Outdoors

We moved from New York to Wisconsin in 1999. With our boys now young men, my husband and I are starting to explore more of what the Badger state has to offer. — Kinickinic State Park Two weeks ago, my husband and I stopped at this state park with a cool name on our way to see our youngest son and his girlfriend who live in St. Paul, Minnesota. Kinickinic was on the way there and we needed a place to walk the dog and stop…

Electric Propulsion On a Paddle Board? — This article is not endorsed by, directly affiliated with, maintained, authorized, or sponsored by any third party. All product and company names are the registered trademarks of their original owners. Water sports have always been a source of excitement and joy for people across the globe, especially when the temperatures…

Re-Introduction / June You may already be aware that there’s smoke in the air. There are fires in Canada that have grow so large that their smoke is blowing south across the United States and severely impacting air quality. This may continue for days or weeks. People are being warned…

The joys and health benefits of heading outdoors with a book — As soon as the weather warms up, I wait for the sun to sink below the tree line in my backyard. Then I grab my book along with a cool drink and head outside to my Adirondack chair on my little patio. Aw, bliss! There’s something extra special about reading…

When my daughter died, I stopped trying to tame the yard and hoped, for a time, that it would swallow me whole. — When we moved into this house 22 years ago, the yard was in pristine condition. The former owner, Marie, lived here for 35 years. The older couple (now long gone) who lived next door told us that Marie spent most of her time outside working on the yard. The house…

1. Chess Chess is an abstract strategic game with no secret knowledge or random factors. On a 64-square chessboard with an eight-by-eight grid, it is played. Each player has sixteen pieces to work with at the outset: a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns. Black makes…

Teaching youth about the critical role pollinators play in our food production can lead to learning more about sustainability and stewardship. — Several years ago, I taught a unit on bees for an elementary-aged school garden club lesson. Bees are extremely important pollinators! One of every three bites of our food is due to pollinators (source). Without bees, our food sources would be greatly reduced!

The Shady Business of National Park Maps — In the summer of 2021, I went on a road trip to explore as many National Parks west of the Mississippi River as I could hit. I was accompanied on this adventure by my boyfriend for the entire trip, and by my best friend for a portion of it. We…

We don’t know, but we observe them too often without thinking. — I think about animals often. We share the planet with them and interact with all different species no matter where we go or what we do. But what do they think about us as we speed past in our cars or talk loudly on our phones? Go to your closest…