Natural World

These days, the seconds no more tick away than the hours slip through the narrow part of an hourglass, but as the weather turns warmer and the days get longer, there's ever more reason to spend more time outside and that time is marked by different kinds of ticks. Yes, the tick tock of the clock has been largely replaced by the silence of a digital display, but no matter how much time passes, ticks continue to loom large over time spent enjoying the wild places. Years ago when I was a kid, the main reason to worry about ticks was an infection called Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which has a cool name, even though I'm fairly certain it's as unpleasant as any fever.

These days, the seconds no more tick away than the hours slip through the narrow part of an hourglass, but as the weather turns warmer and the days get longer, there's ever more reason to spend more time outside and that time is marked by different kinds of ticks. Yes, the tick tock of the clock has been largely replaced by the silence of a digital display, but no matter how much time passes, ticks continue to loom large over time spent enjoying the wild places. Years ago when I was a kid, the main reason to worry about ticks was an infection called Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which has a cool name, even though I'm fairly certain it's as unpleasant as any fever.

Under a cathedral of trees in the arboreal deep, a somewhat exasperated 11-year-old named Tony is looking for life in a stream.Tony is persistent with his net as he looks for fish and snails and crawfish and all manner of other creepy crawly things, but he isn't much good at this.It is, after all, one of his very first experiences loose in a place not hemmed in by concrete.Despite his poor luck, there are timeless lessons here in the shady woodland realm for the Halls Crossroads Elementary student as he patiently wades Plumtree Run, which courses through Harford Glen Environmental Education Center in Abingdon.

The Harford Bird Club announced its annual awards for 2011 at its recent March meeting. Awardees are, from left, Chris and Rebecca Kellar, Bird of the Year for hosting Harford's first Rufous hummingbird; Dennis Kirkwood, club president, holding the second Bird of the Year award for Swan Harbor Farm Park for hosting Harford's first LeConte's sparrow; Kerry MacLellan, special award from the Maryland Ornithological Society for her help with the youth...

Eastern Shore artist William Willis, who lives in Preston, Caroline County, is best known for his paintings of abstracted landscape elements. The paintings have been shown widely, but there has never been a major exhibit of his works on paper. Now there is, at University of Maryland University College in College Park. Comprising both prints and drawings, the show reveals the artist exploring formal issues, and the works also incorporate certain images the artist considers symbolic, such as a snake biting its tail and a bird in flight.

The Howard County Conservancy at Mount Pleasant Farm in Woodstock will present a talk by author Richard Louv on "The Importance of Exposing Children to the Natural World." The talk will be presented at 7 p.m. Feb. 7 at Centennial High School in Ellicott City. Tickets are $10. A children's activity will be offered during the program. The cost is $5 a child. Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, will explain how the healthy development of children today is hampered by their limited exposure to nature.

FROM A DISTANCE, THE SPOT looks like a small, green bus-stop shelter unaccountably sitting on the banks of a bubbling brook. The closer you get, the odder the scene becomes. Instead of benches inside the structure, a pair of old-fashioned porch swings face each other, as if the place were a setting for a proper Victorian courtship. SCULPTURE AT EVERGREEN / / Through Sept. 24 / / Evergreen House, 4545 N. Charles St. / / Free / / 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, noon-4 p.m. weekends / / 410-516-0341

Artists have been on intimate terms with nature since the earliest drawings of prehistoric animals went up on the walls of caves. Since then, artists of every generation have continued to explore the natural world and its connection to the expressive soul. The late 19th and early 20th centuries were no exception to this trend, which is the point of "American Landscapes from the Paine Art Center and Gardens," an exhibit of 48 landscape paintings and prints that will be on display at St. John's College's Mitchell Gallery in Annapolis from Tuesday through Feb. 23. These works, by such luminaries as James McNeill Whistler, George Inness, Winslow Homer and Grant Wood, offer varying moods and takes on the ever-changing connection between the natural world and the artists who study it so intensely to capture its aesthetic messages.

Artists have been on intimate terms with nature since the earliest drawings of prehistoric animals went up on the walls of caves. Since then, artists of every generation have continued to explore the natural world and its connection to the expressive soul. The late 19th and early 20th centuries were no exception to this trend, which is the point of "American Landscapes from the Paine Art Center and Gardens," an exhibit of 48 paintings and prints that will be on display at St. John's College's Mitchell Gallery in Annapolis from Tuesday through Feb. 23. These works, by such luminaries as James McNeill Whistler, George Inness, Winslow Homer and Grant Wood, offer varying moods and takes on the ever-changing connection between the natural world and the artists who study it so intensely to capture its aesthetic messages.

