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).
Cedar Rapids Gazette Features – Updated
Features: 2020 – 2024 2024 (For a list of features go to https://www.thegazette.com/marion-and-rich-patterson/) For related articles click here. November 10, 2024. Riding the (t)Rails. (in print copy and Green Gazette) November 3, 2024. Land of the Dawn. October 23,...
Why Do Prescribed Prairie Burns?
Historic Background and Reason For Prescribed Burning After the glaciers retreated over 9,000 years ago fires swept across much of North America, set by Native Americans and occasionally started by lightning. Fire created the vegetation and wildlife Europeans found...
Ice Storms
The world around Winding Pathways changed overnight. On December 14, 2024, we awoke to an ice-glazed world. We know that hurricanes, tornadoes, and derechos cause widespread havoc. Ice storms present their own perils to trees, people, and wild and domestic animals....
Why Do Fires Burn Hot or Cold?
Experience a prairie burn.
Tools to Help With Yard Work
*Note: Below are just a few examples of several power tools we’ve purchased. They were pricey but made yard work so much easier than with muscle-powered tools. Occasionally, a company asks us to try a product and give reviews. Yard work was a snap when we were in our...
Nut Wizard Picks ‘em Up to Create a Squirrel Magnet
This fall we borrowed a Nut Wizard nut picker-upper from a friend and helped neighbors harvest gallons of black walnuts. We dumped them in our backyard and, over several weeks, delightedly watched a progression of squirrels haul them off to eat and bury. They scurried...
Flying Squirrels – Phantoms of Darkness
Have you ever seen a flying squirrel? Many people have not. They are amazing mammals worth seeking out in the nighttime hours.
Turkeys In The Yard and On The Table
How ’bout them wild and wary turkeys? In our yard they come running when they see us bring bird seed for songbirds. Nothing wary about these characters who thrive in suburban lots as well as in forests.
Birds Need Grit
Grit is an important source of “food” for birds in winter. Grit helps them grind up seed so they can digest it and extract the nutrients.
Nebraska’s National Forest
Why was a national forest planted in the grasslands of Nebraska? What was the result and what lessons learned?
Wooly Bears!
On a warm October afternoon bears were in our yard! Not to worry. They were wooly bears. Caterpillars. We like them and follow them as they scurry along as fast as their tiny legs can go. Where are they going and how do they know how to get there? The answer to the...
Cataract Surgery Success
Prepare for aging now! Diminished vision and aging go together. Learn about cataract surgery and benefits.
All Fish Are Awesome!
Here’s a great kids’ book about fish! Just right to read on cool autumn nights with a youngster.
Winding Pathways Goes Glamping!
Camping. Glamping. What is the difference?
Delightful Wildflower Progression
Serendipitous Derecho We sat on our back deck one early September evening remarking on the delightful wildflower progression we’ve enjoyed since early April. It is the serendipitous result of a disaster. On August 10, 2020, a derecho’s 140-mile-an-hour wind knocked...
Create Natural Beauty
Catch up with the Pattersons and their landscaping that welcomes plants, animals and people.