America's Crisis Solved!

Forget the dysfunctional Congress and America's exploding wealth gap.  Pay no attention to our ongoing wars in the Middle East, our slug...

High Plains Fox

About half the size of a red fox, the swift fox of the High Plains is named for its ability to run down jackrabbits.  Primarily nocturnal, t...

Mole Seasons

Like mushrooms, moles tend to surface during the spring and fall, when the soil is cool and moist.  Driven into their deeper tunnels during ...

King of the Mulch Pile

Last evening, as I prepared to leave our Littleton, Colorado, farm, I went outside to complete a few chores.  The sun had already dropped be...

The Mellow Month

Across natural ecosystems of the Northern Hemisphere's Temperate Zone, September tends to be a mellow month.  For most species, the chal...

South Park Road Trip

Southwest of Denver, U.S. 285 climbs through the Front Range foothills and then drops into the North Fork Valley at Crow Hill.  Resuming its...

The Mesabi Range

The largest of four Iron Ranges that stretch across northeastern Minnesota and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the Mesabi Range is 110 mile...

The Cost of Religion

Ingrained in childhood, religious beliefs are a source of faith and hope and, in some persons, a stimulus for charity.  On the other hand, t...

Animals at the Zoo

We took our grandson to the Cincinnati Zoo today, my first excursion to any zoo since our own kids were young.  The Cincinnati Zoo, long ran...

The Songbird Months

The number and variety of songbirds peak during two periods across the Temperate Zone of eastern North America.  From mid April to mid May a...

Voyeurs of Tragedy

Every year, on the days surrounding September 11, American television programming revisits the horror of 2001 with documentaries, docudramas...

Afterlife Adventures

As my family has been instructed, I will be cremated upon my death and my ashes will be scattered in the Mt. Evans Wilderness Area, west of ...

A Birding Trifecta

As an avid birder, I have been fortunate to live in a number of fabulous birding areas over the years and, as I near retirement, we own prop...

Season of the Hunter

On these chilly, dark, early mornings of September, Orion reappears in the southern sky.  Though this well-known constellation is a visual i...

The Edge of Autumn

Sitting in my office this afternoon, I am looking out at a wall of dark clouds, pushing in from the west.  Studded with thunderstorms, this ...

Costa Rica's Earthquake

Yesterday's earthquake off the west coast of Costa Rica occurred along a subduction zone where the Cocos Plate is dipping beneath the Ca...

Shuttle vs. Trees

In order to transport the Space Shuttle Endeavour to its new home in Los Angeles, some 400 trees will be destroyed along its final glide pat...

First Migrant Songbird

Yesterday evening, a female magnolia warbler was flitting about the lower branches of our black maple.  It was the first migrant songbird th...

Morning Stress

As we awaken from the deep chasm of sleep, interrupted though it might have been by a series of dreams, the natural stress hormones of our b...

September Spring

Isaac's rains have spawned a September spring across central Missouri as dry, brown lawns and drooping vegetation have been reinvigorate...

Swamp Cooler

After a long, brutal summer, enveloped in hot, dry air, we in Missouri are now bathed by the remnants of Hurricane Isaac.  The familiar humi...