Retired Physicist Inspires Children in Math and Science
What do you do if you’re a retired physicist? Play golf? Go fishing? Not if your name is John McConnell. After being a physicist for thirty years, Mr. McConnell retired to start completely new endeavor-mentoring children in math and science. Not content to sit in front of books, McConnell developed hands-on materials he carted from school to school in the back of his trunk. His programs were … [Read more...]
Earthwatch Adventures: Archeology in New Mexico’s Valles Caldera
Prairie dogs scurried around the entry station; mountain bluebirds, yellow-headed blackbirds and American kestrels perched on fences in the valley; the prairie was colorful with native grasses and wildflowers such as blue penstemon, harebells, gentian, sulphur indian paintbrush, golden aster, sky-blue aster, wild onion and may other forbs; elk bugled in the ponderosa pine, douglas fir and aspen … [Read more...]
And I Will Make Thee Beds of Roses
Roses are among my favorite flowers. I also love lilac, freesia, orchids, and iris, but only the rose has its own word for its fanatics, a rosarian. One day, I would like to travel to rose gardens around the world, so thought I’d start a list. (Find other lists at http://www.heritagerosefoundation.org and http://www.lillysrosegarden.com/roses-around-the-world.html and … [Read more...]
Austin Gardens and Food
When traveling, we often visit botanic gardens and take a short cooking class. These are two slightly out of the ordinary ways to meet unexpected people and to increase your understanding of a locale. Foodies, who make up most of the cooking school students, are some of the most fun people on earth, and always have great restaurant suggestions. And gardeners are so lovely, with planting and … [Read more...]
Sonoma Gardens and Food
As a continuation of my exploration of communities with both wonderful botanic gardens and excellent recreational cooking schools, I thought I’d look at the beautiful Sonoma area, one of my favorites in California. Opened in 2004, Cornerstone Gardens in Sonoma (http://www.cornerstonegardens.com/) feature a series of walk-through areas designed by landscape architects. Each designer was given … [Read more...]
Hunting For Dinosaur Fossils and Footprints
In the urban environment of Arlington, Texas we were excavating the lower part of a ridge within sight of the Dallas Cowboys Stadium for fossils of dinosaurs, crocodiles, turtles and other life forms that lived about 95 million years ago near the shores of an ancient sea. This was the first full day for the six EARTHWATCH INSTITUTE volunteers and we hadn’t found much in the first hour, when … [Read more...]
Santa Fe Gardens and Food
When traveling, we often visit botanic gardens and take a short cooking class. These are two slightly out of the ordinary ways to meet unexpected people and to increase your understanding of a locale. Foodies, who make up most of the cooking school students, are some of the most fun people on earth, and always have great restaurant suggestions. And gardeners are so lovely, with planting and … [Read more...]
Denver Gardens and Food
When traveling, we often visit botanic gardens and take a short cooking class. These are two slightly out of the ordinary ways to meet unexpected people and to increase your understanding of a locale. Foodies, who make up most of the cooking school students, are some of the most fun people on earth, and always have great restaurant suggestions. And gardeners are so lovely, with planting and … [Read more...]
Visiting Gardens on the North Coast of California
On a trip to northern California with a dear friend, we visited the village of Mendocino, a little town that looks as if it belongs on the Maine coast, rather than in California. We drove through the lovely Anderson Valley and stopped at Husch Vineyards. (Even though the varietal has fallen out of favor in recent years, we both especially recommend the Chenin Blanc, although all the Husch wines we … [Read more...]
Earthwatch Ocean Adventures: Sea Otters – Part 6
There was a lot of splashing and commotion ahead of our boat and as we got nearer we saw that a bald eagle had a salmon too big to fly with, so was dragging it to shore; we rounded a point and an Alaskan brown bear on the beach whirled and disappeared into the willows; a mother black bear with two cubs stood and watched us from a gravel bank by a small stream; we heard some pitiful cries and saw a … [Read more...]