Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Miami vibrates with color and bright nightlife. And below the surrounding coastal waterline, coral reefs play out their own neon dramas that rival those of the city. Making these similarities obvious to the public is the aim of the art duo called Coral Morphologic. Musician J. D. McKay and marine biologist Colin Foord collaborate and use footage of coral from Florida and around the world in video, multimedia and art installations. Their goal is to help viewers appreciate and want to protect this vital underwater ecosystem. The duos brilliantly hued work has appeared inside and on exhibit halls. No, really: Coral Morphologic has projected images of fluorescent red and green polyps over entire buildings in Miami.

In recent years, coral surrounding Miami has begun growing on local seawalls, and Coral Morphologic hopes this is a sign of the creatures resilience in the face of changing ocean conditions. These pioneering corals may hold the keys to understanding how reef organisms worldwide may adapt to human influence in the 21st century, the collaborators share in a statement. If corals can find a way to thrive on the rapidly changing Miami coastline, then where else might they manage to persist?

Credit: Coral Morphologic

Corals eat more than just microscopic creatures called zooplankton. Here, a Fungia coral in the Indo-Pacific sneaks its mouth around a fish head. Other members of the genus in the Red Sea have been spotted dining on jellyfish half their size.

The mouth of a Cycloseris coral found in an Indo-Pacific reef. Meals disappear into the gastrovascular cavity, which is also where the equivalent of digestive cells empty their waste.

A close-up of coral belonging to the Echinophyllia genus found in the Indo-Pacific.. Many of these coral varieties grow like a carpet coating rocky surfaces on a reef. The tactic makes the Echinophyllia less susceptible to storm damage compared to their vertical, branching relatives.

Neither jellyfish, coral or anemone, this organism, known as a corallimorph, is one of the lesser-known members of the Cnidaria phylum and shown here in a fluorescence photo. In 2007, researchers found a particular corallimorph smothering reefs at Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, possibly attracted by the degrading iron from buoys and a nearby shipwreck.

Ricordea florida, the species shown here, has been the victim of illegal wildlife harvesting in both Florida and Puerto Rico.

A Phymanthus crucifer anemone, which could be found attached to a reef around Florida, unfurls its tentacles. Each tendril is lined with special cells that launch piercing or adhesive bits into passing prey.

The mouth of a corallimorph known as Ricordea yuma, found in the Indo-Pacific. Corallimorphs cant build their own exoskeletons, but are closely related to corals that can. Scientists are struggling to figure out why the two cnidarian varieties evolved differently on this crucial trait.

An astreoides coral. This variety belongs to a larger group of stony corals, meaning each polyp pushes out calcium carbonate to create a durable underlying structure. The compound is otherwise known as limestone, and constitutes each Florida Keys islandmeaning human residents live atop long-dead coral reefs.

If it took you a minute to distinguish the seahorse from the coral, thats exactly the effect the pregnant male was going for. These centimeter-long Pygmy seahorses live exclusively amongst gorgonian sea fan corals.

Science in Images

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The Kaleidoscopic Art of Threatened Corals - Scientific American

Flowers and tributes have been left to a young man killed in a tragic car crash near Coalville just days before Christmas.

Friends and loved ones have been visiting the scene of the tragedy, in Leicester Road, Whitwick, where they have also written heartfelt messages honouring the victim.

The incident happened on a notorious stretch of road between the village and Coalville shortly before 1.30am on Wednesday.

Leicestershire Police said that two men had been travelling in the car, a black Nissan Note, when it left the road.

No other vehicle was involved.

A police spokesperson confirmed yesterday that a 24-year-old passenger had been pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver, a 22-year-old man who was injured in the collision was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs.

The spokesperson said: "The car, a black Nissan Note, was travelling from Whitwick towards the Leicester Road/Abbey Road/Warrens Hill Road crossroads when it left the carriageway.

"One man, aged 24, was pronounced dead at the scene.

"Another man, aged 22, was taken to the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham to be treated for injuries that are not life-threatening."

The spokesperson added: "A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of driving while under the influence of drugs and has since been released under investigation."

Detectives from the Leicestershire Police Serious Collision Investigation Unit (SCIU) are appealing for witnesses to the fatal collision outside Whitwick overnight (Wednesday 23 December).

