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Outdoors with Coggin Heeringa

Every Wednesday on Classical IPR, Coggin Heeringa takes us into the great outdoors. She is the program director and naturalist at Crossroads at Big Creek Learning Center/Nature Preserve in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. And she's taught environmental studies at the Interlochen Arts Camp since 1971.

Latest Episodes
  • Now and then, one or two crows will appear and start circling and cawing raucously. And out of nowhere, other crows will start flying in from all directions — not unlike a flash mob.
  • Winter winds can be harsh, causing trees to sway, stretching the roots and sometimes pulling a tree right out of the ground. But, the trees of the Great Lakes region have adapted to such winds.
  • On a clear night this time of year, if we are far from cities or other light pollution, it's a thrill to see the wonders of the night skies. But what were the Three Kings following?
  • Thanks to a phenomenon called “seasonal lag”, in the Great Lakes region, the month of February is usually colder than the month of November despite February having significantly later sunsets.
  • Whatever our beliefs this dark time of year, we need candles at the window, we need a little music, we need a little laughter, and most of all, we need a little hope.
  • Because “snow had fallen, snow on snow on snow, in the bleak midwinter long, long ago,” we received five of the most precious gifts imaginable: the Great Lakes.
  • The melody line of Tchaikovsky's chorus in the "Enchanted Snow Forest" starts out descending, but then goes right back up again and swirls around a bit — just like real snowflakes that twirl and whirl in the air.
  • Rose symbolism in the early advent music goes back to at least to Medieval times, and some think long before. And of all of the blossoms, roses were special because they were thought to have the sweetest perfume.
  • Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, farm families frequently would bundle up and hitch the horse to a sleigh to go out calling, visiting relatives and neighbors who provided camaraderie and had holiday goodies waiting. But they weren't the only ones having fun in the snow...
  • American composer Edward MacDowell's "To an Old White Pine" is stronger and darker than most of his pieces for solo piano, but an old white pine would have to be strong to survive the legendary winds of November and the dark of winter year after year.