Author: Lisa

Human Nature as Seen Through Landfills

Written on April 8, 2016.

Have you ever heard of middens? They are basically really old landfills. The word comes from an old Scandinavian word, moedding, which means an old dump for human domestic waste. People have always produced waste....

Welcome Spring!!

Written on March 20, 2016.

Did you see it? A beautiful sunset on your drive home at 6:30 in the evening. I smelled it the other day. The scent of rich soil heated by the midday sun. Surely, you heard it! Red-winged blackbirds, cardinals, even...

The Long Forgetting & Great Remembering

Written on February 21, 2016.

My friend Ken Williams, a horticulturist at Ringers Landscape Service in Fox River Grove, wrote a great blog post about TLC’s 25th Anniversary Brunch last month. I think it captures the spirit of the event and the...

Of Loons and Threats to the Environment

Written on February 13, 2016.

I remember the first time I heard a loon. My husband, Tom, and I were camping one summer in northern Wisconsin near a small lake. That first night, we heard an eerie sound that I didn’t recognize. “What is that?” I...

Why not roadside prairie in McHenry County?

Written on July 22, 2015.

Have you driven through Iowa? The roadsides are beautiful. Native wildflowers and grasses line the roads throughout much of the state, offering habitat for wildlife, especially birds and insects. (Iowa roadside in photo on...

Break the Lawn Addiction

Written on June 11, 2015.

It is iconic. The American lawn: green, neatly cut and free of any plant but grass. No violets. No clover. Definitely no dandelions! It ranks right up there with motherhood, baseball and apple pie as a symbol of America....