Detective Sergeant Ed Des-Chanelle would like to hear from anyone who witnessed the incident, or who saw the car shortly before it crashed.

"Our enquiries are still in their early stages and I would like to speak to anyone who saw the Nissan Note in the area of Whitwick prior to the collision," he said.

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Motorists who may have dashcam footage of the car being driven in the area is also asked to get in touch.

"We have spoken to some people who stopped at the scene, but I would also ask anyone who saw what happened or who has a dashcam installed in their vehicle and thinks they can help to come forward," said Det Sgt Des-Chanelle.

He added: "Any information you have could help our investigation."

Anyone with information should call the police 101 number or get in touch using the force website.

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Carpet of flowers and tributes left to young man killed in Whitwick car crash - Leicestershire Live

Santa is coming early this year, finally bringing hope & happiness to 2020 w/ this beautiful South Hampton charmer. It's on your list, you checked it twice, & it's just for you at the right price! You will instantly feel right at home in this well kept 2bed 1bath home located merely blocks from St. Louis' Francis Park, Macklind Avenue Business District, Hampton Village Shopping Center, & the World Famous Ted Drewes! It's a Neighborhood where people really want to be. You will be impressed w/ its architecture, curb appeal, pointed arch entryway, original hardwood floors, special millwork, stained glass windows, & its much sought after two-toned wood doors. You will definitely have a piece of mind with the newer updates that include a recently installed A/C system, storm doors, ceiling fans, shower & sink fixtures, toilet, Sun Room, & fresh paint throughout the Main Floor. This home has great bones & a lower level w/ a walk-up that can be for extra storage or finished to your liking.

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Big Homes Just Listed in the Park Hills Area - McDowell News

Steven J. Adamczyk Esq., Special to TCPalm Published 9:00 a.m. ET Dec. 23, 2020

Editors note: Attorneys at Goede, Adamczyk, DeBoest & Cross, PLLC, respond to questions about Florida community association law. The firm represents community associations throughout Florida and focuses on condominium and homeowner association law, real estate law, litigation, estate planning and business law.

What is the responsibility of a homeowners association when neighbors fight?(Photo: ashumskiy)

Q: There are two neighbors in our community that do not get along. They keep threatening each other, and the police have been called multiple times. Each neighbor is demanding the HOA do something about the others behavior. What is our responsibility here?

H.M., Port St. Lucie

A: This is a frequent question, and the issue places the board in a difficult position because nobody wants this in their neighborhood, but the board also needs to realize that the association is not a peacekeeping force and almost never serves a security force to deal with these disputes. Generally, we recommend that the board advise each neighbor that they are instructed to contact the police if they ever feel that they are in physical danger. The notice to each owner should remind the owners that the association is neither equipped nor trained to serve as a security force.

The problem is that the association will generally have a duty to enforce violations of the covenants. Typically, each neighbor argues that the other is violating the nuisance provision of the covenants and often the fighting involves other objective violations like parking violations. If the neighbors are violating the covenants, the association likely has a duty to enforce, but that should be the extent of the boards involvement. You also need to review the specific definition of nuisance in your covenants because it could have broad implications. If the board elects to pursue one neighbor for violating a nuisance which is only broadly defined as an annoyance then the board is setting a dangerous precedent for future personal disputes and altercations.

I recommend you consult your legal counsel to discuss the specific requirements and provisions of your covenants and to propose a plan of action to address the situation without assuming a duty of care to keep each neighbor safe from the other.

Steven J. Adamczyk Esq. is a shareholder of the law Firm Goede, Adamczyk, DeBoest & Cross.(Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Q: A ground floor unit owner has been complaining for months that she can hear every footstep above her. The upper floor unit was just listed for sale and the pictures appear to show new wood floors and the owner never sought approval before installing the floors. What can the association do here?

G.G., Stuart

A: The answer to your question is highly dependent on the language in your condominium documents. First, I should note that most condominium documents provide that the unit begins at the upper surface of the concrete floor meaning that the wood floors would be part of the unit. You then need to review the condominium documents to determine whether the declaration of condominium authorizes the board to adopt flooring requirements, whether the documents require the owner to get approval before installing new hard surface floor and whether the unit owner is able to install hard surface flooring in the first place under any circumstance. Many older condominium documents require carpet in certain rooms without exception.

