Cedar Bog

I'm not sure how Cedar Bog managed to elude me all the years I've been hiking around Ohio, but it had until today. It's located just outside Urbana and it's largest calcareous bog (actually a fen) in Ohio. I learned from Sally, an enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide, that a bog is a geographic formation characterized by standing water while a fen is flushed at least periodically by fresh water and therefore the soil in a fen is richer in nutrients and less acidic than that found in bogs. Cedar Bog was formed when a retreating glacier left a shallow depression in the earth at the end of the last ice age. It is home to several species of plants and animals seldom found elsewhere in Ohio, including the Massasauga Rattlesnake and the endangered Spotted Turtle.

The preserve is protected by the Ohio Historical Society and there is a nearly mile long boardwalk winding through the fen. The plant life is spectacular and there were loads of wildflowers in bloom today, including Jack-in-the-Pulpit, White Trillium, Bent Trillium, Bishop's Cap, Wild Columbine, Golden Ragwort and Starry False Solomon's Seal. I'm already planning another trip in about four weeks when the Showy Lady's Slipper, one of our native orchids, will be in bloom.

The Evil Virus, how to construct a lodge and making homemade cheese

Since late Sunday night I've been battling an odd virus. My head feels like it's packed with cotton wool, I'm tired, listless, weak and my muscles ache. On the plus side, this particular virus doesn't come with sneezing, sore throat or coughing, but it leaves me with no symptoms that might elicit sympathy either. It has been a most trying week at work to boot and I've spent my evenings on the couch under a comforter, remote in hand.

I was flipping through the channels tonight when I came across a naturalist talking about how beaver lodges are constructed. I had always assumed that during construction the beavers left a hollow space within the pile of branches and mud that comprises the building material of the lodge. As it turns out they first build the dense mound of material, then working from below, use their claws and teeth to dig and chew the underwater entrance and the burrow.


I also came across instructions on how to make mozzarella cheese at home, which I may try once I'm healthy again. It looks like a good choice for a home cheese making experiment since it doesn't have to be aged. Although perhaps starting with something simpler might not be a bad plan - home made cottage cheese is supposed to be very good.