Love Wisconsin? You'll love Wisconsin Life.
It's your place for engaging stories of the people that make Wisconsin feel like home.
The list of what makes a place special is endless. Writer Jill Sisson Quinn tells us about what is for her, Earth’s most perfect place.
Jill Sisson Quinn is a nature writer and teacher in Central Wisconsin.
Photo: Pavel Trebukov
We celebrate Earth Day this week. Many animals have evolved the ability to feign death. Writer Jill Sisson Quinn witnessed this unusual act of survival in a groundhog.
Jill Sisson Quinn is a writer in Central Wisconsin.
Photo: Jonathan Crow
Many of us spend our summer in the garden, tending flowers, vegetables, and other plants. For writer Jill Sisson Quinn, the orderliness of gardening challenges her internal urge to simply wander, discover, and gather.
Jill Sisson Quinn is a nature writer in Central Wisconsin.
Photo by Robert Goodwin
Ephemeral ponds are here today, gone tomorrow, especially in the spring. Writer Jill Sisson Quinn shares why she loves these ponds and the wonders she’s found within them.
Jill Sisson Quinn is a nature writer in Central Wisconsin.
Photo: Carmen Wagner/WDNR
Poet John Keats once wrote that “the poetry of the earth is never dead.” In honor of this week’s celebration of Earth Day, writer Jill Sisson Quinn tells us why she can’t stay away from the woods.
Jill Sisson Quinn is a nature writer in Central Wisconsin.
Photo elviskennedy
Many people think of skunks as smelly animals best avoided. But that tell-tale scent makes writer Jill Sisson Quinn think of love.
Jill Sisson Quinn is a nature writer in Central Wisconsin.
Photo by NDomer73
Unexpected gifts often come in the midst of our daily chores. Writer Jill Sisson Quinn tells us what she — and her dog — found on their daily walks.
Jill Sisson Quinn is a nature writer in Central Wisconsin.
The Midwest is sometimes called the Third Coast or the Fresh Coast because of our Great Lakes. Writer Jill Sisson Quinn reflects on her own confusion over the bodies of water that surround us.
Jill Sisson Quinn is a nature writer and teacher in Central Wisconsin.
Photo by Brook Ward.
Coyotes:
Coyotes can be found – or at least heard – in every county in Wisconsin. Writer Jill Sisson Quinn sometimes hears them howl as she walks her dog. It got her thinking about her place and that of her dog in the natural order of the world.
Jill Sisson Quinn is a nature writer and teacher in Central Wisconsin.
Photo by jibber11.
Earth Day - Plants:
Sunday is Earth Day, a day for appreciating and thinking about our natural environment. Writer Jill Sisson Quinn brought a little nature into her classroom with a few potted plants. What happened to those plants got her thinking about how we treat the planet.
Jill Sisson Quinn is a nature writer and teacher in Central Wisconsin.
Photo by green.thumbs.
Metaphors:
The New Year reminds us that the Earth is also beginning something new — a new journey around the sun. Writer Jill Sisson Quinn reflects on our experience of the Earth’s rotation and the words we choose to describe that passage.
Commentator Jill Sisson Quinn is a nature writer and teacher in Central Wisconsin.
Dog Walk in the Dark:
Darkness descends earlier and earlier in Wisconsin as fall slowly gives way to winter. And with that loss of light, night seems to take on a character of its own. Writer Jill Sisson Quinn tells us how the dark transforms sound.
Commentator Jill Sisson Quinn is a nature writer and teacher in Central Wisconsin.
Lake Superior Rock Picking:
Meandering along Wisconsin’s beaches in the last lazy days of summer, you can find all sorts of rocks and pebbles that have washed ashore. Writer Jill Sisson Quinn went looking for rocks at Lake Superior and found something more along its shores.
Commentator Jill Sisson Quinn is a nature writer and teacher who lives in Central Wisconsin.