If the condominium documents are drafted well, then they should require the owner to obtain approval and provide the association with authority to adopt specifications for underlayment and sound-absorbing materials under the flooring. It is also helpful to have language in your documents providing a mechanism for the association to force the owner to remove unapproved floors or prove that the floors have appropriate underlayment. We often see owners sign contracts for underlayment, and the contractor simply skips the underlaying or uses a cheaper alternative that does not meet the associations minimum requirements.

If the specific underlayment requirements are not in the declaration of condominium, you need to determine whether the board has adopted a specific requirement by rule. Because the rule would regulate activity in the unit, you would need to make sure that the board adopted the underlayment specifications after providing at least 14 days mailed and posted notice of the board meeting where the resolution was adopted. If the board has never adopted specific underlayment requirements, or failed to give proper notice, it is possible the association never could have denied an application, and this could create a defense to enforcement.

Ultimately, the strength of the boards authority here is dependent on your specific documents and we recommend the association work with its legal counsel to provide an opinion. If you have detailed documents, the board should be able to force an application and determine whether the owner complied with minimum underlayment requirements. If this is a violation, I should also note that this could hold up a sale of the unit and the association should make sure that it accurately completes the estoppel if there is a sales application and properly document any violation.

Steven J. Adamczyk Esq., is a shareholder of the law firm Goede, Adamczyk, DeBoest & Cross, PLLC. Visit our website http://www.gadclaw.com or to ask questions about your issues for future columns, send your inquiry to: question@gadclaw.com. The information provided herein is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The publication of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and Goede, Adamczyk, DeBoest & Cross, or any of our attorneys. Readers should not act or refrain from acting based upon the information contained in this article without first contacting an attorney, if you have questions about any of the issues raised herein. The hiring of an attorney is a decision that should not be based solely on advertisements or this column.

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Condo questions: What is the HOA responsibility in neighbor dispute? - TCPalm

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On Christmas Day in the late 1940s we used a machine called the Recordio to make records to send to Aunt Winnie and Uncle Al Gulloni who, with Als daughter Sylvia, had recently moved to Inverness, Florida.

First sold in 1939, the Wilcox-Gay Recordio, made in Charlotte, Michigan, enabled consumers to make their own records by using a microphone or audio from an embedded AM radio.

Wilcox-Gay sold blank records in metal or plastic.

Johnny Cash and Les Paul supposedly used these player-recorders in their early careers.My uncle had operated an appliance repair shop in Scotia and moved to Florida to advance his retail career.

Our Recordio might have been a gift or at the least we got a deal on it.Unlike later cassette tape recorders, you couldnt record over a Recordio Disc once you created it.

That was a problem in our case in that as a young child I was a show-off, fond of off-color words.My father would say, Bob, say Merry Christmas to Aunt Winnie and Uncle Al. Iwould respond by saying, Poop!

The Recordio made the move when our family relocated up the hill to Amsterdams Peter Lane in 1957, a few years before Wilcox-Gay went out of business.

At some point our machine and Recordio discs were discarded.

OTHER MEMORIES

One of Amsterdams holiday sights during the industrial heyday was the lighted outline of a Christmas tree on the Clock Building on Prospect Street, headquarters of Bigelow-Sanford Carpet.

Richard Ellers, now of Ohio, recalled a cold Amsterdam December in 1943.Ellers said the snow crunched underfoot. Helistened to the Salvation Army bell ringer and traffic on the street below his familys East Main Street flat. I can still hear the clink-clink-clink of snow chains, he said. Occasionally every third or fourth clink would be counter pointed with a double thunk, which was the sound of the ends of a broken chain slapping the underside of a fender.

During World War II Mohawk Carpet sent gift boxes to each of the mills soldiers. The 1943 box included candy, playing cards and a greeting card from company president Howard Shuttleworth.

The city had a Christmas parade in 1947 featuring a balloon train. A picture shows parade watchers spilling out onto East Main Street to view the engine.

The Mohawk Mills Chorus appeared on NBC television in 1949 singing Christmas tunes with Roberta Quinlan on her Mohawk Carpet Showroom program.

At midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, the main lights at St. Casimirs Roman Catholic Church on East Main Street were turned off, smaller lights were turned on and candles were lighted.A parishioner recalled the church looked magical.

