Into the Gloaming by Jeff Tome

Into the Gloaming by Jeff Tome

The grass, stiff with frost, crunches under my feet as I walk swiftly along the dimly lit trail. The sun isn’t due to come up for a few minutes. The birds are just starting to wake up, with lazy tweets and chirps coming from the trees and bushes nearby. A deer,...
The Deer Woods by Jeff Tome

The Deer Woods by Jeff Tome

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. This is a tale of two forests, one with too many deer and one without. Interestingly enough, both of these forests are at the Audubon Community Nature Center. Around ten years ago, Audubon volunteers installed an...
Peace, Mud, and Swarms of Students by Jeff Tome

Peace, Mud, and Swarms of Students by Jeff Tome

Peace and mud surround me as I stand in the middle of Audubon’s Big Pond. A Northern Harrier, also known as a Marsh Hawk, dips and glides over the cattails. Rails call like monkeys from the reeds. The water and mud come up to my thighs as we walk, plop, and sink...
Caterpillar Wrangling by Jeff Tome

Caterpillar Wrangling by Jeff Tome

The neighborhood gang of kids sat in a circle on the grass looking at a huge caterpillar. It was green, with odd bumps coming out of it. The big debate was over whether the caterpillar was good or bad. This debate ended quickly when one boy said, “bad!” and stomped on...