My path into the new year is not straight, but it is clear. When city mice like Doug and I set their hearts on turning into country mice, a humorous book often results. Learning from all those books – (ha ha) and then the roof fell in, and then (hee […]
The coming of spring is a natural celebration, but I love the bravery of winter solstice because it represents hope with very little actual evidence to back it up. Yes, the days are minutely longer, but the return of warmth and the growing season is still far away. I get […]
Introducing a new feature on this site: Conversations with my architect on the design of the house we will build in 2012. Our architect Della Hansmann of Whole Tree Architecture (see York Times article here) is also our daughter. This is a rare opportunity to mull over how to make […]
I revel in all four seasons, and find that my favorite is invariably the one I am in. That makes fall unquestionably my favorite season for many reasons. FIRST: things are changing – FAST! SECONDLY, the adrenalin rush of the crazed squirrel mindset . There is always a task that […]
I’m working on an article for a local publication on what climate change is going to mean in this area, and in the process I search through a lot of blogs on global warming. It’s disheartening. In the face of incredible advance scientific understanding of climate change that is being […]
Our prairie remnant on a sunny, south-facing slope just off the top of a ridge had been farmed for years and then planted by the owner before us in rows of pine and spruce. Some of the trees were 5 years old. Some were nearer 15. The older trees were […]
I proudly add a new link to my Blogroll. My younger daughter, a senior at UW-Madison double majoring in journalism and biological aspects of conservation, just started blogging – Cooking between Classes aimed at empowering her fellow college students to take charge of what they eat. For fun, I interviewed […]
Who is going to suffer the most from environmental degradation? Kids Who is going to have to take over what ever green programs are being implemented today: Kids. If kids don’t learn what’s going on in the environment and care about it today – we can kiss tomorrow goodbye. Here […]
Food is more than nutrients – much more, as Michael Pollan told me and 7,000 other eager listeners at the UW-Madison Kohl Center, (See my post In Defense of Food and Books) where huge crowds gather to cheer and jeer at basketball and hockey games. Last night they were all […]
Last Sunday, the sun was shining. The birds were singing. Doug and I were dipping buckets of water from our tiny pond and hauling them in our Powerwagon (learn about the tool that has turned us into superman and wonderwoman here) to all the places we started new plants this […]
Digging in the Driftless 