What’s new at Firepoint Cafe
Welcome to Firepoint Cafe, where the proprietor, Therese Oldenburg, shares her writings, interests, thoughts and adventures with visitors. So, pull up a chair, grab your favorite beverage and enjoy some of what is being dished up!
Excuse me, I’m going to go saunter now
I've learned a new way to experience the outdoors and I had to come all the way to the Redwoods National Forest to learn how. From now on, I'm going to saunter through the woods, not "hike". Why? I was inspired by a writing I stumbled upon before my trip out West,...
Women Of the Confluence: Chloe Blodgett program for Women’s History Month
I love to do historical research and in 2023 I became absorbed in learning more about my hometown's founding settlers. I did the research as a part of a program I was offering at Nature At the Confluence, an environmental center located at the confluence of Turtle...
What is Firepoint Cafe?
Welcome to Firepoint Cafe, where I am virtually serving up my experiences, thoughts and photos to the world. I hope you will enjoy Firepoint Cafe enough that you'll pull up a chair, grab your favorite beverage and consume some of what is being dished up! Why...
The Amazing Cottonwood Tree
Nature At The Confluence Legacy Trees are Eastern Cottonwoods Nature At The Confluence is an environmental learning center in South Beloit, IL, right on the border of Beloit, Wisconsin. I was the founding executive director at this beautiful space which was built on a...
Want To Get Tuned Into Nature? Keep a Phenology Calendar
The new year gives us a chance to start with a fresh calendar and toss out the old one. But, what if the information you collected in that calendar was vital to your survival? People have always observed and noted the timing of natural events. Early people knew when...
Creek Walking – A whole new way to explore small waterways
I experienced Turtle Creek a whole new way the other day. It was an unusually hot September day, around 90 degrees, the water had warmed up and my son asked me to accompany him while he walked the creek and fished. When you’re college-aged son wants to hang out with...
Wild Foraging | Finding Food in the Woods and Fields
Wild Foraging: the act of responsibly harvesting edible, wild growing plants and fungi for food, medicine and beverages. I'm just learning about foraging, so I thought I'd start in my own backyard. On a beautiful May morning I foraged in my yard for Fiddlehead Ferns...
Getting dirty in the garden can actually make you happier and healthier
I've always said that I'm happiest when playing in the dirt! And now that the soil is warming up, I'm so happy I can get out and do just that! Did you know that getting your hands dirty in the garden can actually make you happier and healthier? New studies show that...
Find joy in hitting the “repeat button” in nature
What I find most rewarding is walking the trails at Nature At The Confluence several times a week and finding new things to see and hear, and finding new ways to experience nature. It's never the same walk, as new things are exposed, or even obscured as the season...
The Mystery of Fur Trader Joseph Thibault
By Therese Oldenburg Notes: There are many variations of Joseph Thibault's name including Tebo, for the sake of consistency, we'll use Thibault in this story. All references about this time refer to "Winnebago" as the name of the Native American tribe living here....
Beloit – Expect the Unexpected
When I was executive director at Nature At The Confluence, I was very proud and excited to have both Nature At The Confluence and Turtle Creek paddling featured on Discover Wisconsin's "Beloit – Expect the Unexpected" episode (2019). I spent a whole day with host...
Ke-Chunk Remembrance
At the confluence of Turtle Creek and the Rock River, from about 1822-1832, there was a very large Ho-Chunk settlement called Ke-Chunk (Kečąk) or Turtle Village. The land they lived on is now an environmental learning, Nature At The Confluence. When I was executive...
Am I really that interesting?
In 2021 when I was still executive director at Nature At The Confluence, I was honored with being named one of Northwest Quarterly's 25 Most Interesting People of2021. While I don't think I'm all that interesting, I think what has happened at Nature At The Confluence...
The “American Letter” Home – How Irish Immigrant Women Supported Their Families Back Home in Ireland
In 1854 a group of 15 Irish families settled on the land at Nature At The Confluence. The recent Irish immigrants had come to build the new railroad, while their young wives strived to build a new home here. They called their small settlement "Illinoy", and it was to...
Environmental Leadership Award
When I was executive director at Nature At The Confluence I was very honored to receive the "Elly" Environmental Leadership Award from the Greater Beloit Chamber of Commerce at their annual dinner on February 27, 2018. This award brought wonderful recognition of the...