Found: a large structure looming against the otherwise natural skyline at Blue Ridge Parkway milepost 145. If anyone can correctly identify this unidentified edifice, it’s yours. It seems to have wondered into its current location since the last time…
 It is easier to believe we are well into autumn looking out at first light at the leaf-strewn world. The five maples that are our summer conditioners of air now begin the courtesy of letting weaker, lower-in-the-sky light and…
This is the beautiful secluded Blue Ridge preserve where the fog (just coming in when this picture was taken), wind and rain thwarted my wildflower photography plans, for the most part. But as you can imagine, even the walk into…
To never stop and ask directions–even when you are lost: it is everyman’s dream. For Gary Boyd, the dream has come true in the form of a laptop, Delorme maps software and GPS. And yesterday, the ultimate test: finding Fred.…
Even with the late spring frosts, and even possibly because of the dry summer we’ve had overall, some are saying it will be a good fall forest color season. And it is happening fast! Our maple, seen here 11 months…
I’ve stood only once on The Pinnacles of the Dan River (topo). And it was perhaps the only place I’ve been where you could underhand toss a stone and have it fall a thousand feet before it landed—in this case,…
Soon, the leaf peepers will come. But perhaps, even more so that in past years, the IF, WHEN and WHERE of fall foliage remains to be revealed for the Fall of 2007. What with the late frost that killed or…
It’s cooler this morning, and I’m thinking fall. And this image of the lone tree from Rocky Knob suits my thinking purposes. From here, I watched the migration of hawks, and met others there also attending to dragonfly mass-movements–the first…
How does one say (other than by dividing the 120 days from the official start to the official end of the season) when we have reached and passed the mid-point of summer? (That numerical midpoint would fall on about August…
I have often tagged July as my least favorite month. The heat. The humidity. The general torpor and boringnesss of our traditionally hottest month I can live without. And at least so far, I’ve really not had much to complain…
It looks a bit like a gigantic dandelion, with the “poofball” as my kids called it up to three inches across. Also called Western Goat’s Beard, Wild Oysterplant, Yellow Salsify, Yellow Goat’s Beard, Meadow Goat’s Beard, Goat’s Beard, Goatsbeard, Common…
This tall wraithe of a forest wildflower is Black Cohosh. Like so many other wildflowers that are many times taller than wide, it’s a hard one to show off in the best light. Unless, of course, you seek and find…
Rude awakening. I sat down at the computer at the usual 4:00 ready to blog my little heart out–so much to show and tell, and just as I was stretching my fingers like a concert pianist before a big recital,…
She scolds me when I don’t stay in lock step on our ramble around the walking loop. But how could I leave such glorious light to bloom unseen? I had to stay behind. This was one of those times when…