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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!
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Efficiency Yields Cost Savings
(This story first appeared in the Cedar Rapids Gazette.) A few months ago, my wife called me to her computer to view our electric bill. Although the weather had been mild the previous month we were still proud to see a $13.18 bill, or about 45 cents a day. That's a...
Yoga Labyrinth Walk
On a lovely late summer day, the Yoga classes from PCI and Toula Yoga, led by Lisa Hanigan and Cyndy Logue, picnicked and walked the Phoenix Harmony Labyrinth. After I shared a brief introduction and overview of labyrinths, each woman began her walk. Each rang the...
Managing Deer and Deer Hunters
Many landowners face challenges caused by abundant deer. This animal evolved under heavy predation by wolves, bears, mountain lions, and Native American hunters. Their survival strategy, in addition to being well camouflaged and fleet, is to have many babies. A...
Harvesting Deer for Meat Series
This week Winding Pathways will feature two blogs that cover the "ins and outs" of harvesting deer, landowner responsibilities and a sample agreement between landowners and deer hunters. This blog includes The Law, Equipment, and Ways to Process a Deer. The next blog...
Late Summer and Early Fall Insects
As summer winds down, our warm weather has continued in the upper Midwest and insects are having a heyday. Cicadas still call and Katydids make quite a racket at night. Behind all these summer sounds is the high pitched "cheek-cheek-cheek" of crickets. Mosquitoes...
Spiders in the House
Every once in a while an enormous wolf spider startles us when we go downstairs and flip on a light. We call him “Wolfie”. Fortunately, most of the time he (Wolfie might be a she) stays out of sight and is helpful because (s)he eats other critters that inhabit homes...
Hurricane Harvey’s Lesson
Images in the nightly news from Houston during and after Hurricane Harvey are heartbreaking. It will take years for flooded communities and families to recover. Harvey reminds us that disasters can happen anywhere at any time. Some are relatively predictable. For...
Pilgrimage to Muscatine Labyrinth
Sometimes the experiences that yield the greatest learning are the ones that don't follow our expectations and desires. A group of labyrinth enthusiasts joined me on a pilgrimage to the Muscatine Labyrinth in the Arboretum on Harmony Lane. Tucked into the "elbow" of...
What We Love About Summer!
Winding Pathways asked for reader submissions on what they love about summer and here is what folks shared. Dan P was the first. with this short, pithy remark: "Summer = it's not cold ;)" And here is the back story on that. As a kid and teen until his Junior year...
Total Eclipse of the Sun 2017
Even though clouds and rain dominated the central Midwest on Monday, August 21st, we took in and enjoyed our Eclipse Trip 2017. We drove major roads to SW Iowa and cut over to smaller state and county roads where the views were more intimate and traffic less. Rolling...
Stump Gallery
A creative family on 29th St. Drive SE decorated an old Stump over a period of months. The stump even survived the first round of construction and then, had to go. It's kind of sad because the stumps livened up our drives to and from work. So, here is a memory lane...
Enjoying Rhubarb
About seven years ago we moved from a small house near downtown to Winding Pathways. We looked forward to our new home but didn’t want to leave some plants we’d cared for in the former yard. One was rhubarb. Fortunately, our move happened in early spring, so we were...
Odessa Water Trail
On a splendid late July day we packed up food, loaded the canoe, paddles and life jackets and headed out to explore the Odessa Water Trail. It's one of Iowa's several water trails and part of a larger system of water trails in the Midwest. What a blast! Two hours...
Wapsi-Ana Gardeners Visit
What fun Winding Pathways and the Wapsi-Ana Garden Club had on July 26th! Charlene George gathered fifteen avid gardeners and close friends who followed "rooster" Rich around like chicks. They chatted about gardens and childhood experiences, explored the yard with a...
Opossums are Wondrous Animals!
We like opossums and are always happy to see one shuffling off when we startle it after dark. This amazing animal gets too little respect and appreciation by people who consider them dirty, stupid, and ugly. They are just the opposite! Opossums are doing something...
Summer Wood for Winter Use
Much of our heat at Winding Pathways comes from our two woodstoves. We love the cozy warmth given by our stoves but there’s more to it than just heat. The wood we burn comes from trees that snatched carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the past 100 years....