I turn off Hwy 31 in Dundee onto Country School Road and immediately all the stress and chaos of suburbia falls away. I am heading to the Spring Bird Cottage, a retreat on fourteen acres of oak, hickory and maple woodlands with a network of … Continue readingAn Oasis of Nature
I arrive before dawn on a cold, cloudless morning. As I gear up and start down the crushed limestone trail, the eastern horizon is beginning to lighten. At the footbridge near a beaver lodge, I slow down taking soft, deliberate steps. I think I might … Continue readingCounting Cranes
I have several bird feeders in my back yard. Over the years I’ve seen new bird species come every year. It’s a source of pleasure for me, environmental enrichment for my indoor cats and a source of supplemental food for my Labrador, Tybee, who never … Continue readingUnder the Feeder at Night
In my experience, these small prop planes are harbingers of unique experiences. I’ve never been disappointed. Silver Airways whisked us 220 miles from Ft. Lauderdale to the North Eleuthera International Airport. We landed in the warm, drizzling rain. After clearing immigration and customs in this … Continue readingEleuthera Above the Water
Several years ago I got a camera trap (motion-activated outdoor camera) to learn more about who is around when I’m not. Over the years I’ve watched raccoons, opossums, skunks, coyotes, birds, a woodchuck, mice, deer, a nesting duck, the neighbor’s cat and my dogs in … Continue readingSquirrel Rock
We turned onto a narrow, unmarked dirt road, more like an access road that a public way. It was right where the trooper said it would be. We rolled and rumbled past some tent campers just beginning to stir as we made our way up … Continue readingA Taste of the Tahoe Rim Trail
Just past the cattle pasture and crop fields, the terrain changes suddenly and dramatically. We’re heading through an oak forest, down a narrow gravel and dirt lane toward the river bottoms. There are tall, treed hills on either side of us and a meandering creek … Continue readingA Winter Morning on the Farm
I am fortunate to have a 4000-acre forest preserve out my back door. It is a respite from the chaos of the city of Chicago, 20 miles to the east, and the suburbs that surround it. From September through May I walk these woods several … Continue readingNew Treasures in Familiar Woods
The flight leaves Kodiak Island at 4pm. We have one last day to make the most of exploring this wild place. We passed by Fort Abercrombie Park, a World War II site with a beautifully rugged coast rumored to have a sow and cub hanging … Continue readingWandering Kodiak
The first snow of the season foretells the winter ahead. This year our first snow was 1-2″, the earliest snowfall of this magnitude in the last thirty years. Often the first snowfall is gray and slushy and makes me want to linger inside by a … Continue readingAwaking to the Season’s First Snow