South of Town

North of Columbia, the landscape soon gives way to the relatively flat terrain of the Glacial Plain that covers much of the Midwest, from ce...

Swans over the South Platte

Not inclined to join the mob scene at area malls and presented with another mild, sunny morning along the Front Range, my wife and I decided...

A Global Thanksgiving

On this American holiday of Thanksgiving, most of us will give thanks for our human possessions and relationships. But our lives, our healt...

The Colorado Piedmont

When the Rocky Mountains first crumpled skyward, 70 million years ago, the adjacent plains rose with them, producing a gradual rise from the...

Canadian Sunsets

As the sun sets behind the Colorado Front Range, lines and Vs of Canada geese take to the skies. Common across the urban corridor throughou...

Snows in the Clouds

Heading to Colorado for the Thanksgiving Holiday, we left Columbia shrouded in moist, balmy air, courtesy of a stiff southerly wind; the lat...

Marriage: an Unnatural Union

Marriage is not a natural human relationship. Rather, our society has collectively decided (and most of us would agree) that children are b...

Winter's Assault

As of this morning, a potent winter storm was spinning over the Great Basin and its associated cold front stretched from San Francisco to Ma...

Ringing in the Season

On this first cold evening of the season, I was surrounded by the tinkling song of juncos as I walked home in the fading twilight of dusk. ...

Autumn Rain

Unlike recent cold fronts, our current trough has tapped a fetch of Gulf moisture and cold rain is falling across central Missouri. Though ...

Exorcism 2010

Born of fear and scientific ignorance, religions have retained significant influence thoughout the course of human history. Early man, faci...

Red-tail Highway

Red-tailed hawks are common on the farmlands of the Midwest and are especially conspicuous during the colder months of the year. It is then...

A Polarized Nation

As if our political polarization was not bad enough, the jet stream has now divided our country. This afternoon, a broad dip in the jet has...

Jurassic Parks

The Colorado Plateau of the Western U.S. harbors one of the most extensive exposures of Jurassic strata on our planet. Stretching from 200 t...

Summer takes a Round

After a week of frosty mornings and the sense that winter was taking control, summer got off the mat and reclaimed mid Missouri today. Its ...

The Great Oceanic Plates

When Earth's Continents merged into Pangea, some 250 million years ago, the vast intervening ocean stretched across two oceanic plates, ...

Morning Chill at Eagle Bluffs

Arriving at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area this morning, it was clear that winter had taken charge of the refuge. Flocks of horned larks and...

Claron Lake

When the Rocky Mountain chain began to rise, some 70 million years ago, the crust to its west was stretched, producing a mosaic of ridges an...

Tardy Canadians

Perhaps our balmy October weather kept them at bay. Or perhaps they arrived under the radar and I've been too busy to notice their prese...

The Nature of Politics

The elections are over. The Republicans control the House, the Democrats will likely retain the Senate and, in the end, nothing will change....

The Heart of Volcanism

The great majority of Earth's volcanoes are found along subduction zones, where one tectonic plate is dipping beneath another; the lower...

The March of Autumn

November, like March, can be a fickle month in the American Heartland; though known for blustery weather and gray skies, both months offer a...