Prairie Notes #129 - Yoga on the Prairie? Sure, Join the Crowd!
Prairie Notes are monthly photo/journal observations from Tandy Hills Natural Area by Founder/Director, Don Young. They include field reports, flora and fauna sightings, and more, mixed with a scoop of dry humor and a bit of philosophy.
They are available free to all who get on the FOTHNA email list.
Yoga on the Prairie? Sure, Join the Crowd!
Prairie Notes #129
September 1, 2017
01) Yoga on the Prairie? Sure, Join the Crowd!
02) Field Report - August
03) NPSOT Presentation
04) Pollinator Postage Stamps
05) Texas Pollinator Bioblitz, Year 2
06) Thoreau Bio
07) Giving Day ALERT
08) Wendell Berry Biopic
09) Prairie Proverb
01) Yoga on the Prairie? Sure, Join the Crowd!
Last month we had Rainbow on the Prairie. Why not, Yoga on the Prairie? Indeed. While this event has nothing directly to do with Tandy Hills, if it helps introduce new people to our Lone Star Legacy Park, I'm for it. It's also a sign that Tandy Hills is on the radar.
Ali Nohinek, owner of Yogali yoga studio in Handley, approached us about using Tandy Hills for the Fort Worth location this year of, DFW Free Day of Yoga. We said YES! In recent years since Prairie Fest ended in 2015, Tandy Hills has become a "go-to" destination for weddings, funerals, star-gazing, bat patrolling, school outings, droves of photographers, and more.
The Native Prairies Association of Texas 2014 convention in Fort Worth included a half day field trip here. The Botanical Society of America did the same in 2017. Of Special Note: We are very pleased to announce that the National Wildlife Federation is holding their 4th Biennial America's Grasslands Conference in Fort Worth in November with a half day field trip at Tandy Hills.
But this Sunday, Spetember 3rd, is Yoga on the Prairie. Bring your mat and come on in/out @ 5pm.
02) Field Report - August
Once again we had a very wet summer month at Tandy Hills. With 3 weeks of summer left, the grasses are partying like it's 2007. Just a few bright colors here and there as you can see below, more expected next month. Here's my photo-diary from August.
03) NPSOT Presentation
On September 7, Don & Debora Young, are giving a new presentation to the NC Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas. The topic: Evolution of a Newsletter & Its Author. It takes place at Botanic Gardens at 6:30pm. Read more in their September newsletter, here:
http://www.txnativeplants.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Newsletter-2017...
04) Pollinator Postage Stamps
Not that long ago, people collected postage stamps like bees collect pollen. The more colorful the better, too. Alas, just like the bees, there are fewer stamp collectors than there used to be. But the newly issued, Protect Pollinators stamps may start a new trend. These beauties, issued by the USPS on August 1st, help raise awareness of pollinator pight. Collect them all! I got mine.
05) Texas Pollinator Bioblitz, Year 2
The Texas Parks & Wildlife 2nd annual event is back and more important than ever. The dates are from September 23 - October 8. Get the facts on How to Participate, here:
https://tpwd.texas.gov/education/bioblitz/?utm_campaign=govdelivery-emai...
06) NEW Thoreau Bio
A new biography, Henry David Thoreau, A Life, by, Laura Walls has been published by, University of Chicago Press. It promises to be the most in-depth bio yet published by this great American hero of the natural world. Highly reccomended.
http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/H/bo23013074.html
07) Giving Day ALERT
Put September 14, 2017 on your calendar in BIG letters. That is the day to make your annual donation to Friends of Tandy Hills. Stay tuned...
08) Wendell Berry Biopic
Look and See, anew documentary film about author, farmer, environmental sage and nature mystic, Wendell Berry, has been released. It may be playing at theatres around the area and will be out on disc in September.
09) Prairie Proverb
“There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow,
There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow,
The Bluestems’ as high as an elephant’s eye,
An’ it looks like it’s climbing clear up to the sky.
Oh what a beautiful mornin’,
Oh what a beautiful day.
I got a beautiful feelin’
Ev’ertings goin’ my way.”
Hear a great version of the song by Ray Charles, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGoJxZqyFAc
Big Bluestem as high as an elephant's eye at Tandy Hills, August 2007.
Prairie Notes© is the official newsletter of Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. All content by Don Young except where otherwise noted.
