Posts Tagged ‘naturalist’
City songs for loving the Earth
Mushrooms growing in a potted plant on an East Phillips porch / photo: Ben Heath By Lindsey Fenner As a new master naturalist, I have started to study Minnesota’s major biomes or biological communities, especially the native grasslands that I love. But as I’ve studied, I’ve wondered when I would start reading about places like Phillips. I realized that the way Minnesota is divided up into the three major biomes: prairies, hardwood forests, and conifer forests, ignores one major distinct landscape: cities. Most people in Minnesota live in cities, in urban or suburban areas. This sprawling human development, after all, is why we are facing the painful loss of so many species. But people are a natural part of landscapes and ecosystems. And we have been living in cities for more than five thousand years. We have shaped our ecosystems, and have been shaped by them in return, whether we have lived close together in cities and villages or spread out in the prairies and forests. Right here in Phillips, we have our own ecology in an ecosystem that has its own fierce beauty. We are surrounded daily with trauma and violence. It can be hard through those eyes to see the beauty in the volunteer trees in our fence lines, the weeds in our alleys, our soil laced with heavy metals and our air laden with pollution. But those scraggly trees are likely box elders, native trees that provide shade and shelter and cooling. Many of the weeds are actually wildflowers, like the fall abundance of glowing goldenrod that is an essential late season food source for insects threatened with extinction. The polluted soil still has the potential to help store greenhouse gasses, and all of this filters the air. The creatures we share this place with have made their own homes among ours, adapting to city life just like we have for thousands of years. We live in an urban ecology that is resilient and exquisite, a natural community that we can nurture through reciprocal relationships [...]
Kid’s Summer Stuff!
Fun Activities for Youth at Parks and Libraries in and around Phillips Neighborhood COMPILED By LINDSEY FENNER Minneapolis Parks (to register and find even more activities go to https:// apm.activecommunities.com/minneapolisparks/). Contact the park for sched- ule changes and availability. East Phillips Park, 2399 17th Avenue South. 612-370-4888 Jr. Naturalists: Drop-In Discovery, Tuesday 5-7PM, through August Join us for no-touch or easily sanitizable nature exploring ”” such as meeting live animals, dissecting an owl pellet, playing water quality mini-golf, planting seeds, and much more! No need to register, just stop on by for free family fun! Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Land Back Mask Making: July 26-30, 2PM-5PM Free, ages 10-14, register online. The Artist in Residence (AiR) program will focus on Land Back Face Mask Making: An activity designed to educate and to gain the knowledge to care for Grandmother Earth. Sculpture by Dakota artist Graci Horne, who will be leading the mask making activities Phillips Park, 2324 11th Avenue South. 612-370-4946 Film Festival: Mondays through August 30, 6PM-8PM Each week Phillips Community Center will bring films to youth. We will showcase the creativity of film makers and facilitate discussion on cinema- tography. Youth will be a part of this program process and collaborate to pick films and topics to discuss! This activity is an ActivePass Program and a pass is required to participate. Please go to your neighborhood recreation center during business hours to sign up for a free ActivePass. Youth Adventures: Monday through Friday 1PM-6PM Free, ages 10-16, Youth Adventures at Phillips is the place to be! You can come get homework help, use the computer lab with our super fast WiFi from Comcast”™s LiftZone, play video/table games or join in on daily art/stem activi- ties! This activity is an ActivePass Program and a pass is required to participate. [...]
