Its Fall, my favorite season. Mostly because all of my favorite colors are displayed on the deciduous tress. The radiant reds, bright neon oranges, and the shining yellow... throw in some pink and its basically sunsets in the trees. Its beautiful, often times mesmerizing. This season has really inspired me for some new ideas for Cool Things in Nature (stay tuned). We have a lot of fun projects in the works here at CTiN, and we are striving to grow, improve, and continue to share with you the cool things in nature all around us. Coolia is continuing to bring you Ecosodes from our visit to Acadia National Park in Maine. So far we have learned about the nesting Peregrine Falcons and the struggle they have had making their return to the park. We also had a great guest host, Kevin, tell us about what the fauna goes through living on the top of Cadillac Mountain. If you haven't seen these definitely check them out and let us know what you think, and stay tuned for even more from this East Coast Park. JessiCool has been living in Maine and out searching for her favorite animal in the wild, the Moose! Well she finally got some on video, and is working to create an Ecosode to introduce you to these majestic creatures. She has also entered some Cool Things in Nature photos and videos into some contests just to get CTiN out there some more. Both Coolia and JessiCool are gearing up to present at the Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education conference at the end of this month. They are presenting on bridging the gap between nature inquiry and technology. This is a great experience for CTiN, because it gets us great connections, feed back, input, and also helps other environmental organization incorporate technology into their education to help inspire people to learn about nature and then get out and explore it. JessiCool's cousin Cool Chris, is currently editing a CTiN special all about Yosemite National Park. It is looking great, and has some amazing footage and information. Definitely keep your eyes open for that. So there you have it, a complete update on what CTiN is up to currently, now we want to hear from you... any nature topics you'd like to know more about, or topics you'd like to see posted about? We will be doing out best to blog regularly as well as delivering the fact of the day on our facebook fanpage. Our video views have doubled in the last 2 months, we would like to take the time to thank everyone that takes the time to watch/comment/like/share all of our hard work. CTiN is growing and its because of you. Thank you for your support. Now its time to get outside and explore the cool things that nature has to offer, and let us know what cool things you find! I am going to leave you with this poem about Fall.. -JessiCool In the other gardens And all up the vale, From the autumn bonfires See the smoke trail! Pleasant summer over And all the summer flowers, The red fire blazes, The gray smoke towers. Sing a song of seasons! Something bright in all! Flowers in the summer, Fires in the fall! -Robert Louis Stevenson

Update

Hello! I know it has been a little while since our last CTiN blog, but don't worry JessiCool and Coolia are back, and we have some great things to tell you about!

First off I'd like to thank all the people who have been viewing our Ecosodes, and giving us feedback! We hope you are enjoying the videos, and hope you are excited for what is to come with CTiN in the next couple of months. Well here is a little update on what we are up to and what we are working on:

Both JessiCool and Coolia are working with brand new cameras! One video camera was generously donated to us by the Conserve School in Land O' Lakes, WI! So we will be bringing you some great quality videos that are not interupted by the wind. We are both excited and love using the new equipment. JessiCool's camera was partially funded by some generous donations from some amazing family memebers who are big fans of CTiN.

Coolia is continuing her grad school fellowship at The Conserve School, and is busy working on a presentation about SCAT! Even though she is busy with school, she is never too busy for some Cool Thins in Nature. She is currently working on a series (you may have seen some of the Ecosodes already) on tree identification in the winter. She has recently posted some great Ecosodes to kick off her winter series, so definitely go check those out and stay tuned for even more!

JessiCool recently started a new job as a traveling naturalist in Maine and is really excited to film some Ecosodes there (we don't have any from Maine yet, yay a new state)! She works with some amazing animals and is planning on starting her own series and teach all the CTiN viewers about these cool little critters she works with. Also be looking for two Cool Things in Nature specials on Sequoia and Yosemite National Park that are currently in the final stages of the editing process.

Our special guest host, Jared, is heading to New Zealand and is going to help us make CTiN international by bringing back some spectacular Ecosodes for us from his 6 week backpacking trip so keep checking back for updates on where he is and what he's doing!

That's what CTiN is up to right now, and we definitly would love to hear any feedback or ideas on what you'd like to see from us. We have a draft of a new logo that is being tweaked as I type, so we would love to hear what you think about it. We have some awesome CTiN stickers available if you'd like some (take some to pass out to your friends). We will have a new batch of stickers as soon as the new logo is finalized, so we are looking forward to continuing to stick those up all over the country. Coolia also just finished the Bio page on the website so if you would like to know more about JessiCool and Coolia be sure to take a look at that page at www.coolthingsinnature.com. You can stay up to date with the recent Ecosodes on the website, as well as on our channel on youtube.com, and our fanpage on facebook. You can also get updates by following us on twitter @coolthingnature, so there is always a way to contact us here at Cool Things in Nature. Just drop by to say hi when you get a chance, but don't stay too long because you should be out exploring COOL THINGS IN NATURE!

We look forward to hearing from you and sharing our new adventures!

Until next time,
-JessiCool

The Start of Something Big

Cool Things in Nature began just over a year ago and it's hard to believe that time can dissipate so quickly.  With its origins in Texas, CTiN was originally going to be a half hour variety show with a regular cast of characters.  JessiCool and Coolia were the two hosts, while Patrick's Bear Grylls impression would frequent the show; Angie was to be the uncool villain; Page and Kari were working on a geological rock song; there was pooping with Patrick G; Kaleb's Krazy Animals; and probably many other ideas that never made it to film.  Cool Things in Nature was the brainchild of seasonal environmental educators and thus much of its segments disappeared in the common fashion of seasonals...they moved away.  However, the two creators, JessiCool and Coolia remained close, although sometimes on opposite sides of the country.  The two have a dream and will not allow distance or lack of time to derail the vision.  Cool Things in Nature will be the coolest nature show ever created!

Although the idea of the blog may evolve over time, currently it will feature one cool nature topic an entry and explain a little about it.  The author may also insert some thoughts acquired in recent trips in nature.  For example, this entry comes from Coolia, who was out for a morning run in nature, by the river of her childhood, when the idea for this blog occurred.  Deep in thought over the changes in her life and the evolution of the trail where her feet touched pavement, Coolia realized that life is perhaps the coolest thing in nature.  The ball field of her childhood, now overgrown with weeds used to house cheers of ten year-olds with big dreams.  The abandoned factories that echo the weekend plans of old men with rough hands; the decaying bridges that once carried trains of people settling in new lands are all cool things in nature.  The past...the present...the future all reside in a cool world of time.  We love.  We lose.  We live.  We die.  Just as a plant tosses seed into the wind, letting the imbalance of high and low pressure chose the fate of its continuing existence, we dance the waltz of infamy in every choice we make.  We must consider that every decision of a human impacts nature forever.  We must consider time and make concessions therein for the good of others and our environment.

Today the CTiN blog will briefly touch on an animal Coolia saw on her morning run, the Northern Cardinal.  It is a beautiful bird, with the male very recognizable by its vibrant red color.  The female is more of a tawny brown color, but displays some red accents..  The bird does not migrate in colder weather and keeps its red color all year.  For more information on this bird, visit  http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/northern_cardinal/id where our information was acquired.

Don't forget to check out www.coolthingsinnature.com for a series of really cool videos!  Thank you for reading the first entry of the Cool Things in Nature blog.  We'll see you next time.