Category: PEEC Blog
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Topaz the Aussie
A Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident Topaz is ready for his first walk through the forest. He is a one-year-old mini Australian shepherd that joined our pack on November 2. He had been well cared-for but had never been off-leash except…
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The Perilous Crawl to Metamorphosis
A Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident Those moths that circle outdoor lighting in the spring and summer are Isabella tiger moths. They evolved to navigate using the moon as a fixed point. Then humans constructed little electric moons everywhere. The moths…
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Harmless until Threatened
A Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident From mid-summer to the end of fall I see many brown paper wasps. In the summer, they join a variety of creatures visiting our flowering plants. They are focused on their job and have no…
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Special Ginkgo Update
Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident In reference to last week’s entry on the ginkgo tree, here is one in Milford, PA on the corner of Broad and Catherine, in front of the jewelry store. Note that a large pile of leaves…
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Until the Last Leaf Falls
Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident Some people like to judge fall’s colors compared to other years. I love what happens every year: the vivid colors, and also the subtle shades as winter approaches. The only constant is leaves dropping everywhere. I…
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Bad as You Look
Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident This spider will become far less scary when I tell you it is barely an inch long. I found it on the top of a cardboard box delivered to my door. I tilted the box and…
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Blogging for a Better World: Girl Scouts at PEEC
On October 26th, PEEC welcomed over sixty Girl Scouts for a day of badge work and exploration at PEEC. To help our scouts in the badge work of sharing their experience, we ask them to write a few words about their adventures: “Are you a person of nature and the great outdoors? Well if you…
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Me, I Want a Hula Hoop
Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident Violet the Corgi is convinced there are chipmunks living in these pallets. She can smell but not see them. I can’t photograph them. She’s been telling me they are everywhere this fall. Chipmunk populations increase after…
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The Shale on the Trail
A Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident Two Ponds is my favorite trail at PEEC. Its water is horizontal. My wife prefers Tumbling Waters, where the water is vertical. To me, it should be called Tumbling Hiker. I find it too challenging,…
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Under Milkweed
A Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident The open milkweed pod with its cottony seeds was an annual fall decoration in the schoolrooms of my early education. Milkweed was among the first plants I could identify. “See,” my father said, “it’s called…