This week I attended my first ever National Youth Gathering in New Orleans. I was impressed with the dedication and enthusiasm of those who played key roles in organizing the event as well as the high energy levels of the youth and and their leaders who came. New Orleans is still recovering from Hurricane Katrina [...]

Maybe it’s a guy thing. Maybe its a childhood memory thing. Maybe its a Robinson Crusoe thing (or was it the Disney version, namely, the Swiss Family Robinson movie). I don’t know. But tree houses are cool. Always have been. And so when I found this slideshow about eleven tree houses from around the world [...]

A number of years ago I drove up to Minnesota to attend a conference with a professor of mine. When we decided to stop for lunch in the middle of Iowa, he insisted that we not stop at a chain fast food place that made every town look like every other town in America. Instead, [...]

How about that! I actually saw a cerulean warbler. But it wouldn’t have happened without some help. At Lost Valley Trail in Weldon Spring, MO, I ran into a more experienced birder who went by the name, Rad. It was he who could identify the song of the Cerulean Warbler when we were in the [...]

A few weeks ago I reviewed a fascinating book by Scott Weidensaul about the migration of birds in the western hemisphere. Here in St. Louis, we are in the peak week when the highest number of birds migrate through on their way to their northern breeding grounds. It is a time of delightful discovery of [...]