One of the very best things about summer, to me, is fresh tomatoes! I love their juiciness, their flavor, their texture . . . everything about them –
especially when they are fresh from a garden! (Hot house tomatoes just aren’t the same –) I think that garden soil flavors tomatoes, adding to their richness. About once a week in summer, I
CRAVE a BLT – and the very best part is the tomato.
…

(Thanks to David Sobel – who first got me thinking about Mapmaking with his book, Mapmaking With Children: Sense of
Place Education for the Elementary Years. Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH. 1998.)

Have you ever made a map? It could be a map to your house, a map to your school, a map to a park – or even a treasure map! Chances are it wasn’t much more than a line on a piece of paper winding
between …

Summer. Long hot days, short warm nights. There’s no denying what we’re experiencing now, especially in the center of the country where the
BIG H hovers on the televised weather maps. Inside days, these are days to read a good book, go to a museum or a library,  or visit the aquarium.

Today’s blog piece features some interesting things about three seemingly ordinary members of the animal kingdom. These are animals that I have all seen today – maybe you …

The year’s natural happenings continue this month – in spite of heat or wind or drought. Here’s a list of some of the things happening in the skies
and on the planet during the coming weeks. (Thanks again to Chris Hardman’s Ecological Calendar for this fun compilation to share with you!)

In the Skies
MercuryLeavesEvenings – Mercury exits the evening sky on July 21, and:
MercuryJoins VenusJupiterMornings – Mercury joins the morning sky on August 6.
…

Beautiful calendars often come in the mail –  I’m already receiving calendars for 2013 although it is still more than five months away!

I don’t have enough walls to hang all the calendars sent by nonprofit organizations. Greeting cards are often the other thing I randomly receive. Here’s a couple of ideas for something you can
do with them. These are great projects for parents or grandparents to do with kids on summer days when it’s just too hot to go outside, or if (miracle of …

Mid-July. In my part of the world (northeastern Oklahoma) I can find little to like about mid-summer.
The list of what I don’t like is long: heat, humidity, mosquitoes, heat, humidity, mosquitoes, heat, humidity, mosquitoes, heat, humidity … Okay. So the list isn’t all that long, but it seems
endless when it is repeated day after day after day.

Today I am meditating on something that John A. Murray says in The Quotable Nature Lover, The Nature Conservancy:Lyons Press, 1999. The quote …

Interstate America – who says driving isn’t fun?

My recent cross-country journey in late June took me through parts of nine states – and today’s post celebrates nature – including humans – in middle America.

Driving between Tulsa and Chautauqua, NY was a trip – literally. Over 1200 miles one way in two long driving days. No mishaps, no major weather. Some would say we were lucky. Gas prices ranged from
2.94 (in Tulsa) to 3.54 per gallon (in Ohio), and the …

The heat here in Oklahoma has the bees stirred up!
 
I recently came home from travelling to news of a bee colony that had relocated to my back yard! This is exciting news, because we’ve all been reading about disappearing bees. The reason for
the plunging populations of bees ranges from a bee fungus to pesticide use. Not good news for anyone who likes to eat fruits, vegetables, nuts or anything that develops from a flowering
plant which requires pollination.

My husband noticed that …

These creatures add grace to our hot summer days as they flit here and there, lifting on a breeze, then resting, wings open and flat, as they sip
nectar from a blooming flower.

Here’s some great information about one particular summer butterfly, the Regal Fritillary, taken from “Floating in the Summer Haze”, A Journey for All Seasons, The Nature Conservancy,
2000.

“Every year, as the regal fritillaries (Speyeria idalia) slowly emerge from their …

Happy 4th of July!!!
Check this out! http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/03jul_wakeupatdawn/