The other day I brought a shelf fungus home. I found it on an old fallen tree that the neighbor was cutting up for firewood. This particular species, Ganoderma applanatum, or the Artists’s Fungus, is as hard as wood, and gets its name because the white spore surface on the bottom can be used as a canvas by artists. My thought was that we could affix it to the wall in our living room and use it as {…}
Posted on December 12th, 2010 by Kenton Whitman
Filed under: Natural Phenomena | 16 Comments »
Have you heard about the recent fireball in southern Wisconsin? We weren’t lucky enough to see it, but in today’s communication-based world, it seems that almost everything is getting caught on video: (please excuse the ads — yuck — but we were unable to find any videos that weren’t on news channels). One of the […]
Posted on April 23rd, 2010 by Kenton and Rebecca
Filed under: Natural Phenomena | 4 Comments »
All animals on the planet, including humans, tend to have their perceptions limited by such things as our size, the perceptual range of our senses, and the ecosystems in which we can survive {…}
Posted on February 22nd, 2010 by Kenton and Rebecca
Filed under: Natural Phenomena, Nature Inspiration | 9 Comments »
Falling Star Alert — Leonids!
The Leonids are coming, and it sounds like it’s going to be a big one this year {…}
Posted on November 16th, 2009 by Kenton and Rebecca
Filed under: Natural Phenomena | No Comments »
Hopefully you’re not covered in clouds like we are, because if our experience of a couple days past is any indication, the Orionids could give us quite a display this year. While coming home very late (after midnight) a few nights ago, the sky was suddenly illuminated by {…}
Posted on October 21st, 2009 by Kenton and Rebecca
Filed under: Natural Phenomena | 2 Comments »
Not too far from our home is an unusual geologic feature. It turns out that during the last glacial period (about 10,000 years ago), what is now called the St. Croix River {…}
Posted on September 24th, 2009 by Kenton and Rebecca
Filed under: Natural Phenomena | 4 Comments »
Falling Star Alert — Perseids!
This is one of the biggies, and tonight and tomorrow night are peak viewing times, the only ‘downer’ being the gibbous moon that will shed a little too much light on the subject {…}
Posted on August 11th, 2009 by Rebecca Whitman
Filed under: Natural Phenomena | 4 Comments »
If you haven’t already, it’s time to go out and see the Delta Aquarids. They peak at the end of the month, but they’re active now — last evening we saw some great ones. You’re fine going out any time that the sky is clear, but if you’re serious about things, go out in the […]
Posted on July 24th, 2009 by Rebecca Whitman
Filed under: Natural Phenomena | No Comments »
The other day we were visiting someone’s home when we looked up in the sky and said ‘Sundog!’. There was a huge {…}
Posted on June 20th, 2009 by Kenton and Rebecca
Filed under: Natural Phenomena | 5 Comments »
Everyone Loves Maple Sap!
While visiting my brother in Madison, Wisconsin recently, we had the pleasure of watching a variety of creatures taking advantage of the maple tree in his front yard. You see, it was dripping sap, and it seemed like everyone wanted {…}
Posted on May 1st, 2009 by Kenton Whitman
Filed under: Natural Phenomena | 4 Comments »
