Back in the day of Saturday morning cartoons, one of the more memorable commercials (and one of the more annoying, if you ask my mom) hyped the virtues of a certain chocolatey cereal. Sonny the cuckoo bird (who actually looked more like a roadrunner in a striped sweater, but hey, whatever sells, right?) […]
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The things you learn when you write a nature column. Years ago I didn’t know, for instance, that the word fungus made some folks uncomfortable. Little did I realize that the word maggot could actually make people’s stomachs turn, or that certain individuals […]
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The other morning I got a text from my good friend Laura McKinsey. That in itself was a great way to start the day, as a Laura has keen eye for nature and always seems to spot the coolest things. (A muskrat ambling down Main St. in St. Charles; a burrowing crayfish on the prowl at Otter Creek Bend […]
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Like so many people, I’d planned to get away this summer. That’s right, I-the girl who walks to work, and considers a drive to Wheaton “pretty far”-thought I’d be leaving the state at some point during June and/or July.
This notion of travel in 2020 actually dates back to last year, […]
Here at Good Natured World Headquarters, we get a fair amount of correspondence asking for assistance in “getting rid of ____________.” Over the years that blank has been filled with colorful and sometimes salty language describing the invaders, which range across a wide variety of categories: Insects […]
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Don’t you just love a good Aha! Moment? You know what I’m talking about…that instant where a lightbulb comes on, the brain fog clears and Aha! A problem is solved. I think I savor these times even more because of the way my head is wired-with a dimmer switch rather than one that flips. More often than not, when I get an idea it’s a slow glow that gradually brightens. […]
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I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the air these days has a distinct buzz about it. Here we are, gradually emerging from our collective months of quarantine and people, like the Munchkins after Dorothy landed in Oz, are coming out to experience our new normal. The streets have traffic again, […]
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Good Natured readers might recall how last week we talked of how jigsaw puzzles were all the rage during the Covid quarantine, and how satisfying it is to fit the pieces of those puzzles together. We then embarked on a quest to solve a nature puzzle: Several mysterious burrows […]
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So today I’m wondering, how many of you passed at least part of our corona quarantine poring over jigsaw puzzles? I have several friends who did, and most all reported with a note of triumph that they finished their (fill in the blank)-piece puzzle in (a corresponding number of) days or weeks. […]
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As we slowly crawl from our quarantine-kindled cocoons, many of us are looking at the days ahead as a sort of rebirth. We’re vowing to find joy in every day; to bring kindness to the world; and to make the most of each and every moment. Some would say they are blossoming into beautiful butterflies, spreading their wings and attaining new heights. […]
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