The Opportunist

We own three properties across this varied country, each in a different life zone: a suburban home in central Missouri, a small farm in the ...

Goddess of the Sky

Bright, beautiful Venus graced the southwest sky last evening. Named by the Romans for their Goddess of Love, Venus is the brightest object ...

Inversion

Salt Lake City has been enveloped in a soup of smog for the past few days. While not uncommon there during the colder months, this "in...

Man and the Universe

Current scientific evidence indicates that the Universe is 13.7 billion years old. If we telescope this span of time into a single year, th...

On Behalf of Immigrants

Veteran birders and conservationists often despise non-native species such as starlings, house sparrows and pigeons. While I can understand...

The Northeast Snowbelt

The northern edge of the Appalachian Plateau begins in the Catskills, runs through western New York, crosses the northwest tip of Pennsylvan...

Wood Smoke

During winter, nature's earthy aromas are suppressed by the cold, dry air and the frozen ground. One of the few smells that we associat...

Hot Spots

Most of the Earth's volcanoes occur in areas where oceanic plates are subducting beneath other tectonic plates; this is especially commo...

Drought Relief

For the past week, the subtropical jet stream has been drawing Pacific moisture into the American southwest; with cold air in place, this ha...

From Sand to Snow

Ah, the wonders of modern travel. One day you are walking on the warm sands of southern Florida and the next you are shoveling snow in the c...

Longboat

Our condo on Longboat Key, Florida, sits on a shallow inlet of Sarasota Bay. While the gulf-front homes, with their view of the surf and sun...

Deep Freeze

The core of the Arctic air has now moved into the southern Plains as the leading front pushed on to the east. This frigid air covers a large...

An Uncommon Visitor

Backyard feeders attract the usual mix of songbirds on most days. Chickadees, cardinals, house finches, house sparrows, titmice, downy woodp...

Saved by the Cold

So far, Central Missouri has been spared the worse of this latest winter storm. Ironically, this is because we were covered by more cold ai...

Ice Storm

Arctic air is plunging southward through the Plains and the leading edge of this cold front will stretch from central Oklahoma to western Il...

Spectacle on the Plains

Driving back from Denver, a heavy snowpack still covered eastern Colorado, western Kansas and, I assume, western Nebraska. About 10 miles w...

Blood on the Snow

During my brief visit to our Colorado farm, I was surprised not to see either of the two fox that usually den beneath our barn. I assumed t...

Looking at the Past

Cold, clear winter nights usually provide the best conditions for star gazing and last night was no exception. At 9 PM, Orion, perhaps the ...

Love in the Trees

The fox squirrels are chasing each other through our Siberian elms today, demonstrating their impressive acrobatic skills. But their friskin...

Chinooks

The Colorado Front Range, from Wyoming to Colorado Springs, is under a high wind warning tonight. A new Pacific storm is pushing in from th...

Driving Back to Winter

Another March-like morning enveloped mid Missouri as I left Columbia and headed for our farm in Metro Denver. A waning moon was high in the ...

Then and Now

Novice geologists often confuse the age of landforms with the age of the rocks that comprise them. For example, Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky, i...

Inland Gulfstream

Southerly winds, produced by a combination of high pressure off the Carolina coast and a low pressure trough over Texas, are sending a plume...

Solitude Lost

We parents want what is best for our children and hope that they will share our values. Yet, each generation sees something in the next tha...

The Ozarks

Driving south from Jefferson City, Missouri, one soon encounters the first ridge of the Ozarks. Extending across southern Missouri, norther...

Day Eleven

Rooted in the Roman and Gregorian calenders, the designation of January 1 as New Year's Day is a product of political and religious rang...