A Year for Adventure by Jeff Tome

A Year for Adventure by Jeff Tome

Nestled in the front of my Christmas tree there is a new ornament that I got just for 2020. It is a COVID ornament, but not the spiky COVID ball or the Santa with a mask on. My 2020 ornament is made of recycled steel and features two people hiking. The things I most...
Counting Birds by Jeff Tome

Counting Birds by Jeff Tome

You may have heard the news that birds are slowly disappearing from the landscape. Populations of some birds are down by over 95%, but the number of birds in general is down by 29%. The National Audubon Society claims that over one in four birds disappeared in the...
2020 is for the Birds by Jeff Tome

2020 is for the Birds by Jeff Tome

Even the birds are having problems in 2020, but it’s the kind of problem that people who feed birds are loving. Birds that are rarely seen in the United States are flying south in record numbers. People with birdfeeders are seeing some interesting birds show up at...
The Smell of Fall by Jeff Tome

The Smell of Fall by Jeff Tome

My wife and I went for a hike this past weekend and, as soon as we got out of the car, we turned to each other and said “It smells like fall.” It’s hard to describe it, that musty sweet smell of leaves as they start to break down and decompose, but it fills the air in...
Goldenrod Yellow by Jeff Tome

Goldenrod Yellow by Jeff Tome

The first splashes of fall color don’t come from the trees. They come from the flowers. Local fields are full of yellows, purples, and whites as fall flowers bloom in full force. Some look at these fields as full of weeds, but I look out on a field of goldenrod and...