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Prairie Folklore
Wayne Pauly

Columbine and Ruby Throats

Twenty-five years ago I first heard the peculiar buzzing that led my eye to the repeated half-loop mating flight of the ruby throated humming bird. With my outdoor job, I thought I'd see and hear it each spring, but it wasn't until this past summer, when my wife and I were admiring a patch of columbine on the bluffs of Nelson Dewey State Park, that I did. Jackie mentioned a low buzzing that is outside my current range of hearing, but I caught a glimpse of the last half-loop the hummer flew. Much later he hovered over my wife's red shorts, checked out the red cover of her novel, the Coke can, quickly gave up and disappeared.

Humming birds zip through our city yard each summer, checking out the coral bells, weigelia, wax begonia, impatiens, and my favorite, the columbine. The name columbine derives from columbo, a dove, and with a little imagination you can look at the flower and see five (red) doves sitting in a tight circle. Occasionally someone remembers that his grandmother's name for the plant was "doves in a circle", although more often this older generation called them honeysuckle. They picked the flowers and bit off the sweet nectaries (the dove's head).

Plant some columbine and give the ruby throat a reason to visit, and then take a bite from the flower and reminisce a little.

Stop and See Our Campground Hosts

Campground Hosts provide service to campers at all our campgrounds, and are friendly, helpful people. This year the Campground Hosts are: Babcock: Paul & Grace Bernhard, Joe & Carol Abernathy; Don & Ellie Ushman. Brigham: Sherman & Joanne Dammen, Bob & Natalie Aikins, Frank & Faith Rice. Mendota: Frank & Faith Rice, Reuben & Johnnie Bertschy, Dick & Doris Davies, Token Creek: Alan & Phyllis, Lou & Sherri Molnar.

We have returning hosts, new hosts, and hosts who have been away for a few years who have come back. They add a lot to the flavor of the campground, and are all-around great volunteers.

A WORD FROM THE PARKS DIRECTOR
Ken LePine

Dane County Parks lost a great friend and a leader of the Friends of Halfway Prairie School, when Charles "Charlie" Cairnes died of cancer in May. With his death goes some local history. Charlie was a very committed volunteer and certainly had adopted his old school house as a project for his retirement years. He had always had an interest in the school, but his interest peaked as he had more time on his hands. Charlie would keep me on my toes and make sure that I didn't forget that the school he once attended is an important part of Dane County's history. He spent twelve years in that school, as close as I can remember him telling me. Charlie wanted more picnic tables, the grass mowed more often, the pump handle fixed, the well chlorinated or other improvements to the grounds, and he wasn't shy about asking. When I got a call from Charlie, I knew I was in for a long conversation and at the end I would have some type of project. Charlie wasn't shy about how he felt about our work performance at the school. His heart was with the young people who came to visit the school. He'd smile and laugh like a big Santa Claus in bib overalls when he talked about the kids. Charlie will be missed by many who knew him; those who never knew him have missed a real experience. On Sunday afternoons from 1 P.M. to 4 P.M., his smiling face greeted many visitors to this historic site. I'll miss those phone conversations with Charlie, even if he did give us more work to do.

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