Village Mascots
Showing posts with label Wildlife. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wildlife. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Friday, May 10, 2013
Video of the Week
From Sand to Sea and Back - Solomon Islands Sea Turtles
We have seen many turtle nests on the NC coast. If you vacation on the coast and see a nest, please only look with your eyes and then let it be. These little fellas have enough challenges getting to the water after they hatch. Better yet, see if the local preservation society needs any help around hatching time. We have family who regularly "turtle sit" and help protect these beautiful creatures as they make their way to the ocean. It's magical!
We have seen many turtle nests on the NC coast. If you vacation on the coast and see a nest, please only look with your eyes and then let it be. These little fellas have enough challenges getting to the water after they hatch. Better yet, see if the local preservation society needs any help around hatching time. We have family who regularly "turtle sit" and help protect these beautiful creatures as they make their way to the ocean. It's magical!
Friday, March 29, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
What I Love About Winter
Last week, on Ground Hog's day, I heard a conversation on NPR about mid-winter traditions that were started to spur us through the last six weeks of the season. Ground Hog's Day whether we should dig in our heels for six more weeks of cold or if we should start looking forward to warmer days. Some cultures have proverbs about making sure you have half of your wood and food left to get you through the rest of the season. I thought it would be fun to make a list of all the things I love about winter, things I think about in the middle of a run of upper 90-degree days in the summer.
Seeing as how we had two ground hogs make opposing predictions last week, I think I'll look to the robins playing in my backyard. Then again, we're about to get hit with more snow.
- Christmas! - the holiday, not the consumerism
- Playing in the snow - sledding, snow angels, snow forts, snowball fights, etc. We usually don't get much around here, so if there's enough to play in, I'm happy.
- Hot chocolate
- Hot tea
- Soup cooking in the crockpot all day
- Sweaters
- Wool blankets
- Wool socks
- Heavy coats, scarves, and hats
- Snow days (it doesn't take much for things to shut down around here)
- Winter squash
- Fires in the fireplace
- Baking (too hot to do in the summer - I didn't turn my oven on for 2 1/2 months last year)
- Ice cycles
- Seeing cardinals in the snow
- Animal tracks in the snow
- Garden planning
- Curling up on the couch with a good book and a mug of hot chocolate or tea (although I'll do this in the summer with a glass of iced tea or water)
- Bare trees with the winter sun shining through
- Cold groceries staying cold in my car as I run all my errands
Seeing as how we had two ground hogs make opposing predictions last week, I think I'll look to the robins playing in my backyard. Then again, we're about to get hit with more snow.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Stepping Outside
It is amazing what we find when we open our eyes to our surroundings. You don't have to hop on your bike or into your car and go somewhere to see something amazing (although it certainly can be fun). Sometimes all you have to do is step out your front door. Here are some of the sites I saw today...
I hope that next time you step out your front door, you'll take a moment to see the amazing sites that surround you (if you don't already).
I hope that next time you step out your front door, you'll take a moment to see the amazing sites that surround you (if you don't already).
Friday, May 22, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Happy Earth Day!
I hope that you are all able to find a way to celebrate our planet and the many gifts it provides. In honor of Earth Day, here is a list of inexpensive, easy things you can do to enjoy our planet and maybe give back while you're at it.
Just remember: "Take only pictures, leave only footprints"
*I also highly recommend The 11th Hour and An Inconvient Truth, but I was going for more upbeat activities in the spirit of celebrating.
Book List
- Take a hike and enjoy the beauty of nature. Be sure to take a trash bag with you to pick up any litter you find along the way. We go on "Rainbow Walks" to look at all the incredible colors surrounding us.
- Go canoeing, kayaking, or rowboating - it's peaceful and doesn't polute
- Go camping
- Find a place outside to enjoy a good book (anything will do but I've listed some related ideas below)
- Go on a picnic
- Visit a local garden/arboretum
- Plant a tree
- Start/work on your garden
- Learn about ways to calculate, reduce, and/or offset your carbon footprint
- Attend an Earth Day event
- Learn and practice the principles of Leave No Trace
- Watch Planet Earth or Blue Planet*
- Go see Disneynature's premier release: Earth
Just remember: "Take only pictures, leave only footprints"
*I also highly recommend The 11th Hour and An Inconvient Truth, but I was going for more upbeat activities in the spirit of celebrating.
Book List
- 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth by The Earth Works Group
- 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth by The Earth Works Group
- Serve God Save the Planet by J. Matthew Sleeth, MD
- It's Easy Being Green by Emma Sleeth
- Saving God's Green Earth by Tri Robinson with Jason Chatraw
- Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
The Wild Trees by Richard Preston
I just finished reading The Wild Trees by Richard Preston. Preston is an excellent author of non-fiction books (The Hot Zone and The Demon in the Freezer). He is able to write about history and science in a way that is entertaining and makes you want to keep reading.
The Wild Trees is about a group of "botanists and naturalists that found a lost world above California" in the canopy of the redwoods. Preston writes about how and why these individuals started climbing the redwoods and what they found in the canopy. We often hear about the abundance of life in the oceans and how our activities effect that life. What was not known until recently was how abundant life is in the canopy of an ancient forest. Researchers are consistently documenting new species or finding lifeforms 300 feet above ground that they didn't know could survive that high in a tree. The trees are so large that in areas where the trunk has split to form two or more trunks, there is enough space for fern gardens and huckleberry bushes to grow.
Through interviews and time spent climbing with the subjects of his book, Preston is able to tell the story of their individual lives and relationships, their search for the tallest tree on Earth, and their research documenting a newly discovered part of our ecosystem. These researchers literally risk life and limb in an effort to document and help save this environment. I recently compared this to storm research and tornado chasing only with trees and climbing instead.
As exciting as many of the accounts in his book are, I have to say that one of my favorite chapters is about how his personal climbing and research for this book inspired his children to climb with him. He tells about camping in the trees with his son and how his son was visited by flying tree squirrels. Also, one of his daughters became the youngest certified tree climber in the sport. He also involved his wife, parents, brothers, and their families.
For more information about The Wild Trees, visit http://www.richardpreston.net/books/wt.html.
The Wild Trees is about a group of "botanists and naturalists that found a lost world above California" in the canopy of the redwoods. Preston writes about how and why these individuals started climbing the redwoods and what they found in the canopy. We often hear about the abundance of life in the oceans and how our activities effect that life. What was not known until recently was how abundant life is in the canopy of an ancient forest. Researchers are consistently documenting new species or finding lifeforms 300 feet above ground that they didn't know could survive that high in a tree. The trees are so large that in areas where the trunk has split to form two or more trunks, there is enough space for fern gardens and huckleberry bushes to grow.
Through interviews and time spent climbing with the subjects of his book, Preston is able to tell the story of their individual lives and relationships, their search for the tallest tree on Earth, and their research documenting a newly discovered part of our ecosystem. These researchers literally risk life and limb in an effort to document and help save this environment. I recently compared this to storm research and tornado chasing only with trees and climbing instead.
As exciting as many of the accounts in his book are, I have to say that one of my favorite chapters is about how his personal climbing and research for this book inspired his children to climb with him. He tells about camping in the trees with his son and how his son was visited by flying tree squirrels. Also, one of his daughters became the youngest certified tree climber in the sport. He also involved his wife, parents, brothers, and their families.
For more information about The Wild Trees, visit http://www.richardpreston.net/books/wt.html.
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