Category Archives: Just Talking…

April 1, 2015.  Last night around 3 am, with the window cracked for the early spring air, we heard the calling swans–whistling swans once, now named tundra swans for their breeding grounds. Mysterious moment–they, lofted high above the glowing metropolis … Continue reading →

March 23, 2015.  With ten fresh inches of snow last night, after a nearly snowless winter, this came in a flash…. LATE SNOW Some bumblebees overwinter. On the first warm days they’re on stage, as big as your thumb— nuzzling … Continue reading →

March 16, 2015.  After six days of plus 60 temperatures, the geese are stirring…along with many others, me included.  There they stand, a mom and dad goose, somehow highly encouraged to raise a family despite the ice they occupy until … Continue reading →

  February 28, 2015.  I spent this past Saturday at a folding table at the Frozen River Film Festival here in Winona, trying to convince passers-by to sign a pledge that said they would leave their dandelions on their lawn this coming … Continue reading →

  February 11, 2015.  As temperatures plunge once again–though not nearly as often as last winter–the collision of water and subzero air results in beauty of an uncommon type.  South of Missouri and Tennessee hoarfrost is a rare, ephemeral event.  … Continue reading →

  February 1, 2015. The pasque flower…first flower to bloom on the prairies and hill slopes of the Midwest, its cup of nectar inviting the earliest of pollinators–tiny, gentle bees and flies–to the year’s first life-giving sip. Before this flower, … Continue reading →