Woods & Water by Dick Herfindahl

 

As I sit here watching what I believe everyone wishes is the last snowfall of the season, I am amazed at the number of birds that are visiting our feeders. Our two granddaughters, Emma and Ava, have been spending time at our house while their mom and dad are on a well-timed vacation in a much warmer climate. They have been so good and just a lot of fun to have around. I know that we will surely miss them when it’s time to go back home.

Each morning after the girls are up and dressed, they spend a little time watching the birds as they busily flock to the feeders. Emma will call to me whenever she sees a bird that she doesn’t recognize and I can tell that she really enjoys seeing all of the many different types of birds. There are purple and gold finches, sparrows, juncos, black capped chickadees, cardinals, blackbirds and mourning doves, and there are also a few others that visit on a regular basis. With all of the snow that we have been experiencing this month the birds are hungry, which I can tell by the frequency of the times that I have had to fill the feeders.

I would like there to be one day that I could spend daydreaming about fishing on one of the many lakes that I have frequented over the years instead of anticipating my next shovel of snow. Alas, it seems the snow has even put a damper on my daydreaming. My one hope is that I can rekindle the fire that makes me yearn for the warmer days of whatever is left of spring. According to the weather forecast there is an end in sight, but I will definitely take a “wait and see” approach to that.

I do actually enjoy a day when the snow falls peacefully to the ground as I watch the birds buzzing around the feeder while the squirrels go about their business and the resident rabbit hops about in the freshly fallen snow. Nightfall can be a magical time when there is moonlight shining on a blanket of freshly fallen snow. This is a time when I sometimes like to play that little game that I played as a youth, it’s called who made that track? I have always enjoyed trying to identify the different sets of fresh critter tracks and this actually goes back to the days when we kids would venture out into the slough on north Bridge Avenue.

Those were the days that we baby boomers often refer to as “the good old days”, which in all reality were pretty much that. Our family didn’t have a lot of money, but my mom and dad made sure that my sister and I had good food, warm clothes and a loving home. Those sound like simple needs, but we got by just fine on the basics and I feel that growing up in those times gave me a better appreciation of the technology that we have available to us today.

Even with all of the modern technology there is no better way to pass the time than spending a little quality time outdoors. Nature offers us an opportunity to enjoy the many wonders that you can never experience by looking at your phone or an Ipad or even television.

Taking care of what we have

The capital assets that the DNR manages belong to the citizens of Minnesota and are essential to providing outdoor recreation and natural resources management. These assets are aging and many are in disrepair and need urgent fixing. Our natural resources capital assets are abundant and varied, including: buildings, water and sewer systems, roads, trails, bridges, culverts, water control structures, public water accesses and campgrounds.

The agency’s recent 10-Year Capital Asset Needs Report PDF estimates that DNR built assets are valued at about $3 billion and we need $155 million annually over the next decade to maintain and renew these assets.

The DNR must make the repairs in order to provide safe and enjoyable recreational and natural resources experiences for all Minnesotans. We have facilities in every county that supports over $30 billion in economic activity and these fixes will create hundreds of construction jobs across the state.

Repair costs increase about eight percent annually, so addressing these problems now saves Minnesota money over time.

With all of this being said, I believe that we need to protect our outdoors heritage and preserve what we already have, so that it can be enjoyed for generations to come.

Please take some time to honor those who have sacrificed so for the freedoms we enjoy today. Also, take some time to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice, those who served and those troops serving today.