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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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We Found A Way to Thwart House Sparrows!
Frustration Yields to Creativity Reprising the blog on thwarting House Sparrows. Here is a recap of our initial frustration and subsequent ways to encourage native birds and discourage exotics. As we wrote earlier, hordes of House Sparrows almost made us give up...
Journal Writing Helps Recall Events
What did I do yesterday morning? Did I make it to that meeting last Monday? Darn. I can’t remember. I’m forgetful. Fortunately, my journal writing isn’t. 18,250 days Every day since April 1973 I’ve written a simple journal entry on small format lined binder paper....
Labyrinth Travels 2023
Each January I post labyrinth walks of the year. Below are labyrinth travels 2023. Wide Travels Branching out from the Heartland, we explored different regions of North America and took in labyrinths along the way. Some labyrinth travels 2023 were deliberately to...
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.