The five Great Lakes, Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, with the smaller lakes and rivers that connect them, span the eastern half of the North American continent on the border between the United States and Canada. All combined, the Great Lakes system covers some 95,000 square miles of surface area, making it the largest freshwater ecosystem … More Bearing witness to dying ice

Rainbow watercolors flowing across frozen sky.  Melting gold, pink, coral, blending into radiant orange.   Dying flame of day.  Gray-blue becomes lavender   mirrored by snow and clouds.  Slowly, the world deepens   turning violet, cool and soft.  Navy blue descends from outer space.   First stars wink across time   beyond the sharp moon sliver. 

Close your eyes. Listen. What do you hear? The winter wind whispers across the barren white landscape rattling dried seed heads. Dancing with the snow, it becomes visible, swirling higher and higher until a strong gust howls and crashes like a great wave breaking against a shore. The snow settles over the top of a … More Listen to a Prairie Portrait

What is killing our birch trees? Part II- The Suspects What is killing our birch trees? The suspects include old age, injuries from storms, climate change, drought, and insects. For the past decade, the combination of these has been bashing birch trees in my neighborhood like boxers in a fighting ring. Age  In a forest … More The Suspects

Have you noticed in the past few years how many birch trees seem to be looking sickly and others are standing dead in our northern landscape? I admit, I had not been paying attention to the signs and symptoms appearing in my own neighborhood until it was too late. October 2020. I used to have … More What is killing our birch trees?

Nature is everywhere. Even the coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease, is nature. Corona is Latin for crown. The coronavirus is actually a very pretty virus. It has spikes on its surface that give it the appearance of a crown when we look at it through a microscope, as you would hold a crown and … More Nature is Everywhere

As the calendar slips toward September in the Mississippi and Red River of the North watersheds, I feel a growing sense of tension in the natural world around me. The days are shortening. The garden veggies need to be picked daily. The goldenrod and coneflowers thrum with bees and butterflies of delightful variety. The wind … More Autumn Changes