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Xylology is the study of wood. Here is how the word is broken down: “logy” is means the study of and Xylo, which is derived from the Greek word xylon, which means wood. Xylologists focus specifically on the wood, while dendrologists study trees and other woody plants. Dendrologists study, identifies, and names woody plants. They’ll […]

There is something about doing art that just seems astonishing. For sure, there is a “wow factor” involved. From a blank sheet of paper toan image of springtime. You take a blank sheet of watercolor paper and you start drawing on it. You draw vague shapes at first. It still looks like nothing but a

Note: Today’s teacher story focuses on Jeanne Percival, who teaches third grade at Huth Road Elementary School. Jeanne is the organizer of the school’s Relay for Life team. I have known Jeanne for more than ten years, as we are both members of the choir at Saint Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church in Grand Island.

I love words. Since today is sponsored by the letter “U,” I thought that I would share some of the words beginning with that letter. The words that I am sharing are probably not words that you hear or see everyday. Nevertheless, I think that they look really cool. They are Unique, Unusual, and never

It’s spring at last.   These determined crocusesgrow through snow earlyin the growing season. The romance of the daffodils When I think of all of problems in this world that were created by humans, I feel sad. I am horrified by the violence and by the meanness and by the prejudice. Then I go outside

On Friday, I shared the characters, setting, situation, and character action of a story, which features a cliche master and I invited people to play along with me.  People, however, are busy. So I’ve decided to do something different. I’d still like to make this interactive. I’m going to write a scene and I will

The theme for week 15 of the 52-week photography project was “hard.” It is an artistic theme and the people who organized the challenge at Dogwood Photography invited participants to interpret the theme in any way that they were inspired to do so. Unyielding and unchanging. The lossof a baby. Just one year on a

I had once tried to write a story with a character whom I called the cliche master. Everything that came out of his mouth would be a cliche.  Unfortunately, in the attempt to conjure up that many cliches from memory, my brain froze and went into auto shutdown mode. So I gave up the project.

There are nonlethal ways to protectyour farm animals from predators. On April 15th, my topic for the day was “nature’s cleanup crew.” Lesley Sampson of Coyote Watch Canada, who came to Grand Island to discuss better ways for humans and coyotes to co-exist peacefully, mentioned the term, “predator friendly environment.”  Coyotes eat mice and ticks.

rural Wisconsin, June 2015. The sky is considered to be overcast when clouds obscure at least 95 percent of the sunlight. The sky appears dark, even at midday, and any body of water will reflect the grayness of the sky. During the winter, the sky is frequently overcast. In Buffalo, New York, overcast skies are