by don | Sep 27, 2012
I had the pleasure of leading 9 women from the Great Smoky Mountains Audubon Chapter on an outing along the Blue Ridge Parkway last Saturday (Sept. 22.) Initially hyped as a birding trip, the early fog and high wind had us focusing on many other aspects of nature. Now...
by don | Sep 20, 2012
Last Saturday, Sept. 15, was surely a gorgeous day to be ridge running high in the Plott Balsams – clear blue skies dotted with white puff-clouds; temperatures in the low to mid 60s; a great day for a hike. Not even the weight of chainsaws, brush cutters, loppers...
by don | Sep 14, 2012
Everyone who woke up to 48 degrees Fahrenheit this morning knows that the days of “butts-in-the-creek” are quickly fading for this year. Planning for the inevitable and being parents of kids who are, if not part fish at least amphibian, we had plans for a last wet...
by don | Aug 30, 2012
Somewhere in the deep reaches of Sugar and/or Grandfather Mountains, seeps, rivulets and trickles begin to mingle and grow and slide over the hard rocks coalescing into the headwaters of the Linville River. The river slips over the rocks and begins a 2,000-foot...
by don | Aug 23, 2012
I was outside with Maddie (6) the other afternoon and there was a gentle breeze. “Daddy, doesn’t it smell like autumn?” she asked. And it did. In fact, I had just had the same sensation only didn’t mention it because what would a six-year-old know? Obviously much more...
by don | Aug 16, 2012
As we started over the bridge on the Isle of Palms Connector, I noticed a line of large black and white birds through the pine trees. “Gourd heads,” I must have said out loud, because my wife said, “what?” “Wood storks,” I said pointing to the undulating line of five...
