Whether you live in town or out in the country, you might find yourself sharing a room with a flying bat. In summer twilight, bats cruise surfaces – of leaves, of ponds, and along house walls – picking off insects, which have their own agendas on those surfaces. 

Saturday, July 8th was Bur Oak Land Trust’s 4th annual Music on the Prairie. And this is definitely a tradition that I want to see continue – an evening where folks from the community gather together to eat good food, listen to local musical talent, and enjoy a beautiful natural setting. 

Back in 2014 Judy Joyce shared her goal to create a local riverfest, to encourage folks to take more interest in the Iowa River. She chose “Seize The Carp” as a play on Carpe Diem to name this lighthearted event. For my role, I offered to build kayaks from recycled materials – OK junk – and race them on the river. 

The number of times I have stopped and hunkered down to get a closer look at an interesting spot on the trail only to discover it is poop is…discouraging. Is that a toad on the sidewalk? Maybe a moth of some kind?