Cake!

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My Missouri Master Naturalist Chapter celebrated its 20th anniversary recently decorated with butterflies, dragonflies and flowers. There was a cake that was big enough to feed 100 people! Half was chocolate…the other vanilla. There was a little left that was given to the night staff at our meeting place!

I have been the president of the chapter since July and a member since 2024. There are still a few members from the original class that are still active – I rely on them and other long-term members to understand the history.   I’ve spent more focus so far on the path forward for the chapter…holding the core training this fall and maneuvering to get the leadership team back to an annual rhythm. I like using my singing bowl bell to get the group’s attention rather than yelling!

5th week of Master Naturalist Core Training

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The classroom session during the 5th week included 2 lectures (challenges…connectivity for wildlife, species of concern) and an activity with skulls. I forgot (again) to get a picture of the armadillo skull!

The field trip was to the Springfield landfill and one of the city’s wastewater treatment plants. The same field trip was done for my class in 2024. The time at the landfill was spent outside on a rock covered area – observing the road to the active part of the landfill (not where they were dumping this time…it was just over the hill from the road), the soil borrow areas, and a new cell in development. I took more notes this time – that the landfill has been operational since 1974 and it is almost the tallest place in the county…that dolomite and shale (not limestone) is underneath the landfill…that more sophisticated layered liners are under the cells since 1990 (before that there was a layer of clay)….plastics are 19.4% by weight; number 1 by volume….Yard waste, white appliances and lead acid batteries are banned from the landfill…the landfill should last for another 50 years before it is filled.

They have a new building that just opened this year with a ‘wetland’ (where the soil used to cover the landfill cells active (every night) and when a cell is filled. There is a classroom/meeting area in the building; I wondered if they would start using that area for presentations associated with tours in the future rather than having the entire hour with people standing outside for the lecture!

We caravaned down to the wastewater treatment plant. Adjacent to the plant is the Sac River Landfill (old, closed for years, capped); there is a plan to put a bike trail through it!

The tour was done in the same order as the water through the plant – the intake pipe (which also include the leachate from the landfill), the channel monster, whirlpool to collect solids, anaerobic tank (to support the process to take out nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous), aeration, flocculation, clarifiers (water is clear…but still loaded with bacteria), UV light (to kill bacteria…also cyclospora). And the water goes to the Sac River…clearer than the river water which has some sediment!

The solid part left from the process is collected at the plant and taken by truck to the other (larger) Springfield wastewater treatment plant which has a digester…and produces a Class B biosolid that can be used on fields that do not produce food eaten directly by humans.

There is a plan to add a foam fractionation unit to reduce forever chemicals – that is something new since I toured in 2024.

The day was cool and sunny….we generally agreed that, had it been hot, the smells would have been worse and attendance would have been poor!

4th week of Master Naturalist Core Training

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The classroom session during the 4th week included lectures on soil, flora of the Ozarks, and fungi. It was the most sedentary class of the whole series, but the lectures were so good that no one complained!

The field trip was to a place than I had not been before – land/home of a fellow master naturalist. The drive in was a clue to the special place that it is.

The topic of the field trip was to learn about invasives. We started with short hike first – noticing the natives…remembering the invasives that we would come back to remove. I took pictures of things we’d leave and the creek that was dry because our area has had so little rain this summer.

The focus was on bush honeysuckle, multiflora rose, and wintercreeper.  I was keen to see how well the Extractigater tree puller tool worked on bush honeysuckle. It works very well although I think the classic model will work for my needs and not be as heavy. The one in the picture is the Big Daddy version with a BigFoot Accessory. We had a big pile of bush honey suckle with roots very quickly using both tools. The Classic works for stems up to 2” diameter….and I order one for me the day after the field trip!

We discussed what we had learned at the end and learned the process used to establish a Conservation Easement on the property…what it meant for the land long term.

A learning experience re invasives and land conservation.

Home School Fair

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Last week, my Master Naturalist chapter had tables at a Home School Fair – a hectic 2+ hours for us with between 200-300 people doing the 4 different ‘road trip’ themed activities we had: nature journaling (citing the Gateway Arch and Lewis and Clark journals), sand art (Mohave Desert), petroglyphs (Petroglyph National Monument), and petrified wood/tree rings (Painted Desert/Petrified Forest).

