Frogs & toads of Lost Lake

Holy Wisdom MonasteryCare for the Earth, Friends of Wisdom Prairie 2 Comments

Submitted by Howard Fenton (he/him), Friends of Wisdom Prairie, Sunday Assembly. The photo accompanying this article shows a grey tree frog, one of six frog and toad species that use Lost Lake as a breeding site during the spring and summer. While I believe it is a grey tree frog, I am not completely certain. It could potentially be a Cope’s grey tree frog, which is a distinct species but nearly impossible to differentiate from the grey tree frog by sight alone, even upon close examination. You might be wondering, “How can you tell them apart if they look so …

Wisdom Prairie: Notes on prairies and connections

Holy Wisdom MonasteryCare for the Earth, Friends of Wisdom Prairie 2 Comments

Submitted by David Kelly (he/him), Friends of Wisdom Prairie. When I write about prairies, I’m torn. Either I’m penning an elegy – prairies in Wisconsin are a mere hint of their pre-settlement vastness – or I’m composing an ode to a place that defies awe. To enter a prairie is to enter the past, a time when prairies covered the land. If you go deep enough in today’s prairie, you get a taste of a prairies’ long-ago grandeur. I suppose this writing is some combination. To appreciate a prairie’s beauty is also to mourn its loss. The early morning air …

Monitoring Bird-Window Collisions at the Monastery

Amy AlstadUncategorized 1 Comment

Since the Fall of 2021, volunteers from Madison Audubon and Holy Wisdom have been monitoring windows at the Monastery and Retreat & Guest House for bird collisions. The volunteers detected 21 window collisions during fall 2022. This was more than the combined number of collisions documented during the fall of 2021 and spring of 2022. The greatest number of collisions occurred at glass doors at the Retreat & Guest House courtyard. Dr. Amy Alstad, the Director of Land Management noted “This is a protected area with vegetation that is attractive to song birds. As soon as it warms up, we …

Pat Hilts' loom set up for weaving Easter III banner for Holy Wisdom Monastery

Gifts woven through time

Janet NeurauterBenedictine Bridge, Prayer & Worship Leave a Comment

When Pat Hilts responded to a posting on a bulletin board in the Home Economics Building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) campus in 1976, she had no idea that she was about to enhance the lives of many people for years to come. “The posting was from a place called St. Benedict Center and they were looking for someone to do some weavings for the monastery,” says Pat. “I had been spinning wool and weaving since 1968 so I decided to answer the ad.” Pat met with Sisters Mary David Walgenbach and Joanne Kollasch and Frank Kasmarcik, a consultant …