The matrons at the Childrens Home orphanage on Guy Park Avenue in the 1950s asked each child to list three things wanted for Christmas. One resident remembered getting paper dolls and white socks.

In the 1950s Amsterdam held a Christmas Festival at Coessens Park in the East End, organized by Mayor Thomas F. Gregg. Santa talked to the children and animals were brought in from an Adirondack tourist attraction.

In the 1950s Larrabees hardware store on Market Street sold Lionel and American Flyer model trains at Christmas. Each brand installed a model railroad layout.

In 1962 Auction City on the Amsterdam-Schenectady Road advertised it was displaying the largest Christmas stocking in the world, over 6 feet tall.

When Amsterdam High School social life was dominated by sororities and fraternities, a high point was Phi Delta Sororitys Christmas formal.In 1963, the event was held at the Century Club on Guy Park Avenue. The girls asked boys to attend.

Read the original post:
Cudmore: The Recordio and other Christmas memories - The Daily Gazette

With two dogs of their own and six others owned by family members who visit often, Jack and Carol Banowsky are well aware that puppydog nails and wood floors do not play well together. So when it came time to pick the flooring for their new home in Boerne, the couple installed a scratch-resistant faux wood porcelain tile.

Weve had wood floors before, and we know what dogs can do to those, Carol Banowsky said. We didnt want to make that mistake again.

Tile made to look like wood and other materials is just one tile trend for walls and floors that experts expect to see a lot more of in 2021. Others include encaustic tile made of porcelain and ceramic, the return of hexagonal tile and tile made of mixed materials, including metal and glass.

Here are seven tile trends coming at you next year:

Bolder encaustic tile: With their colorful, statement-making patterns, encaustic tile flooring is increasingly popular in kitchens, entryways, sunrooms, bathrooms and utility rooms. And when made from porcelain or ceramic, which are made from a clay base, they are more durable while also holding their vivid colors longer than traditional cement-based tile, which tend to fade or bleed over time. Prices start at $4.95 to $6.99 per square foot.

On ExpressNews.com: Resortlike backyard renovation adding two levels of outdoor decks, patio

Faux materials: From wood to Carrara marble, new tile styles are available that can mimic virtually any natural material, often at a fraction of the price. Porcelain, for example, can be made to have the deep, rich look of marble while also being more durable and easier to maintain no annual sealing needed. Faux wood is available with realistic grain and in colors ranging from light pine to dark mahogany. Prices start as low as $2.99 per square foot.

Metal plated: When fused to a porcelain tile, various metals, including copper, make for decorative flourishes on shower floors, in wall niches and kitchen backsplashes and as simple bands along a bathroom wall. Prices start at $12.95 per square foot.

Large format tile: Tile measuring 24 inches by 48 inches or bigger is increasingly popular, especially in larger homes where they fill the space with fewer grout lines, according to Kelly Vallejo, a designer at Royal Tile. Large format tile can be difficult to handle, she cautions, so be sure your installer knows how to set it properly.

On ExpressNews.com: Mini-mansion playhouse a dream come true for this 3-year-old

Hexagon tiles: A blast from the past, this six-sided, so-old-its-new-again style comes in a variety of sizes, including the 1-inch pinwheels you may remember from grandmas bathroom floor. For that modern-yet-retro look, newer styles as large as 12 inches across are also available. Starting at $5.99 per square foot.

Mosaics: Mixing different materials, such as glass, chrome and Carrara marble, can tie in a tile wall with the rest of a shower or kitchen while adding some pizzazz. The blings more expensive, however, with prices starting at $9.99 per square foot.

Color: After years of grays, taupes and other neutrals, Stacy Blair, a designer and project manager with Sunn Carpets and Interiors, said she expects a brighter new year as the countrys mood lightens. That means more jewel tones, such as sapphire blues, garnet reds and emerald greens. Set against monochromatic cabinets in rich browns or whites, for example, these colored tiles will make a splash in the kitchen, bath or laundry room.

rmarini@express-news.net | Twitter: @RichardMarini

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7 hot trends in home tile for walls and floors, from faux wood and bolder colors to the comeback of retro hexagonal tiles - San Antonio Express-News

Photo by Katie FinchWalking on an old road can lead to unexpected discoveries.