I appreciated my wagon to get things from my car to the tables!

We had a few pieces of petrified wood for the children to handle – realize that they were rock…and talked about living trees and tree rings with pine tree cookies. We opted to include the Highway 13 Butterfly Trail information on our table since it is a ‘road trip’ closer to home and many of the pollinator gardens/prairies still have plenty to see this fall.

I contributed a volcanic rock my husband and I got many years ago in New Mexico as part of the pan with black sand --- provided a clue about where black sand comes from.

The petroglyph materials were brought by another volunteer…those rocks were heavy! The pens used on the rocks were a hit with many children (they made more elaborate images rather than petroglyphs much of the time).

This was the third year I have participated in the event. Each one has been unique…but worth the effort for the number of interested students/parents that come to the fair.

Missouri Woodland Mentor Series

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The Missouri Extension offered a 9-part Woodland Mentor series of webinars from January to September 2026. I managed to see all 9 of them as they were recorded! The webinar schedule was:

  • January - Introduction

  • February – How we value Missouri woods

  • March – Why we cut trees to manage trees

  • April – Birds need managed woods

  • May – Forest species of concern

  • June – Enhancing the woods for desired wildlife

  • July – Threats to the woods

  • August – Know your woods

  • September - Where do we go from here?

There was at least one other in in the class that is like me – a master naturalist in a suburb that does not own a woodland and I hope to start an interaction with them and share ideas. I’ve already decided that my primary path forward is to transition my yard into a savanna…and encourage other people in my neighborhood to move in that direction. I’ve been posting about the suburban savanna idea monthly and my winter project will be to pull together a presentation for any audience I can find that might be interested!

3rd week of Master Naturalist Core Training

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The third week of core training focused on volunteering. Two helpers unexpectedly did not show up so the class was a little stressful for me but still turned out to be an excellent class for the students!

I picked up three tables needed for the field trip from our storage unit before the class and they were dirtier (dust and cobwebs) than I expected…so I got help from my husband to get them unfolded and sprayed clean on our driveway the next day!

The field trip was on a Saturday. After a lecture about how the native butterfly house is sustained, there were 4 rotations where the students shadowed a volunteer….as close as we could get to hands on volunteering. The 4 rotations were:

The butterfly house

The caterpillar café – where we all saw lots of caterpillars and plants they need…and I took a lot of pictures

The bison table (which we do as a school program or a table at festivals). The only picture I took was of the front lower jaw!

Rotten logs (which we do on a tarp on the ground or a table – usually at an outdoor event where there will be lots of children)…and always find a lot of critters….and details for logs themselves.

At least one of the groups got to release a tagged monarch butterfly! And several bought some plants that were on sale in the gardens during the lunch break.

2nd week of Master Naturalist Core Training

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The second week for Missouri Master Naturalist Core Training focused on ecosystems and populations…particularly water and streams (and riparian zones). The class session started with a gathering outside to play a web-of-life game (note the string). The light was beginning to wane by the time we finished!

The field trip was to a place along Bull Creek south of Springfield. We organized carpools since the road should not be attempted by low clearance cars!

I enjoyed some quiet time after the flurry of activity getting everyone organized into groups and out to their first rotation.

Then I went on a short hike into the woods with one of the groups.

During the last rotation time – another quiet time for me, I noticed some yellow and orange butterflies in a sun filled area and went over to investigate. Sleepy orange butterflies!

I looked around…and almost stepped on the senna – which is the food plant for their caterpillars!

When the gear was brought back from the creek – there was a container with a large dragonfly larva….a great finale for my field trip pictures!

Native American Heritage Celebration

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Master Naturalists had 2 tables at the Native American Heritage Celebration that took place on the Wonders of Wildlife parking lot recently. This was my second year to volunteer at the event and much easier than last year since I was only volunteering one shift on each of 2 days (rather than most of the 3 days last year). Some of the core training students got some early volunteer hours at the event as well.

One table was dedicated to bison – with a full table of things made from bison parts. The other table was caterpillars of native moths/butterflies: luna moth, black swallowtail butterfly, and monarch butterfly.

On the first morning of the celebration, I walked around and enjoyed the displays of pumpkins and gourds.

