn’t intend to create a magnet when we planted a skinny bur oak in our front yard 13 years ago. It created a startling experience one October evening when Marion went to the porch to check the weather. A large furry form dropped from the nearby tree and scurried...
Who Gets Tattoos and Why?
Tattoos to You Recently we have noted people’s tattoos. How fun and meaningful they are. That has not always been the case. Throughout cultures, in eras past, tattoos have been both shunned and venerated. Dating from 5,000 years ago, in Japanese cultures, tatts...
Bivouac Camping
What To Do When No Room At the Inn? Basic bivouac camping gear saved our night as we drove along a rainy Ohio Interstate. We were returning to Iowa from a business trip in New Jersey. The 1000-mile trip is too far for us to make in a day so we normally plan to...
What Do Frank Lloyd Wright and Thoreau Have In Common?
Acquired stuff grows. Literally! A periodic house and yard cleaning practice helps move stuff and clutter out. When in good repair we donate useful items. Broken or dated items see the landfill. We are careful about what we buy to reduce the need for either of these outcomes.
How Do Late Blooming Flowers Help Pollinators?
By September our thoughts and actions turn to autumn - fall sports, raking leaves, and cozy weekend campfires. For wildlife, especially pollinators late summer and early autumn are critical times to gather nourishment for migrations or hunkering down for winter's...
Wild Elk In Pennsylvania
We were recently amazed to learn that Pennsylvania has a thriving herd of wild elk. A couple of times each year we make the long drive from our Iowa home to visit relatives in New Jersey. We traverse Pennsylvania on Interstate 80. For years we’ve been intrigued by...
Which Is Better, White Shell or Brown Shell Eggs?
What's Egg Color Got to Do With It? Are brown-shelled eggs better than white-shelled ones? Supermarkets sell all sorts of eggs. Brown or white shell. Free range or not. Organic. Vegan. Prices per dozen vary greatly. How is a consumer supposed to buy the freshest and...