There was an oil painting hanging in my grandparents house of an old man. His skin was a warm brown and covered with lines. There were fine creases around the eyes from laughing or squinting in the sun. Curved grooves from his nose to the outside corner of his mouth ran deep from smiling. There were wrinkles across the forehead, often called worry lines. I imagined other dark marks to be scars from a long-ago injury.

I was intrigued by this face and so many others like it because of the story then could tell. Who was this man? What joys and tragedies happened in his life that were so strong they were etched in his physical being? A persons face is a record of the events that shaped who they are.

The land holds a record of its experience in a similar way. In outside explorations, we may come across old human-made objects or see scars in the landscape that tell of the lands past use or natural events that changed the landscape.

On a recent trip to Allegany State Park, my partner and I decided to hike a trail we knew nothing about other than the location and length. The trail was cut into the side of a gently sloping hill. About half a mile into the hike, we came across an opening in the woods that ran from the top of the hill downward. The opening, about the size of a road, was fairly overgrown, with brambles and small trees where there once was grass. The trees along the edge were all curved over the opening, making a tunnel-like effect, as they reached for the available sun. As we continued walking, we came across similar opening. Then another. Then another. Power lines? Gas lines? Old roads? There were a few old metal posts, not large enough for telephone poles but much higher than fence posts.

On the way back, he said, It feels like a ski slope. A glance at a more detailed map showed us he was right. We were on the Eastern Meadows trail that traversed the old Big Basin Ski Area. In further research, I learned Allegany State Park was a downhill skiing hub in Western New York from the 1930s to the 1970s. There were two alpine ski areas and ski jumps that attracted both amateur and world-class skiers. As I walked among the remains of the ski slope, I had no idea of the history at the time but the land still showed me, even as the plants began to cover it over and time degraded even the fire-forged metal of the ski lift.

Seeing the history of the land in what remains is detective work. Or perhaps more an archeologic dig, revealing scraps and fragments of the past. There are clues in what plants are present and the way they grow and the shape of the terrain. Sometimes old human-made remains are left behind. Ive walked on level, straight trails that can be nothing else but an old road or rail line. My favorite clue I saw on a winter walk after a light snow was followed by warmer temperatures.

On a straight path deep in the woods, there were alternating long rectangles of snow. What I figured is the snow stayed either on the old railroad ties and melted from the ground in between or vice versa.

Seeing this was like pulling back a 100-year-old curtain to a time when this forest was full of loggers, hauling out their harvest on narrow-gauge railway. As I look around at what was once a devastating change to this landscape, I also marvel at the lands ability to recover. I have a sense of discomfort at a very real paradox. Nature is both fragile and resilient. The evidence of our past reminds us of the huge impact we can have on the natural world but also of natures resiliency. Still, I wonder, what was this forest like before us? And what other far-reaching effects of humans dont I even see?

The history of natural events is also written into the land. In Maine, I worked in a forest, whose ground was full of full of small humps or mounds right next to holes or pits. When a tree falls over and pulls out the root ball with it, it creates this pit and mound topography over time. The pit is formed from the uprooted root ball. The mound forms as the roots slowly decay. In this forest, there were tons on pits and mounds all oriented in the same direction. This told the story of a tornado that passed through the area tipping over the trees half a century ago.

Humans are a part of nature. This is a fact. To acquire the things we both need and want, we use the land, sometimes lightly, sometimes too heavily. But either way, we are not removed from it. I am reminded of this when I read the landscape and see our mark upon it.

Audubon Community Nature Center builds and nurtures connections between people and nature. ACNC is located just east of Route 62 between Warren and Jamestown. The trails are still open from dawn to dusk as is Liberty, the Bald Eagle. The Nature Center is partially open, including restrooms, the Blue Heron Gift Shop, and some exhibits. More information can be found online at auduboncnc.org or by calling (716) 569-2345.

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Reading the landscape | News, Sports, Jobs - Evening Observer

On a sunny May morning in 2014, I packed a dibble bar and a box up a hill in the forest of northeastern Itasca County. The half-acre knob had been logged the previous summer, and I noted most of the stumps were red pine. Good, because the box held 360 red pine seedlings, fresh from a Canadian nursery.