One of the other educational tables was showing the ‘three sisters’ – beans, corn, and squash. They also had some wonderful large sunflower seed heads.

Probably the most dramatic event at our table was the emergence of a monarch butterfly from a chrysalis that had been on the plant with the caterpillars on the last day – and before I arrived. It had flown to a nearby gourd so I still go to see it and take a portrait!

Ten Little Celebrations – September 2026

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September always seems to be a busy month – but this year seems busier than most with the overlay of the Missouri Master Naturalist core training that I am facilitating. There has been a lot to celebrate within the increased level of activity!

Wild Ozarks video – again. Before the core training started, I watched the video again since we were asking the students to view it. I celebrated it all over again!

Core training started. I celebrated when we finally got the roster finalized and got the training started. There were 2 classes and 2 field trips in the last weeks of September.

Cooler morning butterfly house shift. Toward the end of September, the days finally started to be a little cooler. I celebrated that it only got into the low 80s….warm enough for the butterflies to be active but comfortable for humans too!

Rockspan. It was a wonderful place for a field trip – even though the day was hot. I celebrated the breeze, the special location, and that the core training students seemed to enjoy the nature journal session that I hosted for one of their rotations.

Green Heron at Ha Ha Tonka. Seeing a Green Heron is always a celebration for me. Of course, the state park has a lot of great things to see…this was just my favorite for that visit.

Imperial Moth Caterpillars. Celebrated seeing another species that has large caterpillars.

Tree ID workshop. Celebrated seeing so many cuttings from native trees…and the lecture pointing out characteristics to clinch the id.

Field trip to Bull Creek. Another special place…new to most of the core training students. I always find something to celebrate there and this time it was probably observing the students experience it for the first time.

Woodland management in action. I celebrated a field trip to see places where the strategies described in webinars I’d viewed had been applied.

Butterflies. There are more butterflies in my yard than last year…maybe because of the native plants I’ve added. Cause for celebration!

1st week of Master Naturalist Core Training

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In 2024, I was on the receiving end of Missouri Master Naturalist Training; this fall I am guiding the Core Training sessions…and am the primary point of contact for the 30 students. It is a very different perspective!

Each week there is a 3-hour class on Thursday evening and a 4+ hour field trip on Saturday. The first class was hectic. I was thrilled that I had enough helpers to realize that the bags of materials on the chairs was better than handing the bag to each student as they signed in. There were sign up sheets for bringing snacks for upcoming classes and some volunteer opportunities coming up fast. It was a little chaotic during and between classroom activities – but subsequent classes will benefit from what we were able to get done in those first 3 hours.

The field trip was to Rockspan Farm which I visited last May – reconnoitering for this training. I coached the Nature Journal activity for 4 groups (there were also 3 other activities: karst geology, forest ecology, and dichotomous key for trees). It is very different leading an activity rather than participating! When we started the day there was a concern about it getting too hot by the afternoon (forecast was for the mid 90s) but a breeze and plenty of water helped us through. I didn’t wander far from the gathering area for the beginning and debrief for the activity. There were new plantings of dawn redwoods, bald cypress, southern magnolia…big trees: pecan, black walnut, and hackberry to name a few.

There were a few of the trees with small arboretum signs.

I wondered what the story was behind a stump surrounded by another tree.

The sounds of the water in the river called for exploration in its direction. Several people drew frogs and dragonflies.

I noticed that the opposite bank was scoured…probably during times of heavy rain.

There were not a lot of wildflowers – but there was drama at everyone with insects very active.

The slower pace of the day and keeping to shady areas helped make the heat bearable for me …and I enjoyed just being at Rockspan!

Ten Little Celebrations – August 2026

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August was a great month of summer activities – trying to dodge afternoons that were way too hot to be outside!

Great cohort signed up for Missouri Master Naturalist core training. I’ve been working on the core training curriculum since last spring and everything began to come together in August….ready for the start of the course in September. I am particularly celebrating the existing Master Naturalists that signed up for all the volunteer tasks I identified!

Webinars when I was traveling. I am celebrating two excellent webinars (creating habitat that works and building a native plant movement in your community) that I watched from my hotel when I travelled to Texas.