Dr. Richard Ruggiero, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will make a presentation at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Blue Heron Room at Quiet Waters Park on "The fight to save African elephants, rhinos, hippos, chimpanzees and gorillas: The amazing story of a U.S. biologist's quest to preserve Africa's wildlife. " Before that, he caught up to answer five questions about the topic. Let's start with the question you will pose: is it possible to save that part of the world?

Dr. Richard Ruggiero, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will make a presentation at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Blue Heron Room at Quiet Waters Park on "The fight to save African elephants, rhinos, hippos, chimpanzees and gorillas: The amazing story of a U.S. biologist's quest to preserve Africa's wildlife. " Before that, he caught up to answer five questions about the topic. Let's start with the question you will pose: is it possible to save that part of the world?

I'd like to defend the Department of Natural Resources in their actions concerning the recent rescue by two men of a deer trapped in the ice in the Patapsco. There seems to be a lot of public outrage against them, and they deserve a defense. The "N" in DNR stands for "natural," from its root "nature. " It is perfectly natural for deer to get trapped in the ice and die. What is unnatural is for animal lovers to try to save them. It is not in any sense of the word "inhumane" to let the deer die in their natural environment.

Every child deserves the right to discover and enjoy our natural world — to catch a fish, camp under the stars, follow a trail and play and learn outdoors in countless other ways. These life-changing experiences help children grow stronger, smarter and healthier, and develop a sense of responsibility for our water, land and wildlife. This is why I created the Maryland Partnership for Children in Nature in 2008 to develop a plan to make sure every Maryland child has the opportunity to learn about and connect with nature.

It must appear to life forms on other planets who might be observing the current oil spill in the Gulf that a bunch of nuts run the show on this one. Our rising population together with advances in technology are giving rise to ever declining numbers in the natural world. For instance, did you know that over 70 percent of shore birds never make it through their migratory flights due to man-made disasters such oils spills and over-fishing? We seem to put Band-Aids on chronic problems, never fixing them and ridiculing those advocate that we do. At least we don't have to worry about leaving various problems to our grandchildren; at the rate we're going, they'll be our problems only.

Everyone who steps into the great outdoors and uses it in some way — hunters and hikers, campers and canoeists, bass anglers and those of us who fish for trout — are supposed to know the rules: Leave a place as you found it, take your trash with you, get involved in stewardship in some way so your children and grandchildren can experience the same pleasures of the natural world some day. There are a few other rules, borrowed from...

CHURCHVILLE, Md . – The princesses who inhabit author E.D. Baker's 10 children's books are more likely to have a laugh like a honking goose than like a tinkling bell. Baker's royal heroines curtsy clumsily, can't make small talk and are occasionally mistaken for one of the servants. Every single one of them is immersed in the natural world. And, because these young women have a tendency to trip over their oversized feet, they frequently return to the castle covered head to toe with some of the natural world's more odiferous substances.

Let me see if I got this right. Robert Nelson is arguing for opening up ANWR because the oil companies will make lots of money, with the citizens of Alaska and the federal government getting a slice of this poisoned pie as well. Of course, the financial hit that we will all suffer due to the economic, environmental and human consequences of adding more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and compounding our greenhouse gas crisis is not computed in Mr. Nelson's neat arithmetic of profits.

A Memorable Place By Amy Houghton Special to the Sun A calm place along Oregon's coast In this age of meditation and wellness centers, just about everyone is familiar with the idea of visualization, the act of taking your mind to a peaceful place and creating a sense of calm. When I need to practice visualization, I conjure up memories of Ocean Haven, a private inn on the Pacific Ocean just south of Yachats, Ore. My husband, Jonathan, and I stayed at the inn during a two-week Seattle-to-San Francisco trip.

Let me see if I got this right. Robert Nelson is arguing for opening up ANWR because the oil companies will make lots of money, with the citizens of Alaska and the federal government getting a slice of this poisoned pie as well. Of course, the financial hit that we will all suffer due to the economic, environmental and human consequences of adding more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and compounding our greenhouse gas crisis is not computed in Mr. Nelson's neat arithmetic of profits.

P resident Barack Obama recently offered some concessions designed to improve the prospects for an energy bill this year. Notable for its absence was opening up Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for oil and gas development. This is no surprise. ANWR has become a sacred symbol for the environmental movement, and any Obama overture to develop the refuge would have enraged many core environmental supporters. Yet, if Mr. Obama wants to demonstrate real commitment to "common sense" policies, ANWR is a leading opportunity.