I surveyed the site and figured I had just enough trees to "fill it up." I also appreciated the breeze playing across an expansive marsh sweeping to the northwest. The bugs were back twizzling scrums of gnats and mosquitoes in their post-winter hordes and the wind was toxin-free repellent. It's difficult to be entirely cheerful on a planting mission while insects are prospecting for blood in your nostrils.

The hill overlooks the Link Lake Trail Forest Road, a relatively well-traveled gravel stretch between Side Lake and Hwy. 65. Also good. Passing taxpayers would glimpse a DNR wildland firefighter in a yellow Nomex shirt vigorously working to re-establish pine on a cutover. After filling a tree bag with the first hundred seedlings, I buckled it around my waist then stashed the box in the shade of an elderly white spruce.

I inspected the ground, probing soil with the dibble. It's a tapered steel snout affixed to a long wooden handle, a kind of spear. There's also a metal foot pad that allows you to press the point into the dirt. The ground was soft and sandy ideal for young pine and no rocks were apparent. That meant I could thrust the dibble, one-handed, into the soil, which is faster and somehow more satisfying than easing it in with the foot pad. Striking rock with a thrust transmits a remarkable shudder of pain from your hand to your shoulder, like the sensation of an electrical shock.

At the north edge of the cutover I made my first stab, twisting the dibble a little to widen the hole. I cradled a seedling in my left hand and poked it in. These were "plugs" the roots packed with moist soil in a tubular shape, about nine inches long to the tip of the terminal bud. The needles were green and lush. I sealed the hole with the toe of my boot, the root collar flush with the ground.

On a forgiving site I can plant plugs at the rate of 200 an hour, but the hill had remnants of slash to negotiate. I timed my first 10 trees and extrapolated a rate of about 160 an hour. So, three hours with a couple of short breaks done in time for lunch.

And so it was. Just enough labor to feel righteous but not exhausted. I'd be ready for wildfire response in the afternoon if needed. With popcorn cumulus speckling an azure sky, and the bugs tamed by the breeze, it was a pleasing morning of proficiency and accomplishment.

But would the seedlings survive?

Like all living beings they were in peril. If drought ensued they'd shrivel to brown sticks. Deer or hares might literally nip them in the bud. A fire could turn them to ash. Disease might decimate. A careless human on an ATV could crush and uproot them. I've personally planted over 62,000 seedlings (about 88 acres) at several dozen locales over the past three decades, and overseen the planting of 60,000 more. I've had the privilege of returning to sites and relishing the spectacle of healthy trees 35 feet tall. Unfortunately, I've also gone back to ground where most of the little ones had vanished. I've said to fellow planters only half in jest, "Do good work, but don't come back here to look."

A year later, I was driving past the hill and slowed down to look. Grass and brush had resprouted, but I spotted some handsome young pine. I pulled over, scaled the hill, and was delighted to see that almost every seedling was still there. I pumped a fist, though aware the tale was not fully told.

This past May, six years after the planting, I returned with some trepidation again. To my joy, at least 95% of the trees, most of them taller than me, remained. Aspen saplings and some youthful balsam fir were interspersed with "my" red pine; a carpet of sweet fern, bracken, raspberry canes, blueberry bushes and large-leaved aster anchored the soil. It was a healthy young forest. Not all my doing, of course, but I'd been a significant agent.

Part of the satisfaction of that May morning in 2014 arises from the possibility that some of those trees could be still growing in 2114 and well beyond giants on the landscape, their root networks interlaced and signaling, creating and maintaining local habitat a sweet legacy of the labor.

But there's more than that. Whether the trees grow older or not, the planting was its own prize. The work was worthy, and since I was paid that day I earned my keep.

But there's another stratum to that morning. Besides the trees and the labor there was a happiness not strictly dependent upon either. I was close to the soil, intimate with the land. It was jammed beneath my fingernails. I smelled it. I scuffed it. There was a sense of orientation I knew precisely where I was and the generic name of that locale is "home." There was also a sense of fecundity, the emerald energies of spring, of renewal and release. There was literally no better place to be, and everything present even the damn bugs enunciated the word "alive."

