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!
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Prairie Ballerina
Periodically readers send lovely essays and observations of their Wondrous Yards. Below is a poetic piece by Katrina Garner. "One of the benefits of creating and maintaining burn barriers around prairie areas is that the resulting "pathways" provide the perfect...
Woodpeckers
The Magic of Clovers and Fireflies
A man whom Rich hadn't seen for years recently approached him in a parking lot. “You once wrote a newspaper column suggesting that people not spray their yards for insects or weeds. We took your advice and magic happened,” he said. He explained that a couple of years...
No Rest for Wrens!
Just ten days ago the wren parents fledged the babies from the box on our deck. After we knew they were safely gone, Rich unbolted and cleaned out the next. What an amazing feat of engineering! With just a beak and claws, the wrens fashioned a comfy, warm home to...
Fledging
Late June into mid-August is exciting, dangerous and nostalgic for all creatures fledging - including people! Birds and wild creatures have mated, nested, and are raising young. For some this takes weeks, months or years (kids). This spring has been fun watching the...
Summer Reading
Take in some great summer reading! Cornelia (Connie) Mutel, Winding Pathway's good friend, sent us her most recent book, A Sugar Creek Chronicle: Observing Climate Change from a Midwestern Woodland. Her book weaves three themes together that encourage readers to enjoy...
Photovoltaics Power Winding Pathways
Just before the summer solstice Winding Pathway's new photovoltaic system began producing electricity. A few months ago Paulson Electric Company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, did an analysis of our home and provided us with an airtight proposal. Thanks to tax credits from...
Lyme Disease and Ticks
We are proud of and fortunate that our yard is home to a wide array of fascinating plants and wildlife. But, last year Rich encountered a wild animal that he wishes he'd avoided. A deer tick found and bit him, although he never saw the tiny eight legged creature. A...
Keeping A Bird List
A joy of inviting beautiful wildlife to a yard is the periodic chance to see something new. That happened recently at Winding Pathways. We were astonished to spot a Black Poll warbler in our oaks. It was the first of this species we'd ever seen anywhere. Another...
Lightning Strike Addendum
Years ago a tremendous lightning bolt struck a white pine at the Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The powerful blast tore a vertical strip of bark from nearly the tree's top to the ground. It was at least 25 feet long and about four inches wide....
Lightning Strike!
An enormous explosion brought us bolt upright in bed. 10:44 p.m. just after we’d fallen asleep on April 27th. . The blast was so powerful it knocked pictures off the wall shattering the frames and glass. A quick check revealed no other home damage and a few low...
Wrens Return to Iowa!
At the end of April house wrens returned to Iowa right on schedule. Every year they seem to appear like magic. Where they were absent just a day or two before the yard suddenly seems to be filled with wren antics and their effervescent voice. House wrens winter...
Binoculars are for Everyone
We recently noticed a tiny water drip above our dining room table. It looked like we had a roof leak. Instead of dragging the heavy ladder out to check the roof we grabbed a pair of binoculars that we always keep handy. From the yard the binoculars gave us a close up...
Magnolia in Labyrinth
A short reflection walking in the Laughing Labyrinth.
Obsidian A Fascinating Rock!
We’re honored to welcome visitors to our Winding Pathways website seeking information on obsidian. Many have probably learned of this rock through video games. Ironically Winding Pathways is located in Iowa, a state where natural deposits of obsidian aren’t found....
Keeping Deer Out
Few gardening experiences are as frustrating as discovering a patch of almost ready-to-bloom tulips or ready-to-pick green beans devoured by deer. Over the past couple of decades deer populations have skyrocketed across North America, making gardening challenging. We...