My wife, Mary, and I were driving south of Peoria to visit the Emiquon Wetland Restoration and National Wildlife Refuge at Dickson Mounds near Lewistown. It was just before Thanksgiving, and I was looking forward to finding a bunch of…
Author Archive for Dale Goodner
November: Month of the Turkey
by Dale Goodner • • Comments Off on November: Month of the Turkey
My brother in law, John, described a collision with a wild turkey as “cartoon like.” It was an explosion of feathers. The car concealing cloud of plumage may have looked like something from Loony Tunes, but it was far from…
Taking a ‘Lichen’ to Mutualism
by Dale Goodner • • Comments Off on Taking a ‘Lichen’ to Mutualism
It was meant as a helpful hint. I was walking around my yard with a friend, when he noticed some sizable, dirty looking, crusty blotches sullying the stone facade on my house. He offered to lend me his power washer…
Keeping the Parts
by Dale Goodner • • Comments Off on Keeping the Parts
My sister, Lora, was absolutely right. When her mother-in-law, Oma, died this past July, she said, “It was like losing a library…” That’s a perfect way to put it. Having lived through almost all of the twentieth century, Oma had…
Fear Factor
by Dale Goodner • • Comments Off on Fear Factor
If little Miss Muffet had sat on her tuffet and refused to be frightened away, that lone little spider that sat down beside her could never have ruined her day. In reality, Miss Muffet had nothing to fear, but fear…
Gramma’s Green Acre
by Dale Goodner • • Comments Off on Gramma’s Green Acre
Hannah DeCaster could have been the poster child for ‘country girl living in town.’ Her farm background was evident throughout her home and yard. She had fruit trees, a huge garden, and a wide array of flowers. In her basement…
Can Chemical Combat Cause Collateral Carnage?
by Dale Goodner • • Comments Off on Can Chemical Combat Cause Collateral Carnage?
It may not be Iraq or Afghanistan, but it is a war of sorts. We’ve come to view such plants as clover, dandelions, and plantain as territorial terrorists. They invade our lawns with flowers and broad leaves, forcing us to…
Species Detection a Connection to Spring Resurrection
by Dale Goodner • • Comments Off on Species Detection a Connection to Spring Resurrection
The scope looked familiar as we drove by, so I turned the car around and went back. An elderly couple (even older than I) had stopped at a wayside and were looking out over the water with their tripod mounted…
The Value of Nature (or Visa-versa)
by Dale Goodner • • Comments Off on The Value of Nature (or Visa-versa)
You didn’t have to be a psychologist to understand that Richard Louv was on to something. In 2005 in his book, “Last Child in the Woods,” he identified a condition caused by separation from nature. This separation from insects, bird…
Seize the Seasons: Remembering the spiritual aspets of outhouses
by Dale Goodner • • Comments Off on Seize the Seasons: Remembering the spiritual aspets of outhouses
Every once in a while something in a newspaper jumps right out at you. Some time back there were some Amish folks who were told by local authorities to desist from using outhouses. They attempted to defend this practice claiming…