Iconic drugstore to interesting bookstore
We’re been considering books and related matters like shelving, bookplates, home libraries, favorite books, and (last week’s topic) — “How…
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The art of choosing the next book
Of late, we’ve been considering books. The feedback (mostly email) from readers to recent columns regarding books in general, book…
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Imagining a one-book library
The feedback (mostly email) from readers to recent columns regarding books in general, book shelving strategies, and bookplates has been…
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Book lovers and our new bookplates
Several weeks ago, I devoted a column to the complicated science of book shelving. Not a few readers responded —…
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‘Robinson Kephart,’ editor of adventure books
My weekly deadline is looming. I’m not sure how this is going to turn out. But I’ve been thinking about…
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The calm of a winter’s night
It’s Saturday night as I write this .... going on toward midnight. I read the thermometer mounted outside the kitchen…
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Topography and language
I enjoy using variants on the phrase “lay of the land.” One can “get the lay of the land” in…
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A taste of Appalachian poetry
This past weekend was given over to reorganizing the books in my home library. In the process, I relocated a…
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Simple signs of the evergreen
You can almost smell the word “evergreen.” The word is at once one of the most aptly descriptive and highly…
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Davis was a poetic nature writer
The professional career of biologist Millard C. (“Bill”) Davis — who was born in 1930 in Utica, N.Y., and now…
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Masters of the night sky
The New Year has arrived and the great horned owls have commenced their annual “singing” along the dark ridges. These…
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Aspects of life from a rural cove
This marks my tenth year of writing a weekly Back Then column for The Smoky Mountain News. In all that…
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The colors of winter
For my wife, Elizabeth, and me, winter doesn’t arrive until the first of each year. From now until spring is…
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Mistletoe and sycamore ring in winter
Each season has characteristic features that signal its arrival. Winter is no exception. Two of my winter favorites: mistletoe and…
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Early mapping of the Nantahala
The economic destiny of a given region is ultimately determined by its geology, flora and climate. That’s certainly been the…
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The Naturalist's Corner
Junaluska waterfowl are plentiful, varied A quick turn around Lake Junaluska last Sunday revealed 13 species of waterfowl and/or wetland…
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A skunk by any other name
Five skunk species are residents in the United States: hooded, hog-nosed, western spotted, eastern spotted, and striped. Only the last…
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Memories from ‘up at the barn’
You’ve noticed how old barns are recognized as special places? When a person says, “I’m going down to the barn,”…
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Rutabagas and history of Hemphill Bald
Let us consider the relationship between grassy balds, Tom Alexander and the self-proclaimed “Potato and Rutabaga King of Haywood County.”…
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Creeks form character across WNC
Flowing water is as central to life here in Western North Carolina as the mountains themselves. You can’t have ancient…
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Satulah has long been a WNC favorite
One can still see why flatlanders started pouring into the Cashiers-Highlands region after the Civil War. The scenic ridge, valley…
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The grand finale
We tend to hone in on the showy flowering phase of a plant’s life for observation, identification, and enjoyment. But…
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Withstanding winter’s cold
Editor’s note: George Ellison is on sabbatical this week and will return next week. This is a previously published column.…
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A great observer of the Smokies
Arthur Stupka (1905-1999) was the first naturalist in the National Park Service in the eastern United States. That was at…
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Kephart’s fast friendship with the Barnetts
I have nothing to add to Gary Carden’s perceptive review of Horace Kephart’s posthumous novel Smoky Mountain Magic (Great Smoky…
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Costa’s eye for unique insect details
Western Carolina University biologist Jim Costa traces his interest in insect societies to studies of social interactions of caterpillars made…
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Storytelling traditions live on
Naturalist, herbalist, lecturer, writer, adventure trip leader, folklorist and prize-winning harmonica player Doug Elliott has a new book. Titled Swarm…
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Revealing a love for the Smokies
Angler and writer Harry Middleton (1949-1993) is an elusive figure. Except for what he chose to reveal in his books…
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A gifted writer, a great naturalist
Those of you who enjoy reading books about the Smokies should make an effort to locate a copy of Hidden…
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Zahner’s special affection for Highlands
Biologist and ecologist Robert Zahner (1923-2007) was born in Summerville, S.C., and grew up in Atlanta. But his adopted “spiritual…
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A natural passion for history
Naturalist, photographer and writer Edwin Way Teale (1899-1980) was born in Joliet, Ill. American nature writing in descriptive prose inevitably…
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Abbey’s tenure at ‘Redneck U’
Radical ecologist and writer Edward Abbey (1927-1989) was born in Home, Penn., the son of a hardscrabble farmer and a…
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Preserving Cherokee tradition
Anthropologist James Mooney (1861-1921) devoted his life to detailing various aspects of the history, material culture, oral tradition, language, arts,…
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Touch-me-nots and poison ivy
Jewelweed, or “touch-me-not,” is one of the most appealing wildflowers commonly encountered throughout Western North Carolina. Many recognize the plant…
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Letting nature point the way
Horace Kephart is best known for Our Southern Highlanders (first published in 1913, with an expanded edition in 1922) and…
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A fine flower to start with
One of the best pieces of advice I ever received in regard to learning wildflowers was to “concentrate on one…
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Wildflowers peaking right now
Interesting wildflowers appear throughout Western North Carolina from late February into early November. Most wildflower identification and observation takes place…
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Pawpaw is unique among fruits
(Editors Note: George Ellison is on leave this week. But he says that his pawpaw trees have even more fruit…
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From the chaos come ‘uktena’
The natural history of a region consists of the plants, animals, and landscapes we can see and explore any given…
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A nose for finding rare plants
I enjoy leading natural history workshops, but I no longer derive much pleasure from herding people along a trail while…
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Mountains of mushrooms
Is this going to be a bumper year for wild mushrooms? Maybe so, if the rainfall we have been experiencing…
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Northerners in our southern climes
Elevations above 4,000 feet in the Blue Ridge Province can be thought of as a peninsula of northern terrain extending…
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Caught in the spider’s alluring web
Spiders are one of the most interesting — and sometimes disconcerting — critters to observe. Especially fascinating, to me, are…
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The unique ways of the kingfisher
Belted kingfishers are one of my favorite birds. A pair fishes along the small creek on our property during the…
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The alluring calls of song birds
In the opaque early-morning light outside our bedroom windows, the birds that reside in our woods — or do we…
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Yaupon and the ‘Black Drink’
For some years now — when walking the woodlands around ancient Cherokee settlements — I have been on the lookout…
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The story of the fiddlehead
Fiddleheads are emerging from the leaf litter in our forests. Almost everyone, even those not especially interested in plants, has…
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A haven of nectar and beauty
The irises my wife, Elizabeth, cultivates in our yard are coming into full bloom as I write this. Their shapes…
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Ancient chemical warfare
I’m sometimes asked if the prehistoric Cherokees used any sort of poisons on their blowgun darts. These darts (slivers of…
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Dogwoods in the mountains
In the Smokies region, there are three species of dogwood. Everyone is familiar with flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), which is…
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