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Denali National Park Welcomes New Pup Litter

One of my favorite television programs is "Sunday Morning" on CBS. This past Sunday they had a segment on the sled dogs of Denali National Park. According to the program, and to the park's website, www.nps.gov/dena/index.htm, Denali is the only national park that has sled dogs as a part of the staff. Each year, there is one litter of pups. This year, in honor of the centennial of the National Park Service and of the centennial for Denali in 2017, there was a "birthday litter." The pups were named Hundo (short for one hundred), Pinata, Party, Happy and Cupcake.The park keeps about 35 dogs ...

The October Skies

The tiny planet Mercury rises due east about 6 a.m. as October begins. Look for it very low along the horizon, quite far below the bright star Regulus. It soon drops lower each day but has a close conjunction with Jupiter during morning twilight on Oct. 11. Mercury then disappears into the solar glare as it travels behind the sun in relation to earth.Brilliant Venus hugs the southwestern horizon this month, appearing soon after sunset. A small telescope will show its gibbous phase. Scientists are aware of nearly 2,000 volcanoes on the surface of Venus, the second brightest object in our ...

A Week In A New Democracy

Here's what I want you to know about Bulgaria: it's a post-communistic country that is just learning how to think for itself.If you need a compelling argument about why communism is bad, get on a plane tomorrow and visit the beautiful country of Bulgaria. The good people who live here are still trying to figure out how to make a living, how to worship freely and how to feel joy.They're not even really sure what Christmas is.One person asked me: "Tell me about the big trees you put in your house at Christmas."Another gentlemen, who was seven-years-old when the wall fell, explained to me ...

Of Mice And Milk

Hear me out for a second.I'll never be convinced milk, or any perishable product for that matter, can be used past its expiration date. They put that date right on there for a reason, I always tell myself. My parents think I'm nuts for this irrational thinking, and it's one of those beliefs I have carried over from my youth to adulthood.I know full well milk is perfectly fine days past that arbitrary date stamped on there. In fact, I've never asked anyone who's served a meal whether or not the food used to make it is within the window of freshness. It's that age-old adage: Ignorance is ...

Protect Wildlife, Animals

Anyone can be a conservationist. It requires no special training or education. A few dollars or a little time is all it takes.Conservation begins with preserving land because there is no more being made. That's why conservation agencies and organizations that preserve land rank at the top of my "most important" list.For example, a $25 "Duck Stamp" is arguably the best investment any conservationist can make. More formally called the "Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp," the Duck Stamp was created in 1934. Hunters lobbied to tax themselves to ensure that waterfowl would ...

An Attempt At Rekindling A Childhood Pastime

Editor's Note: The Post-Journal was lucky enough to have once published a monthly column by Nick Dean called Nerding Out, a roundup of comics book breakthroughs and cinema-related content. This column will not feature anything about comic books or superheroes but it will warrant the Nerding Out title.Let me begin with this, just in case you're expecting an article you can relate to - I enjoy video games.I'm not sure when it started with me, but my earliest recollection of playing a video game was playing Zelda on a 19-inch television in my parent's bedroom. It was on some sort of rolling ...