Forest preserve hike offers healthy start to new year
For the longest time, I was a "non-winter" walker. As soon as cold weather set in, my wife was on her own in terms of walking the dog.
Over time, she convinced me that putting on warm clothes takes care of any concern about winter walking - and she was right.
I can't say how long it will last, but for now, we haven't missed too many days for our long walks. And the winter, so far, has been mild.
New Year's Day was no exception. We joined more than 30 other winter walkers for the New Year's Morning Hike with Kane County naturalist and Daily Herald columnist Valerie Blaine.
It's an educational hike offered through the Forest Preserve District of Kane County, but one I skipped last year at LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve in St. Charles because the wind chill was below zero. I wasn't a winter walker then. This time, the weather cooperated nicely.
Blaine has a story about every seedpod, leaf, piece of bark, nest or animal poop along the trail.
She makes you as happy as she is to see young oak trees in the preserve, calling them "teenagers" that are needed because oak trees are not surviving as easily as in the past. The preserves lack fires that burn away nonnative plants and allow more sunlight in, and that's a vital ingredient for oak trees.
Blaine may also be the only person in the Western Hemisphere to be walking around with dried coyote poop, or scat, in her pocket to show the walkers.
"Don't worry, it's clean," she said while pinpointing what that coyote might have had to eat. "I wouldn't be doing this with a dog poop."
Ultimately, you finish the hike feeling as if it were an excellent way to start the New Year. Even if you aren't inclined to have an overwhelming interest in nature, you leave with an understanding of how important it is to know how life all around us exists and how it thrives or struggles depending on what humans do.
I'm not likely to show off dried scat to friends or family members who may walk on forest preserve trails with me in the future, but I could point it out on a trail and explain some of the other marvels around us.
Those rural roots:
My first newspaper job in this part of central Kane County was in Elburn in 1977. At that time, it was easy to envision all of that rural area west of Randall Road eventually becoming homes and a retail landscape.
It never quite played out that way. Maybe partially, but never in a full takeover like one might see in parts of DuPage County.
Instead, we can count on those reminders taking place about the rural lifestyle common in this area for more than 200 years.
And here's a chance this weekend. "Winter on the Farm" unfolds from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 5, at Primrose Farm in St. Charles.
It's a family event with all types of winter activities, wagon rides and visiting the farm animals.
Those interested need to register on the St. Charles Park District website. Cost is $5 per person and $8 per person for nonresidents.
A 20-minute wagon ride costs an extra $2. For details, call (630) 513-4370.
Golf on their minds:
Most of us are hunkering down for the winter now, but members of the Ink family in St. Charles have some fairly warm thoughts on their minds.
But that's what some impressive success in golf will do. It keeps your mind on the warmth of summer and the green grass of a golf fairway.
Such is the case for the family of 14-year-old Stefan Ink, who has been playing golf for 10 years now and has to be catching the attention of golf coaches in the area.
His parents, Laima and Steve Ink, sent a note expressing pride in the fact their son has found his passion in golf.
Stefan has already secured a first-place finish in an Illinois Junior Golf Association event at Pheasant Run in St. Charles last October. He did that with a 2-under-par score for the two-day event. He carded four birdies and an eagle during the event.
He also competed with the Illinois PGA Junior League in a National Championship event in Arizona.
We bring up Stefan's success for a couple of reasons. It keeps us all with thoughts of warm weather right now, and he looks to be another in a long line of excellent golfers this area has produced over the years.
Simply happy eggheads:
Mr. Eggwards, the sculpture with the happy face perched atop a stonewall in Mount St. Mary Park in St. Charles, certainly doesn't look like he's in a search of a friend.
But he did get one last fall when the St. Charles Park District accepted a donation from the Stu Ainsworth family in placing Sheldon "Shelly" Eggwards on a wall along a pathway near the mini golf course at Pottawatomie Park.
As a public service to curious folks who may see one or the other of these pleasant sculptures, I am letting you know there are two of them and they are related in a key way.
Artist Kimber Fiebiger is the creator of these "gentlemen eggs" and the park district rightly so claims they are perfect for visitors to snap off selfies to post on social media sites.
dheun@sbcglobal.net