What are you thinking about when you bike the Little Miami trail? What daydreams are coming into your mind as you pedal the gentle curves and ever-so-slight inclines of the trail? As you look ahead, is it not easy to see a bend in the trail as a curve of railroad tracks bearing off ever so slightly to the right or to the left as the railroad follows the contour of the river?

Now imagine a train with an engine and three coaches and let your imagination take you back in time to February 13, 1861. The train consists of a steam locomotive with coal hopper and three coaches carrying some very important passengers, one of whom will become the greatest president our nation may ever know. You are now sharing a ride with a man who will soon grow into near sainthood.

 Your daydream has encompassed a small segment of President-Elect Lincoln's 1,904-mile journey from Springfield, Illinois to his inauguration in Washington D.C. The journey began on February 11, 1861 when Abraham Lincoln departed his home in Springfield. He arrived in Cincinnati on the Wabash Line railroad on his 52^nd birthday, February 12. . .  Read More 

Did you know there are no native earthworm species in our northern hardwood forests? This is important because without earthworms, over the years leaves build up on the forest floor creating a spongy surface layer called "duff." It is in the duff that the seeds of the hardwood trees and many other native plants sprout and live. But earthworms eat all the leaves each year causing major changes in the forest ecosystem. Humans have introduced earthworms into many virgin forest areas never realizing they would turn into an unwelcome invasive. Read more at greatlakeswormwatch.org/