Tim Duffy of Newaygo, Michigan, has been honored as the first recipient of the Wood Frog Award by the Michigan Vernal Pool Patrol for his outstanding contributions to vernal pool conservation. The award ceremony took place on August 23, 2025, at the Kropscott Farm and Environmental Center during the MI Vernal Pool Patrol – Newaygo Region’s Fall Training and Pool Party. Attendees enjoyed informative sessions on identifying fall vernal pools, shared stories, and explored the Kropscott woods to observe a dried vernal pool.

Every year during the holiday season, we’re surrounded by messaging about what gifts we should buy, what decorations we should put up around the house, what festive traditions we should continue or start, what we should wear for all those holiday parties, and a million other ways to make this grey-skied time of year seem more fun, more glamorous, or more fulfilling than the years before. Sometimes it seems that the shopping lists can trail on and on and the stress of getting everything together in time can put us in a sour mood.

During this time of year, many of us want to make space for connection with loved ones and reflection on the year behind us. Why then are we spending time and money in ways that fall short of helping create the connection and spaciousness that we really want?

The late-August chill prompted me to start thinking about fall clean-up in the garden. For many of us, tending our vegetable and flower beds, wild corners, and lawns will still be part of our rhythms in the months ahead as we prepare for winter’s rest.

Autumn is the perfect time for planting new perennials, dividing crowded clumps, and scattering seeds that need the cold season to wake them in spring. Yet as the chore list grows, so does another question: how do we balance our own labors with care for our other-than-human neighbors who share these gardens as food pantries, nurseries, and shelters?