Dancing oakworm catepillars. I celebrated getting a video of oakworms in action…and then being able to share it with peoole  visited our table after the caterpillars themselves had worn themselves out (i.e. were no longer dancing).

Stone edge installed around my native plant garden. Getting the edge around my native plant garden was a great addition. I’m celebrating how great it makes the front yard look!

Dark chocolate. Recently I remembered starting my day with a small serving of dark chocolate years ago…and I am celebrating every morning that I revive that tradition!

Mississippi Kites at Lake Springfield. I celebrated the 4 Mississippi Kites that were hunting for breakfast near the Lake Springfield Boathouse one morning I was there. They were finding plenty to eat!

Salmon for lunch. I’m still a little surprised about how easy it is to prepare! I celebrated a lunch on my own while my husband was away.

Sunlight through the spikenard leaves in the morning. The plant is leaning but I celebrate that its fruit is developing and it is still my favorite plant viewed through my office window.

Insectorama and an Io caterpillar. There was a sign that said “don’t touch” for the Io caterpillar and no one did. I celebrated that the visitors got to see it with no negative event!

Yard work done. In August I feel like I need to dodge high temperatures and the sprinklers to get yard work done….so I celebrate with I finally can just do it.

Stress

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Back in April 2025, I posted about my stress reduction strategies. I am still applying all the strategies I mentioned in that post….but there are l times that they seem to fail, and it takes a day or two to recover!

With the many ‘heat advisory’ days recently, I am acknowledging that heat is playing a role in my stress levels. When I work in my yard or at the Lake Springfield boathouse, my stress level stays relatively high even after I have cooled down and rehydrated! I am going to try moving my electrolyte drink to during and immediately after yard work…see if that will help.

Of course, I have taken on more responsibilities with the local Missouri Master Naturalist chapter since April 2025. I am utilizing a lot of the skills I learned during by career and there might be a stress-memory coming along with reactivating the skills. It is rewarding and I want to do it…but stressful too. I am learning to ask for help sooner rather than later!

Recently, I remembered one of my employees from more than 15 years ago talking about taking ‘mental health days’ and it is something I am finding useful now. For me that involves not looking at email or news or doing anything with a group of people….it’s a retreat to my introvert core usually with a good book or (during the summer) enjoying the greenery of my shade garden from a window or yoga or Zentangle tiles….and then drifting off to sleep at the usual time.

Insect-o-rama

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I was at the Master Naturalist table at the Insect-o-rama last Friday. It is an annual event held at the Springfield Conservation Nature Center, but this was my first year to volunteer there! It was an evening event on a heat advisory day, so I was very happy to be inside the air-conditioned building!

Our table had vases of trees with caterpillars. There was a sign for the Io moth caterpillars on sassafras leaves because they can sting.

There were several instars of cecropia moth caterpillars on black cherry and a goatweed leafwing caterpillar on goatweed (too large to role a leaf around itself).

My favorites of the evening were some young oakworm caterpillars (on oak leaves) that got agitated…and danced! They calmed down (or got tired) and were relatively still for the rest of the evening, so I showed visitors the short video I was lucky enough to capture.

There were several tables of insect collections. I remembered the one I made when I was in high school….and that the teacher asked to keep it! I didn’t think to take pictures of it at the time....over 55 years ago.

The families that attended were interested in everything and many went home with luna month caterpillars to raise (they eat sweet gum leaves). The event was well-attended but not overwhelming! Enjoyable for attendees and volunteers.

Ten Little Celebrations – July 2026

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July was hot…making is more challenging to enjoy time outdoors – but I still found plenty to celebrate!

Car chargers on my way to Texas. I noticed that there were car chargers at a place I normally stop along my route between my home and seeing my dad in Texas. That bodes well for me buying an EV next year!

Children in the butterfly house. I enjoy my shifts in the Roston Native Butterfly House – particularly if there are children that enjoy their visit too. Their awe as they follow the flights of butterflies or watch the butterfly get nectar from a flower seems to transfer to everyone in the house!

Spicebush Caterpillar. There was a spicebush caterpillar that disappeared from the plant on the table just as I was leaving….and we weren’t seeing it anywhere. Then as I walked by – I noticed that it was on the other end of the table…crawling along the edge. We all celebrated that it was found and could be put in the pupation cage instead of risking getting squished on the floor.

