Thoughts on God

We humans are obsessed with the concept of God.  Driven by fear, hope and intellectual curiosity, we devote much of our lives to exploring, ...

Breeding Bird Census

Today, I took part in a breeding bird census at South Platte Park, in Littleton, Colorado.  On this warm, sunny morning, my group surveyed a...

Preventing Suicide

Suicide generally occurs is individuals who are suffering from depression or who, for other reasons, feel a sense of hopelessness or low sel...

The Joy of Mass Transit

Mass transit has long been the butt of jokes and an easy target for criticism.  After all, most of us have endured the misery of being trapp...

The Miner's Cat

Slender omnivores of the Desert Southwest, Mexico and Central America, ringtails are members of the raccoon family.  Though fairly common on...

The Fountain Creek Valley

Fountain Creek rises on the Palmer Divide, north of Colorado Springs, and flows southward  to join the Arkansas River at Pueblo, Colorado.  ...

Wildflowers along the South Platte

June is a good month for wildflower viewing along the Front Range urban corridor since late spring blooms mingle with those that persist thr...

Focus on Children

Most of the problems that confront American society have their roots in childhood.  Poor lifestyle choices and their subsequent health issue...

Cheerful Exterminators

Since purchasing our Littleton, Colorado, farm in 1990, we have decided not to use herbicides or pesticides on the property.  While insects ...

Mulberry Festival

The annual mulberry festival is underway on our Littleton, Colorado, farm.  The fruit of the white mulberry trees and our lone weeping mulbe...

The Diplomacy of Sports

Worldwide sporting events, such as the World Cup and the Olympics, seem to bring out the best in humanity.  The athletes, while cherishing t...

Blast Furnace on the Plains

As I traveled back to Colorado today, strong southerly winds raked the Great Plains, sweeping hot air into the Heartland and fueling tornadi...

Groundhog Days, Again!

A decade ago, we experienced a steady invasion of groundhogs at our Columbia, Missouri, home.  Most chose to den beneath our deck and one di...

The Art of Coexistence

From the moment of our birth, we find ourselves assigned to artificial units of humanity; these are based on nationality, ethnicity, race, c...

Commercialized Nature

On our recent visit to Lookout Mountain, in Tennessee, my wife and I decided to visit Ruby Falls and Rock City, two heavily advertised touri...

An Outlier of Appalachia

Driving southwest on I-65 from Louisville, Kentucky, one soon climbs from the Devonian sediments of  Greater Louisville into the early Missi...

Distant Lightning

On our last evening in Florida, I went outside after sunset to enjoy the cool breeze off Sarasota Bay and to listen to the squawking of nigh...

The Goose Duck

Black-bellied whistling-ducks are permanent residents of South America, Central America, Mexico and southern Arizona and have long been summ...

Paynes Prairie Basin

Just south of Gainesville, Florida, Interstate 75 crosses a broad valley covered by a shrubby grassland.  This is the western portion of the...

War & Injustice

The recent prisoner swap involving Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl and members of the Taliban has unleashed a firestorm of criticism in the American ...

Red Bug Slough Preserve

Red Bug Slough Preserve is a 72 acre refuge in the southern suburbs of Sarasota, Florida.  Stretching along a drainage channel, it is charac...

Willets

As mentioned in yesterday's post, willets are among the few shorebirds to summer on the beaches of Florida; indeed, they are found along...

Longboat's Quiet Season

Longboat Key, off Sarasota, Florida, is primarily a residential community.  During the warmer months, many home and condo owners head for no...

Politics & Science

Conservative politicians profess their support for economic growth, entrepreneurship and innovation.  Over the past few decades, most of tha...