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587 Search Results for "george ellison"
In the land of water and rock
Published: 2013-03-13 22:40:50Like Old Esdras in the Bible, some live in a land of milk and honey. Here in the Blue Ridge, we live in the land of water and rock. Moving water and worn stone are the predominant features in our terrain. Landscapes here were not sculpted by wind. They h...
Read MoreThe harbingers of spring are upon us
Published: 2013-03-06 14:37:52As you read this it may well be freezing or even icy outside. But before long you’ll be outside working in the garden or searching for early spring wildflowers. How do I know? Well, for one thing, it always happens doesn’t it? Spring follows winter. ...
Read MoreRe-learning those old, familiar (bird) songs
Published: 2013-02-27 02:10:59I like “old time rock and roll” too. And I recently got some of my old time records, CDs, iPods, etc., off the shelf. But what I‘ve been listening to are bird calls and songs. The birds are getting ready for the breeding season — and so am I, in ...
Read MoreBe(ar) careful in the Smokies
Published: 2013-02-20 15:15:18In the natural world there are certain experiences that rivet our attention and remain stored in our memory banks. Through the years, I’ve written about my own encounters with rare plants, endangered landscapes, copperheads and timber rattlers, coyotes...
Read MoreIn celebration of spring, dead leaves, and an ornery epitaph
Published: 2013-02-13 14:09:38About once a year or less, I work up the nerve to publish poems in this space. Head for cover. It’s that time of the year again.. I have been working on a new collection titled Near Horizons: Poems & Narratives from the Southern Appalachians. Several o...
Read MoreThe mountain rhodo show
Published: 2013-02-06 21:14:44Rhododendrons are a part of the heath family (Ericaceae), which includes such diverse members in regard to size and habitat as pipsissewa, trailing arbutus, mountain laurel, doghobble, and sourwood. There are three evergreen rhododendron species in the s...
Read MoreJust looking around
Published: 2013-02-06 20:59:06I’m rediscovering that it’s good to just slip out of the office and amble around town for a few minutes. The semi-urban landscape here in Bryson City — or any of the other little mountain towns — provides an interesting admixture of human endeavo...
Read MoreOil lamps have long history of lighting the way
Published: 2013-02-06 14:54:57Surprisingly, a recent column about wood-burning cookstoves attracted as much attention as anything I’ve written for years. Folks who live in The Smoky Mountain News distribution area and can pick up the print edition were the most numerous e-mail corr...
Read MoreWeed or wildflower?
Published: 2013-01-31 18:12:47The status of a given plant as either a “noxious weed” or a “lovely wildflower” is pretty much a matter determined in the mind’s eye of the beholder. Several weeks ago, in a column headed “Persecution of the Dandelion,” I defended that plan...
Read MoreBeware the leaves of three
Published: 2013-01-31 15:55:39If you like native Appalachian plants that are variable and adaptive, have interesting natural histories with abundant associations in both Cherokee and early white settler folklore, add immeasurably to the fall landscape with vivid colors, and provide n...
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