Gall Webinar. Celebrating an interesting webinar that introduced me to new organisms that I will look for when I am out and about.

Blooming American Spikenard. Celebrating that the plant is bigger and has more blooms than last year. It’s one of the first native plants I added to the yard and probably my favorite.

250th.  It wasn’t as fabulous as I remember the 200th – but still worth celebrating.  

Home alone. My husband was away for almost a week and I enjoyed the time without the television blaring! Then again – I am glad it doesn’t happen very often.

Salmon. I celebrated making a dinner that I wouldn’t make if my husband was home!

Watermelon. It’s the summer food for celebration. I wish we could still buy the big watermelons with seeds that seemed to be even more flavorful.

Missouri Master Naturalist. I celebrated my chapter showing resilience to change….forging ahead.

Tabling at the Butterfly Festival

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The annual Butterfly Festival at the Springfield Botanical Garden was held last weekend. It had rained a lot before the event and was still sprinkling as I was setting up; everyone was relieved when the day was dry after that! The local Missouri Master Naturalist chapter had two tables with several activities/topics: Highway 13 Butterfly trail, trees needed by butterfly/moth caterpillars, a butterfly symmetry craft, bugs, and rotten logs to explore. My collection of bookends worked to keep the items on the table from blowing off the table.

Over the course of the day, we had over 900 people visit our tables! I brought most of the materials in my car and was relieved that I had three helpers for each of the two shifts (9-12 and 12-3). One came early and helped me wrangle the table clothes onto the tables (with the corners tied at the ends to keep them securely on the tables and out of the mud). The pictures above are of the tables before the crowds arrived.

The mosaic below is from the butterfly symmetry craft. We often had a line waiting to make their butterfly and it was a challenge to get a picture of most of the creation before they moved on to the next activity.

The rotten log activity looked more like mulch than logs by the end of the day. We were allowed to leave it under a nearby cedar which made cleanup a simple matter of folding up the tarps.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted…but exhilarated that we had such a great turnout for the Butterfly Festival. I didn’t have time to look at other activities/tables – but they must have been great since everyone that we encountered at our tables seemed to be enjoying the day.

Missouri Master Naturalist Conference Keynote

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The keynote speaker at the Missouri Master Naturalist state conference was Phil Valko – the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Sustainability at Washington University. He was an engaging speaker…starting his talk with a Missouri nature trivia quiz (number of springs and caves, etc.) and conservation history.

The major topic of the talk was sustainability at Washington University. I had already noticed the number of native plants in the areas of the campus I encountered during the conference. It was great news that they had successfully reduced the campus energy use and emissions while increasing the campus space! They have electrified their fleet and have solar panels on their charging facility.

The campus as its own thrift store to promote reuse – particularly during student move in and out at the university.

The campus also is an arboretum. It has 133 of the 153 trees native to Missouri and 63 of the 113 shrubs! The arboretum also has many non-natives….and the current logo for the arboretum features the ginkgo.

Washington University created a mobile app (Project Clean Grid) that displays a specific type of grid emissions data called marginal emissions that focus on the real-world impacts of using electricity – which power plants actually respond when you use more or less electricity and how much carbon they emit. By avoiding the dirtiest times (red and orange), high-carbon power plants run a little less. Shifting your usage to the cleanest times (green) makes use of lower-carbon power sources in your region and can even result in more renewable energy flowing onto the grid in regions with significant amounts of clean energy. I downloaded the app and have started to be more aware of the grid where I live.

Benefits of Riparian Corridor

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My second lecture session at the Missouri Master Naturalist state conference was Brian Waldrop’s Benefits of Riparian Corridor. Most of the material was not new to me,  but it was thought provoking.

There was a chart about different types of riparian corridors: forest, grassland, mixed, and wetland. I realized that the one I was most familiar with was forest (most of the time in an urban environment where the corridor was damaged by intermittent intrusion of heavy runoff that often undermined the trees. A stream in a tropical forest was shown with vegetation hanging well over the stream surface.

The wider the buffer, the greater the benefit - starting with bank stabilization and progressing to water quality, flood control, and wildlife habitat. In urban/suburban areas, we often think it is great if we can achieve bank stabilization!

