In celebration of spring, dead leaves, and an ornery epitaph
About once a year or less, I work up the nerve to publish poems in this space. Head for cover.…
Read More
Oil lamps have long history of lighting the way
Surprisingly, a recent column about wood-burning cookstoves attracted as much attention as anything I’ve written for years. Folks who live…
Read More
The hardest tree in North America
I wrote a tribute to the black locust tree some time back. It’s time to take another look. This time…
Read More
Northern siskins ‘irrupting’ right now at my feeder
“The opportunistic nature of the species and its partial indifference to constraints of time and space make it an intriguing…
Read More
Looking out on a busy day in Bryson City
For some, graveyards are morbid places. When I was a boy, I never liked to pass by or walk through…
Read More
Are the ‘possums adapting to headlight glare
Where have all the opossums gone? People worry about cerulean warblers and frogs and honeybees and ash trees and hemlocks…
Read More
Indian words add color to our language
Tuckaseigee, Oconaluftee, Heintooga, Wayah, Cullasaja, Hiwassee, Coweeta, Stecoah, Steestachee, Skeenah, Nantahala, Aquone, Katuwah, and on and on. Our place names…
Read More
The spirituality of mountain graveyards
“I am developing a taste for walking in cemeteries.” – Jules Renard, “Journals” (December 1909) Like Jules Renard, a turn-of-the-century…
Read More
Winter mushrooms a welcome find
Most people who hunt mushrooms do so in late summer and fall when an array of choice edibles are abundant…
Read More
Memories of the lost village of Needmore
Is there another region in the United States that has had more flourishing towns and villages disappear than the one…
Read More
The appropriately named 'blue darter'
When I was a boy my favorite sport was baseball. I was a pitcher. I didn’t have any idea where…
Read More
Birds of a feather stay warm in bad weather
Because they seem so delicate and vulnerable, we go out of our way to feed birds that overwinter here in…
Read More
Byer’s book brings us a sense of place
Kathryn Stripling Byer lives in Cullowhee. Poet Laureate Emeritas of North Carolina for a number of years, she was this…
Read More
New book celebrates diversity and Biological Station
In regard to floral diversity, the Southern Appalachian region is unsurpassed by any other temperate region in the world. Whenever…
Read More
A short bout with Victor the Bear
This is a bear story. Unlike many bear stories, this one is true. Tourism started in Western North Carolina during…
Read More
For the love of local bookstores
When I was a child living in Boonville, N.C., a town of 600 people, my mother would load us into…
Read More
Beauty, form and function go hand in hand
All too often, we tend to think of flowering plants as something beautiful put on this earth to stimulate human…
Read More
Waterfalls have a near mystical attraction
We are attracted to water. Mountain paths always wind down to water ... down to springs, creeks and rivers. Water…
Read More
Rose-breasted grosbeaks on the move through the Smokies
Migrating rose-breasted grosbeaks have been appearing at feeders throughout the Smokies region in recent weeks. Those birds that migrate hundreds…
Read More
First frost ushers in winter
It’s Oct. 7 as I write this. The first hard frost hasn’t as yet arrived. But it won’t be long…
Read More
If you suffer from hay fever, blame the ragweed
Allergies are a type of immune reaction. Normally, the immune system responds to foreign microorganisms, or particles, like pollen or…
Read More
Let the fall wildflower fruit displays begin
Most wildflower enthusiasts quite naturally hone in on the showy flowering phase of a plant’s life cycle for observation, identification…
Read More
Southern mountains a peninsula of northern climes
Geographically speaking, where are the Great Smoky Mountains in regard to the other mountain ranges in the southern Appalachians. Where…
Read More
Kudzu’s unstoppable march across the South
Few people want to get close enough to observe the attractive flowers that kudzu produces. The plant probably won’t actually…
Read More
Dueling was a common way to right a wrong
Let’s suppose that you intentionally or unintentionally insult someone; after all, that’s something that does happen from time to time.…
Read More
Keith was among best early geologists to visit this region
Numerous geologists have visited the Smokies region. None was more observant than Arthur Keith. The Murphy Marble Belt is an…
Read More
The unique habitat of mountain streams
The creeks and streams of the Southern Highlands are one of the most exciting natural areas we have. Unlike most…
Read More
The ‘perfect’ hunter and fisherman — if I do say so myself
Samuel J. Hunnicutt was one of the original characters of the Smokies region before the Great Smoky Mountains National Park…
Read More
Cardinal flower among the most popular in U.S.
The late summer wildflower season has arrived. Along roadsides and woodland edges some of our more robust native plants are…
Read More
Zeke was a friend I won’t forget
Dogs have been a part of my life since I was a boy. My first dog — part one thing,…
Read More
The essential nature of winter
When late November finally arrives, my wife, Elizabeth, and I go into another mode. Her busy season in the gallery-studio…
Read More
The evocative power of the color blue
Green used to be the color that caught my eye. Now it’s blue. So much so that I wrote an…
Read More
A honey of a locust
Every few years, there will be a bumper crop of long flat strap-shaped honey locust pods, many up to two…
Read More
Cherokee and their bird stories
The second soul, that of physiological life, is located in the liver, and is of primary importance in doctoring and…
Read More
Looking for carnivorous plants in WNC
Some plants like Jack-in-the-pulpit and Dutchman’s-pipe have evolved methods of entrapping insects in their flowers so as to assure pollination.…
Read More
Random thoughts and voices
Here I sit by my window watching the creek go by with nothing in particular to write about except the…
Read More
Lesser known plants after more tangible awards
For me, those plants found here in the Smokies region that have verified practical human uses are, in the long…
Read More
Combating things that sting and itch
This is about critters and plants that sting and itch. There are lots of things out there in the woods…
Read More
The feisty, showy and talented grosbeak
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about scarlet tanagers, a showy rather common species I assumed most were familiar…
Read More
Almost everything you wanted to know about sassafras
Season in and season out, one of the more interesting common plants in our woodlands is sassafras, which may be…
Read More
Its a scarlet tanager kind of year
“The scarlet tanager flies through the green foliage as if it would ignite the leaves. You can hardly believe that…
Read More
The allure of Panthertown Valley is timeless
The announcement in November 1989 that the remote 6,300-acre Panthertown Valley tract in Jackson County had passed into the public…
Read More
The beetles beneath the ground
“Ere the bat hath flown His cloister’d flight … to black Hecate’s summons The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums…
Read More
Intricate flora sometimes defy description
Through the years I have attempted to describe the flora of the Smokies region for newspaper, magazine and book readers.…
Read More
Twice sold lands now part of Bryson City
This is the peculiar story of the land transactions, disputes, and incidents that led to the establishment of Bryson City…
Read More
Black locust a favorite for its strength
All of the spring flowering plants are early this year by as much as two to three weeks. Black locust…
Read More
Cherokee masks come in many guises
A mask is a mechanism employed to cover the face as a protective screen or disguise. For protection, they have…
Read More
WNC border may have been drawn “under the influence”
Editor’s note: This column first appeared in The Smoky Mountain News in April 2002. Have you ever looked at a…
Read More
When the kingfishers return
Belted kingfishers are one of my favorite birds, so much so that I wrote a poem years ago about anticipating…
Read More
Nomenclature has meaning when it comes to plants
What’s in a name? Well, sometimes a lot, especially when you’re considering the names we assign plants. The striking little…
Read More
