It is that time of year again. Master Gardener Volunteer (MVG) hours are due. Since 2004, I have spent the last couple weeks in September recording my continuing education and volunteer hours to maintain my Master Gardener Volunteer Certification. Collecting enough volunteer hours has never been a problem with my history of running a community…
Lately, whenever I read posts on social media, I just want to barf! Yes! Upchuck. Vomit. Loose My Cookies. Ralph. Whatever you call it, it means that what I am reading makes me sick. People can be obnoxious! Yes. There, I said it. Obnoxious. And, it might include you! There is too much blaming, too…
It is the end of summer. This means running around for school clothes and classroom supplies. Over the years, I have found it easier to just take my boys on separate days. So, yesterday I finished up by taking my 17-year-old out for his turn. We spent a couple of hours in places like Dick’s…
Today, is the Monarch Monitoring Blitz hosted by Monarch Joint Venture. I came across a posting on social media that reminded me of this citizen science event. Having raised monarchs for 14 years, I definitely feel the need to participate in the reporting activities of this weekend. Just to set the stage, this summer I…
There is much I could write about today for my slice of life post and the supportive writing community of two writing teachers blog. There is the personal angle, really foremost in my mind that today is my 30th wedding anniversary! It really is a milestone of two lives entwined with a shared past, content…
Recently, I have become curious about my audience of blog readers. I have been bloging daily since March 1st and only have missed a handful of days. This is an awesome accomplishment, one which I am proud of making. My posts seem to yield a consistent and slowly growing contingent of regular readers. Some readers…
Today, I realized I have quite a few monarch stories. Early this morning, I travelled to the Trempealeau Wildlife Refuge to speak to a group of Festival attendees about the Monarch Butterfly and its current plight. On my way, I was reviewing my self-introduction (in case it was necessary) and remembered how I came to…
My graduate course in Advanced Interpretive Media Design ended yesterday. It was a three credit course in six weeks, NRES769, via the College of Natural Resources at one of the UW system schools. It was a very challenging, and yet, enlightening course. I learned how to make interpretive media using such software programs as Photoshop…
We used to have a saying in college, “only in Alfred”! My husband and I attended this small, private university in what is known as the Southern Tier of New York State. The tiny pedestrian campus, governed by one stoplight in town, is surrounded by rolling hills that make the setting very picturesque. It was…