OUTSIDE
Winter Tree Pruning
Submitted by Steve Roark on Mon, 01/14/2019 - 23:52January is Tea Time
Submitted by Steve Roark on Mon, 01/07/2019 - 09:28Trees in Winter
Submitted by Steve Roark on Tue, 01/01/2019 - 03:27When the forest is laid bare each winter there is a tendency to think of it as a bleak and dreary place. But the basic structural skeleton of each tree can be seen at this time, with every branch, twig, and bud visible, thus revealing how it has grown in the past, and how it has prepared for the future. So put on a coat, go outside and go look at a tree.
Lesser Known Christmas Traditions
Submitted by Steve Roark on Tue, 12/25/2018 - 07:43A Weird Twist on Snow
Submitted by Steve Roark on Tue, 12/18/2018 - 02:12A lot of folks had their first taste of snow recently, and since snow is more welcome during the Christmas season, I decided to use it as this week’s topic. Trouble is I’ve written several articles about snow in the past, so I had to dig harder to find something fresh to write about. I did find something surprising, that I’d have to classify as weird science. It involves something called heavy water, so prepare to go sub-atomic.
The Flora and Fauna of Christmas
Submitted by Steve Roark on Tue, 12/11/2018 - 08:32We often come up with mind games to pass time with our grandkids on extended road trips, and being the Christmas season, we recently did a guessing game that involved plants and animals associated with Christmas. It was interesting enough that I decided to share the list and researched how certain plants and animals became synonymous with Christmas.
Chestnuts Roasting
Submitted by Steve Roark on Tue, 12/04/2018 - 00:53A Guide for Christmas Tree Varieties
Submitted by Steve Roark on Tue, 11/27/2018 - 02:11I grew up using local cedar trees for Christmas trees from farm fence rows, mostly because that’s all there was. But modern commerce has allowed a greater variety of evergreen species available. So that you may be an informed consumer, here is a listing of Christmas tree species and their attributes.
Virginia pine: A popular one for growers due to its rapid growth and ability to take heavy shearing. The foliage is dense with light green needles around 3 inches long; Needle retention is good if obtained reasonably fresh; Fragrance is fair; Cost is usually lower than most.
Having More Squirrel
Submitted by Steve Roark on Tue, 11/20/2018 - 00:56Indian Summer
Submitted by Steve Roark on Mon, 11/12/2018 - 09:19Indian summer is a name that brings thoughts of balmy, hazy fall days and cool nights. It is a description of weather conditions rather than an actual season, for no dates exist for it. The closest time frame I could find was from Henry David Thoreau, who noted in his diary that Indian summer occurs from September 27 to December 13.
Deer Hunting Weather
Submitted by Steve Roark on Tue, 11/06/2018 - 02:33In order to survive, animals have instinctive reactions to the weather, migrating birds being just one example. By knowing how game animals react in differing weather conditions can up a hunter’s chances of a successful kill.
Deer depend heavily on scent to protect themselves from predators. They usually respond to a strange scent by bugging out before hunters get close. Deer move into the wind to better pick up scents. To take advantage of this, a hunter must move and stay downwind of his prey. This can be determined by the old wet finger trick.
Somewhat Supernatural
Submitted by Steve Roark on Tue, 10/30/2018 - 00:30To give a nod to it being Halloween season, I thought I’d share some stories that, while not spooky, have enough of the paranormal to be interesting. The stories involve people having a precognition, foreknowledge, of a future event before it happens. Several cultures call this having “a vision” and can come in the form of a dream or just come out of nowhere. There is no explanation for precognition, and I’m a stickler on finding an explanation of how and why things work, leaning heavily on science.
Hazard Trees
Submitted by Steve Roark on Tue, 10/23/2018 - 00:55Large trees are a great asset in a home landscape, providing shade, beauty, and added property value. Well cared for yard trees are normally healthy and will provide these benefits for decades, perhaps a century. But trees with health issues can be potentially dangerous. These are classified as Hazard Trees that pose a threat of dropping large limbs or falling over on people or property. Poor tree health can be caused by landowner neglect, insect or disease attacks, old age, and wind or ice storms.
Autumn Colors
Submitted by Steve Roark on Tue, 10/16/2018 - 07:43Fairy Rings: Mysterious Mushrooms
Submitted by Steve Roark on Tue, 10/09/2018 - 01:47I’ve seen two postings with photos of Fairy Rings on Facebook this week, so there is an apparent outbreak of them, likely caused by all the rain we’ve gotten lately. Fairy rings are those peculiar sprouting up of mushrooms in a well-defined arc or circular pattern. This has caused a lot of myths about their origin to sprout up over the centuries, but there is an explanation as to what’s going on with the rings.
Ironweed
Submitted by Steve Roark on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 01:50The Upside-Down Tree
Submitted by Steve Roark on Mon, 09/24/2018 - 23:10I’ve bragged about our areas plant diversity in the past. The mountainous terrain dissected by rivers and streams creates an incredible variety of habitats that supports more plant species than anywhere but rain forests. One example of this species richness is a tree that is not only growing far out of its normal range but has a most peculiar growth habit that helps it survive.
Identifying Pesky Poop
Submitted by Steve Roark on Tue, 09/18/2018 - 01:20I really enjoyed my career as a forester, partly because of the variety. It was rare that I did the same thing two days in a row. I could be walking in the woods collecting field data in the morning and be on a wildfire that afternoon. If you like routine, forestry is not for you. One unique task I did on occasion was identifying animal poop, especially when people would find droppings in their house and badly wanted to know what uninvited visitor left it.
A Cosmic Perspective
Submitted by Steve Roark on Mon, 09/10/2018 - 23:53I was mowing the grass the other day and, not particularly enjoying it, mused over what a dull thing to be doing. I was not taking things into perspective.
While I thought I was puttering along on my mower at a blazing two or three miles per hour, I was in fact mowing grass on a surface of the Earth that was spinning at a rotation speed of 1037 miles per hour. While spinning at this breakneck speed, the Earth and I were whizzing around the sun at a speed of 1110 miles per hour. That’s like driving to Myrtle Beach in 23 minutes.