After living more than 50 years in the same house — the very place where I grew up — my mom is moving. Undeniably, it’s the right time, the proper stage of life. But this process has evoked lots of emotion for her, as well as for me, my brother, our respective spouses and other family members: grief, frustration, indecision, excitement, possibility and trepidation. To be sure, practical mechanics and logistics matter. Van expenses need to be compared, old papers need to be sorted, heirlooms need to be passed along. These aspects require vast amounts of time, energy and organization. The intangible feelings involved, however, are much more complex.
I’ve gathered a list of books that appear relevant to what’s percolating inside of me as my mom navigates this transition. I ponder what methods will keep me sane as her fears bubble up, and I consider how I want to leave the state of my possessions in the future for my own offspring.Continue reading “Moving On”
Did you know that your library card gives you digital access to local and major newspapers, if you live in Boone or Callaway counties? I’ve written about this before, but the newspaper databases have been rearranged so I have an opportunity to revisit this. Want to learn more about it? Come with me … Continue reading “Read Digital Magazines and Newspapers, For Free, From Home!”
Since the tornado hit the Columbia Municipal Recycling Center in April, the laundry room in our house, which is where we collect our recyclables, looks a lot like the tornado hit it, too. It has our whole family thinking more about how to reduce waste streams in our house.
If you are also struggling to figure out how to adjust waste management in your household, we have a program coming up this month that might help! Continue reading “Beyond Recycling”
As I am writing about scavenger hunts, I want to mention one of my favorite movies. “My Man Godfrey,” is a 1936 comedy starring William Powell and Carole Lombard, a comedic, witty film about social inequities of the Great Depression. The opening scenes introduces us to Godfrey, a forgotten man, who is persuaded by Irene, a bored socialite, to be a found object in a scavenger hunt. Godfrey finds himself in a lavish ballroom where people are noisily dragging goats and lamps about and who look appalled at a man dressed in dirt and tattered clothes.
Why am I thinking about scavenger hunts? The Columbia Public Library is offering our own scavenger hunt on Saturday, June 28. You won’t be looking for goats but you will be looking for a murderer! Location clues will take you through the library where you will find clues (hints) to help you determine the murderer, how they did it and where the deed was done.
Remembering, celebrating and reflecting on Juneteenth and the end of slavery in the U.S. is done by differently by different people. Many of the traditions associated with Juneteenth trace back to original events when people first learned they were free of enslavement.
Let me tell you about a happy accident: I was helping someone find a book in the nonfiction section and was doing the sideways-head-thing, eyeing the call numbers. Not purposely looking at titles because I was seeking the general area of the call number in question and I moving at a pretty quick pace. And yet I was stopped in my tracks by an author’s name — it was someone I follow on Substack! Someone who writes about farming and quirky situations and whom I would love to sit down and have a good conversation.
Doppler radar isn’t just for weather. The radar systems pick up anything in the sky, including birds and planes. Researchers at BirdCast use past data and weather reports to predict areas of high migration. Radar also allows them to monitor the number, location and direction of travel of birds in the sky. Credit: BirdCast.info
With its mix of rivers, wetlands, forests and prairies, Missouri plays travel host to a dazzling number and variety of migrating birds. Peak spring migration in Missouri is happening right now, and you can join in on the spectacle by getting outside, looking and listening for birds.
To help you appreciate the number of birds migrating, consider that in just one night, April 27, nearly 52 million birds crossed the state of Missouri, according to
BirdCast an interactive online tool created by The Cornell Ornithology Lab. BirdCast uses weather radar to detect and study migrating birds. At BirdCast you can track migration activity in your area, sign up for alerts and see forecasts for the next few days. One of the startling things you’ll notice is that most birds migrate at night.
There are a number of tools to help you enjoy this annual spectacle. If you’re new to birding (or even if you’re not) the Merlin Bird ID app can help you identify birds by sight or sound. It’s an eye-opening experience to turn on the ‘sound ID’ and see how many kinds of birds are singing in a location.
“The Atlas of Bird Migration,” by Jonathan Elphick, has maps and text to illustrate the variety of migration strategies used by different species. Many of our local ruby-throated hummingbirds make a marathon flight over the Gulf of Mexico followed by low-altitude, day-time flights that allow them to eat as they fly. In contrast, snow geese travel mostly at night in the familiar v-shaped flocks at altitudes of 2,000 to 8,000 feet and have been recorded as high as 29,000 feet!
The Audubon Society has compiled years of banding studies and live tracking data to build the Bird Migration Explorer. At this site, you can explore dynamic maps of migration routes for over 200 species.
Bright lights at night can be disorienting to birds. To protect birds, turn outside lights off at night or provide shielding from above.
All of these migrants need safe places to rest and refuel on their way north. We can take some simple steps to help birds have a safe trip north:
Turn off exterior lights at night. Birds use stars to navigate. Lights and reflections confuse them causing disorientation and leading to deadly collisions with buildings and windows.
Prevent bird strikes by putting bird-safe films or decals on the outside of windows and turning off bright indoor lights after 11:00 pm.
Only use bird feeders or bird baths if you can clean them regularly to prevent the spread of diseases.
Make your property an oasis for birds by planting (or keeping) native plants to naturally provide food and shelter for wildlife. Refrain from using insecticides so there will be plenty of insects for birds to eat. Don’t be afraid to let your yard be untidy; fallen leaves and last year’s flower stems provide shelter for insects over the winter.
Keep unattended pets inside. Unfortunately, domestic cats kill a lot of birds.
Whenever you can, speak up for birds and protect habitat.
Recently a colleague gave me a thorough and informative lesson on how to ride this ebike (pictured below) with its attached trailer. Although I’d never tried an ebike before, I discovered that the ease and speed that it offered were magical. Additionally, this ebike and trailer look simply delightful; festive colorful, tiny lights even frame the tire rims!
Where you go camping isn’t always as important as how you go camping. While everyone needs to follow the same rules within our shared natural resources, your personal experiences should feed your soul and make you happy. Think outside the box a bit as you review a few of our books about backpacking, tent camping and glamping. And while all of these contain information, some are also good reads, sharing personal experiences of people who put their own spin on their visit to nature.
Such as “Every Dog Deserves an Adventure” by Camping With Dogs and L.J. Tracosas. This is an amazing book by an organization that believes “every dog has a story, and our community helps share those stories.” Enjoy stories about dogs going camping with their owners, with many images of those adventures together. It is broken up by seasons and are from all over the country — enjoy the stories! This is a nonfiction cozy read and may entice you to take your pup along on a camping trip. I am not a dog person but can appreciate the enjoyment people get from having their pets with them. Continue reading “Put a Personal Spin on Your Camping Adventure”
I’m excited to start planning a trip to Tibilisi, Georgia this summer, and I’m wanting to learn a bit of the country’s language before I travel. To study more popular languages, such as Spanish or French, Daniel Boone Regional Library provides materials in various formats to learn, such as books, eBooks and audiobooks. For Georgian, a less common language, I’ve decided to take a look at one of DBRL’s online resources — Bluebird Languages — to get started.
Bluebird Languages offers lessons in over 160 languages (yes, 160!) with a large selection of native language settings so that people can learn in their native tongues. Continue reading “Online Resource: Bluebird Languages”
Since the tornado hit the Columbia Municipal Recycling Center in April, the laundry room in our house, which is where we collect our recyclables, looks a lot like the tornado hit it, too. It has our whole family thinking more about how to reduce waste streams in our house.
