In Pursuit of Wonder

Have you ever gotten down on a grasshopper’s level and look it full in the face? They are such crazy looking creatures. They seem to have character and personality as they peer at you with their very large, compound eyes which take up most of their face. Antennae stick out…

My stomach churned and rolled, I felt almost faint. My nervousness was nearly visible, thankfully I hadn’t started shaking yet. Anxiety overwhelmed me. Tears were threatening to burst forth. I was irritable, edgy and on the verge of cranky. My throat was dry, my thirst seemed unquenchable. I wanted the…

Captivated, our eyes were fixed on the awesome feat happening before us. It seemed to be occurring in slow motion, or rather almost outside of real time. The movement so fluid, so graceful that it left us awestruck and speechless, not because we didn’t want to talk about it but…

I set out from the house yesterday morning, my eyes still blurry from sleep. I rounded the deck and headed down the driveway towards the road, going on my nearly daily walk. The early morning is a wonderful time to go for a walk. It is very peaceful; most of…

Yesterday, my sister happened to look out the dining room window and saw a bunch of bees around a native prairie plant from Wisconsin that we can’t identify. Her first thought was that they were my honeybees and pointed them out. Of course I grabbed my camera and went to…

The eastern cottonwood is native to moist soils near streams, rivers and wetlands. It is a very fast growing tree. It is therefore often planted as quick shade by homes, though male clones are mostly used since they don’t drop cotton.  The eastern cottonwood is also used for soil stabilization…

People, mostly just friends, often ask how the bees are doing, thinking about it I’m not entirely sure what they mean. My answer, though, is usually I don’t know, I haven’t checked them in awhile. Indeed, the last time I opened the hives was when the bees stung me five…

At the first blossom they see, children are delighted. A large lawn dotted with its yellow flowers is a dream world to a child. She doesn’t just stay on the edge but wonders into the very center of the blooms, meandering through, running her fingers along blossoms as she passes.…

I wanted to feel the prairie, soak it in, become a part of it like I do with trees. The prairie is harder for me to connect with, perhaps because I have spent less time in prairies than trees. To truly appreciate the prairie, to be able to describe it…