According to Buddy the Elf, the fourth and most natural (least processed) of the elves’ food groups is syrup. Judging by the movie scenes, it’s maple syrup — that’s what people mean when they say syrup. It doesn’t need additional description unless it’s not maple. And while some states to the north of Ohio have…
A blanket of snow. Today, most people hear the phrase and think of it only as a visual metaphor, if they think of it at all. Snow covers everything; it looks like a blanket, end of story. What’s really happening is much more than a visually blanketing; it’s a literal blanket. And it’s not just…
Have you been? I haven’t. Want to go … ever? i certainly do. Check the progress. $cweb(function(){ $cweb(‘#congressweb-websticker-513’).congressweb({ url : ‘https://www.congressweb.com/BHA/TakeAction/oneAction/lettergroupid/513’, responsive : true, isWebsticker : true }); });
Another waterfowl hunting season come and gone in Southwest Ohio (well maybe one more week for geese) and I didn’t hunt waterfowl. I joke about embracing cold or wet, but never the two simultaneously. Cold and wet is what waterfowl hunting has always looked like to me, never mind the really early mornings. But I…
“I can’t feel my legs,” said Audrey Griswold in the movie National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation as her father Clark leads the family on a forced winter march in search of the perfect Christmas tree. Later, as Audrey relays her misery and increasingly worse symptoms to whoever will listen, he quips, “That’s all part of the…
“I’m not going out there. That’s crazy.” That was the response heard in our car when we visited Madison, WI, one March. We were looking at a group of ice fishing tents. As a guy who has repeatedly tested the height limits of hip boots against the uncertain depth of the muddy bottom of creeks…
Food and shelter are the foundation of life for wildlife during the Southwest Ohio winter. Being efficient in finding food and minimizing exposure to the elements and predators are key. That’s why winters can sometimes seem bleak and lifeless. Much like we run to the grocery and then go immediately back inside, animals dash out…
A clean slate. That’s what some think of the New Year. But a clean slate is literally what a fresh overnight snow provides to the outdoor landscape. There’s nothing better than a couple of inches of new snow to reveal what’s passed by, complete with as definitive of a time stamp as the outdoors…
It’s a fact. The hours of sunlight are getting longer from now until late June. But that doesn’t mean the days won’t feel short with the early setting sun. Switching to a new calendar is always a good time to mark things you want to do again or for the first time if you missed…
Knowing is critical. Actually wanting to know is the most critical – and to care. At the end of the 19th century, wildlife conservation was barely a thought. Many people thought that animals couldn’t go extinct or be eliminated by humans. Until they were. The first Christmas Bird Count (CBC) happened in 1900, proposed as…