IT IS THE TIME of year for garage cleaning. Actually it’s past that time of year but this is when I’m doing it. Getting things ready for winter. One of the things I do is make sure my bonsais are ready to survive and thrive through the cold months. When I post pictures in the summer, many have asked about
AS THE LINGERING FALL gradually eases into winter, Koda the Forest Kitten is at a bit of a loss. It grows dark by 5pm, not 9pm. So curfew has been moved up considerably. And the same cold that has frozen the river also freezes his nose. And his toes. And his tail. And his ears. And although he is an
WITH THE KIDS and grandkids gone, the white throated sparrows and many of the loons gone, and Kathy at home, it is up to me to drive north and drop by the island one last time. To check and double check locks and latches and odds and ends, to say a last goodbye to the ‘dear old cabin’ (99 years
AT THE CHURCH O THE PINES the sun rises on another winter day. But change is in the air. Although the church moat (Mississippi River) is still frozen, the eagle pair has remodeled their nest and eggs are being tended. The music of geese and swans echoes through the river valley. The sun climbs a little higher each day and
MOURNING DOVES have always meant Summer to me. Their soft cooing on a warm June morning. The whistling of their wings in the neighborhood during a game of catch or wiffle ball. The nuanced beauty of their feathers in the sun. They were a part of my childhood, especially the two summers I spent in Alton, Illinois with my grandparents,