On any week night we may often be found joining several friends for pre-dinner drinks and conversation in the Pub at Meadowlark Hills. To us, the most satisfying feature of this evening routine is...
Outdoor Encounters: Pebble & Pond
April 22, 2025
Blog
Welcome, new “residents”
There are some new residents at Meadowlark Hills! For the fourth year in a row an anthropology class from Kansas State University will be living at Meadowlark Hills and integrating into our community. There are 11 students in total, and four of them are currently living on our campus.
Outdoor Encounters
Submitted by Nathan Bolls
An old Irish proverb says “The most beautiful music of all is the music of what happens.” Those words remind me of wild non-hibernating homeothermic animals—birds and mammals—that maintain a more-or-less constant body temperature. Failing to do so, they will not survive. They also must adapt and become acclimatized to cold weather. Their bodies must play the game.
Now, even in the-dead-of-winter, the great blue heron frequently is seen standing and stalking its prey for long periods of time in shallow water along the edges of lakes, streams and ponds, even Bayer pond.
The bird withstands this cold-water wading with what we call “regional heterothermy” and by using a vascular “counter-current mechanism.” In the field of study of how animals adapt to adverse conditions, the standard mantra is: an adaptation need not be elegant, only adequate.
Third Annual Culture Story Contest
Happy New Year! Meadowlark Hills kicked off 2016 with the annual Culture Story Contest beginning on Jan. 4. The purpose of this contest is to gather resident, family, staff and stakeholder’s stories that speak to the uniqueness of Meadowlark Hills and how person-directed care has changed their thoughts on what it means to age.
Submitted by Michelle Haub
Happy New Year! For some this greeting is cliché, others heartfelt and yet, for those living with memory challenges, Parkinson's disease or another degenerative disease this greeting could be ominous. The future for all of us is unknown, however when a disease enters our lives we need to look for supports to help us optimize our quality of life and enhance our 'new year'. Meadowlark Hills is committed to residents and the Manhattan community to increase their level of support to families living with memory changes and Parkinson's disease.
Submitted by Nathan Bolls
The beasties, those that survived the noise and flash of the 4th of July, now are bracing for another blast of chaos during the current Holiday Season.
During these days, and during one particular day and night, crossing a busy street is even more dicey because of having to deal with an increased number of drivers whose eyes and compassions are dimmed by alcohol. A time even more dangerous that the five-times-each-week rat race to beat the time clock at work or the afternoon race of escape toward home, bar, gym, or to somewhere unadvertised.
Goodbye, 2015!
Submitted by Sarah Duggan
Today is the last day of 2015 and tomorrow the New Year begins. You might be considering a resolution or two for the New Year (lose weight, save money, quit smoking). Or, like me, you may instead be focusing on what great things happened in the past twelve months and what you are looking forward to in the year 2016.
Class & Meeting Schedule
All classes and meeting are held at Meadowlark Hills (2121 Meadowlark Rd). Anyone affected by memory &/or cognitive changes in the Flint Hills Regionis invited to attend!
Classes & Meetings are free and open to ALL!
Residents, passport members and group leaders were in for a big surprise at this years Christmas Carousel—Christmas in the Movies! As attendees reached the end of their “movie watching,” they had the opportunity to vote for their overall favorite room at the event.
The theme for 2015 Christmas Carousel was classic Christmas movies that included: Miracle of 34th Street, Christmas Story, Polar Express, White Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Submitted by Nathan Bolls
The omnivorous hunting raccoon ambled along the trail leading to the East Gazebo in our Natural Area and then out onto the Bayer Pond Dam. Its first serious stop was near the deer feeder; it has no aversion to good corn kernels. Later it moved to the shrubs and trees west and north of the dam, looking, no doubt, for fruits and berries.