It seemed logical that the type of plants found in riparian zones should be native, flood-tolerant, deep-rooted, and shade-providing. I realized that I don’t know these things about individual plant species. I tend to draw on memories of trees seen frequently along rivers in Maryland and in Missouri – like American sycamores!

The talk ended with some charts about good reverences. I am putting them on my list of books to browse online!

Conservation Planning Tools for Missouri Communities: A Reference Manual (from MDC)

Native Plants for Stormwater Management Projects (from Grow Native!)

Stormwater Smart Outreach Tools (US EPA)

Ecological Practices with Native Plants

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My first lecture associated with the Missouri Master Naturalist state conference was Jean Ponzi’s Ecological Practices with Native Plants. It followed my morning at the Zoo and Center for Hellbender Conservation tour. It was good to spend the afternoon indoors!

I remembered that I could use my phone to photograph some of the key charts. The first was to remind me that Grow Native! has a model ordinance about native plants and urban landscape design. It is unfortunate that is necessary – but modern urban/suburban yard ‘rules’ tend to skew toward shallow rooted turf and result in relatively sterile outdoor spaces….not what we want to sustain the planet. The second photograph was the definition of ‘green infrastructure.’

Doug Tallamy’s work was cited….and the https://homegrownnationalpark.org/ was talked about. I had heard of it before and, now that I am reducing the turf in my yard – maybe I should look into it more.

One of the quotes I liked from this speaker: “Turf is living concrete!”

Ten Little Celebrations – May 2026

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It seemed like a lot of my activities ramped up in May.

Volunteering

Roston Native Butterfly House. The butterfly house season started and I had 4 shifts….the first one on Mother’s Day. I celebrated that there were lots of butterflies….and people coming to see them!

Getting speakers for fall Missouri Master Naturalist core training. It was wonderful that virtually everyone I asked to speak or host a field trip said ‘yes.’ By the end of the month, I was celebrating that the plan for the training was looking more achievable.

Reconnoiter of a new field trip location. I celebrated a first visit to a new field trip location - rejoicing that is it such a rich place for Master Naturalist activities.

Soil field trip. The field trip to soil pits was one that I had arranged months ago. I celebrated that it finally happened….and how good it was.

My Yard

New native plant garden. Only one of the 30+ plants that I planted in my new bed looks like it won’t make it. I am celebrating that the rest are thriving and excited about how great the garden will begin to look as the warm weather continues. Next year it should look even better!

American Spikenard. Every time I look out my office window, I celebrate that one of the first native plants I bought and planted in my Missouri yard was an American Spikenard. The violets growing under it look great too!

Food

Salmon. I have discovered frozen salmon fillets and have been thrilled at how easy it is to thaw and then bake them at 325 degrees while I prepare the sides…..celebrating salmon at home rather than just in restaurants!

Chocolate cake. I stopped at a diner on the way back from my trip to Lewisville this month….and celebrated their version of chocolate cake!

Travel

Missouri Botanical Garden. It’s my favorite place in the St. Louis area. I like their art in the garden exhibits that have special lighting at night. This time I celebrated the garden with my husband and daughter.

Another butterfly house. We visited the Sophie M. Sachs Butterfly House on the morning after the Missouri Botanical Garden. It was only my second time to see it, and I celebrated being a visitor rather than a docent…and seeing some familiar exotic butterflies again.

Field Trip Reconnoiter

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I’ve been busy working on the curriculum of the core training to be offered next fall by my local Missouri Master Naturalist chapter. One of the field trips we had added to the curriculum was unfamiliar to everyone….but had been one the places featured in a 2025 Ozark Public Television production called Wild Ozarks. Four of us participated in a reconnoiter trip to the place last week.

Wow! It is a great place for a field trip.

Easy to get to from Springfield

Springs and sinkholes

Remediated riverbank…and ash trees (dead or dying) replaced with other tree species

Tree cavities

Some invasives but not overwhelming

Road or mowed trail for hiking

Pawpaw patch

And much more!

I loved the handmade tree signs!

We modified the plan to divide the students into 4 groups rather than 3 (so 6-7 students/group) and the topics will be: forest ecology, geology (karst), tree identification (using dichotomous key), and nature journaling/nature observation.

I am looking forward to seeing the place in the fall….and observing the students discovering this special place.