Heartland Safari

KK and Dave exploring leaves and flowers of amur honeysuckle at dawn

Not My Mother’s Honeysuckle

Updated September 13, 2022

When I was growing up, my mother maintained a little garden in a sheltered spot on the north side of the house. She said the former resident used to dump their ashes there, which made it very fertile now. At any rate, she planted some flowers there, including two varieties I thought were magical. One […]

Plants

Songbird with dark grey, almost black body and folded wings, prominent red-orange breast, yellow beak and black eye thinly outlined with white, stands in a patch of green grass dotted with yellow and pale purple flowers.

Cheerily Cheerily Get Up Get Up

Updated August 2, 2022

American Robins Photo credit: Richard Wilson I am trying to sleep in. It’s the third day of my retirement, and I don’t want to get out of bed. But the robin outside my window has other ideas. He sings his cheery song loud and clear. Some people think of it as “cheerily, cheerily cheer up […]

Birds

Image of a tree stump that is carved into an owl with a dark red wooden shed in the background.

Owl Acres

Updated August 2, 2022

Owl Acres is a small patch of rural Iowa with woods, a yard, an open meadow, and a house where I live with my partner Bryan and my dog Dave. At evening and into the night, a pair of barred owls often calls through the trees, wooing and courting, discussing domestic issues, or arguing about […]

About

Hello!

Updated March 26, 2025

Hi. Welcome to Heartland Safari. My name is Karen Keninger. I’m writing this blog for fun and to fulfill a promise to myself (See About Owl Acres). Here are a few bits about me:

About