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New Year Is The Time For Beginnings

A new year is a time for beginnings. And the natural world is replete with examples. Though the plant world is presently dormant, a variety of animals have already begun a new cycle of life. Black bears mate in early summer when food is abundant, but embryos do not implant on the uterine wall until late fall when bears retire to a hollow log, a hollow tree, or even a large brush pile. In late January bears give birth to the next generation. Usually two cubs are born blind and covered with just a coat of fuzz. They weigh just seven to 12 ounces at birth — about the size of a ...

A Christmas Myth

The holidays are one of my favorite times to be home. In the days leading up to Christmas, my parent’s house is filled with the smell of freshly baked cookies and the sound of Christmas music. One of my favorite parts of Christmas? Going out and finding the perfect little Charlie Brown ...

Dunder And Blixem?

During a Christmas party a few years ago, a group of revelers broke out in song: “You know Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer, and Vixen, Comet, and Cupid, and Donner, and Blitzen. But do you recall, the most famous reindeer of all ??” The answer, of course, is Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer. But I focused on Donner. “It’s Donder, not Donner,” I thought. So I googled “Donder” and entered a world of literary confusion. In “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” first published anonymously on 23 Dec. 1823, 195 years ago, in New York’s Troy Sentinel, Santa called to the eight ...

Watershed Notes: Conserve The Important, Common Animals Too

Throughout the history of life on planet Earth, species have come and gone. There have been several mass extinction events, where large percentages of the planet’s life was wiped out. The earliest such event on record occurred around 439 million years ago and was dubbed the Silurian ...

Celebrate The Solstice

The long nights will continue to creep into life for a little over a week more. In the changing world of the living, the mathematical precision of day length is unwavering. There is a comfort there, but also a gauntlet of emotions to run as the winter solstice approaches. The longest night ...

Shortest Day Of The Year Upon Us

The first day of winter, December 21st, is defined by the year’s shortest day and longest night. The good news is that days get just a bit longer each day thereafter. The first day of winter is often called the winter solstice, but the solstice is actually a moment in time, not an entire day. The solstice in the Northern Hemisphere occurs when the Sun is directly above the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere. It is that instant when the North Pole is tilted furthest from the Sun (23.5 degrees). This year the solstice occurs on December 21st. The exact moment varies ...