Season’s greetings: Ways to celebrate the Winter Solstice
Friday, December 21: For luck, the yule log should be either harvested on one’s own land or received as a gift – never tainted by the exchange of money.
Nature
Winter Expo shares climate-smart tips for coping with seasonal stresses
St. Joseph’s Church basement was buzzing with community members excited to learn and impart knowledge on how to make their homes more energy-efficient and winterized, as well as practical and professional guides on how to recycle, compost, reduce food waste and junk mail as well as one’s carbon footprint.
Comet over the Hudson Valley and other cool stuff for December
Comet Wirtanen will soon pay Earth its closest-ever visit. It should be large and blobby-looking, appearing as a fuzzy glob the size of the full Moon.
Going to Mars…or at least gazing at it
The Martian surface air is 30 times thinner than the air atop Mount Everest. And if that weren’t bad enough, all that thin, barely-there gas is carbon dioxide: no oxygen. You can’t breathe there.
Wild turkeys are good eating
Turkeys admittedly have small brains, and many know-it-alls who have never hunted them consider them dumb. But when it comes to hunting, they are far from dumb. Very wary by nature, they are among the most difficult quarry to target and kill.
DEP, Shandaken and agencies slow down Chichester’s ‘Bowl of Doom’
For years each heavy rain washed mud down a steep, curved slope of bare clay, nicknamed the “Bowl of Doom” by watershed officials, and the creek turned a muddy brown for days or weeks at a time.
Isabella Rossellini brings her Link Link Circus to Bard
Saturday, Nov. 17: In this show, Rossellini addresses the latest scientific discoveries about animal minds, intelligence and emotions.
Nature-lover’s tip: Look opposite the Sun
By day the antisolar point is marked by the shadow of your head. At night it’s the most happening place in the heavens.
The mighty acorn
Acorns are a symbol of abundance and security. It is said that carrying an acorn will bring you a long and healthy life and good luck. Acorns placed on a window sill will protect your home from lightning. Planting one under the light of the moon will bring luck and prosperity to you and your home.
Hike highlights the ever-changing natural landscape of the Mill Brook Preserve
Nearly all of the preserve was farmland decades ago, and evidence of cultivation can be seen if one knows where to look.