During our pandemic (and it is ours, we own it), it's been widely reported that more people are spending more time outdoors than usual. The Minnesota State Parks, for example, have been bustling. Sure, it's safer outside and that is not to be discounted, but in the face of widespread illness, disability and death, where else is the antithesis health, vigor and life more evident than in the woods, on the lakeshore, in the garden, under the sky?

"Hope," wrote essayist E.B. White, "is the thing left us in a bad time." Webster's defines hope as "a feeling that what is wanted will happen." And in a bad time our wants can be clarified in close contacts with the happenings in the natural outdoors. Poet Emily Dickinson called hope "the thing with feathers," and perhaps it is also the thing with roots, needles, leaves, fur, waves and the crystalline design of snowflakes. I grant that May is kinder than December, but the latter merely requires more clothes.

As I write this, my red pines on the hill are draped with snow, and as trees do, they've entered a phase of exquisite respite that primes them for rejuvenation. The winter landscape will generously display its own charms and unctions. We too will be rejuvenated.

Peter M. Leschak, of Side Lake, Minn., is the author of "Ghosts of the Fireground" and other books.

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OPINION EXCHANGE | 'Hope is the thing left us in a bad time' - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Conservative media outlet Newsmax issued a clarification on Monday about recent claims made by guests about a voting software company the network suggested flipped votes to President-elect Joe BidenJoe BidenJudge throws out GOP lawsuit to close Georgia ballot drop boxes after business hours First responders serenade Fauci with 'happy birthday' Joe Biden can be the president for middle class workers and all races MORE.

"Newsmax would like to clarify its news coverage and noteit has not reported as true certain claims made about these companies," the outlet said in a statement posted online and read by host John Tabacco. "There are several facts our viewers and readers should be aware. Newsmax has found no evidence either Dominion or Smartmatic owns the other, or has any business association with each other."

The clarification comes after Florida-basedelectronic voting system company Smartmaticissued legal notices and retraction demand letters to three conservative outlets including Newsmax for what they said were defamatory and untrue reports about the company.

"They have no evidence to support their attacks on Smartmatic because there is no evidence. This campaign was designed to defame Smartmatic and undermine legitimately conducted elections,Smartmatic CEOAntonio Mugica said in a statement. "Our efforts are more than just about Smartmatic or any other company. This campaign is an attack on election systems and election workers in an effort to depress confidence in future elections and potentially counter the will of the voters, not just here, but in democracies around the world."

The company has been at the center of attacks from Trump's legal allies such as Rudy GiulianiRudy GiulianiPowell says White House aides won't let her help Trump Trump attorneys risk disciplinary action over wave of election suits Louisiana congressman-elect in intensive care after COVID-19 diagnosis MORE and Sidney Powell. The New York times reported the company was not used in any states Trump has contested the result of the election in and only helped one U.S. county run its election.

Newsmaxacknowledgedthis in its clarification, writing: "Smartmatic has stated its software was only used in the 2020 election in Los Angeles, and was not used in any battleground state contested by the Trump campaign and Newsmax has no evidence to the contrary."

Trump has pointed to Newsmax as an alternative to Fox News for his conservative supporters in recent months. The network resisted calling Biden the president-elect until last week and has been attempting toattractFox News's audience.

A growing number of pro-Trump Republican politicians, pundits and strategists are appearing on the networkdespite Fox's dominance across the cable news landscape.

See more here:
Newsmax issues clarification on Smartmatic, Dominion claims | TheHill - The Hill

Letters

I am a long-time hiker and equestrian user of Lord Hill Park. I believe mountain biking can be a fine use of the park if it is a way of traveling through it at a pace that allows for appreciation of the wonderful natural landscape in the park.

When technical mountain bike flow trails or down-hilling trails are built and used, the focus becomes the speed and features of the trail itself. It is analogous to snowshoeing versus downhill skiing, both are fun but the focus on your surroundings is different due to the speed at which you are traveling through the terrain.

Certainly, there is a need for technical biking trails that allow mountain bike riders to experience speed and features, but I believe these types of trails could be built in other venues where the landscape and nature might not be the main attraction. This way, the bikers get their fast trails, and Lord Hill Park remains a serene space for quiet enjoyment by everyone- hikers, equestrians, and mountain bikers.

Marla Hamilton Lucas

Snohomish

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Problem at Lord Hill Park is not bikes but their speed | HeraldNet.com - The Daily Herald