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586 Search Results for "george ellison"
A father’s influence
Published: 2010-11-16 20:43:10Horace Kephart (1862-1931) was the author of Our Southern Highlanders, Camp Cookery, Sporting Firearms, Camping and Woodcraft, Smoky Mountain Magic, and other books. He also played a well-documented role in the founding of the Great Smoky Mountains Natio...
Read MoreWhere the buffalo roam
Published: 2010-11-09 21:14:28Buffalo Branch ... Buffalo Creek ... Buffalo Cove ... all are common place names that indicate the prior residence of that mammal here in Western North Carolina. Whenever I conduct workshops on the region’s natural history or Cherokee lore, the buffalo...
Read MoreOne fine mountain poet
Published: 2010-11-03 01:10:53Allow me to introduce you to a friend of mine. His name is Han Shan. He is among the finest mountain poets of any era in any language. He may have lived during the T’ang Dynasty (circa 600-900 AD). “Han Shan” means “Cold Mountain”: the place an...
Read MoreWitch-hazel’s name — A botanical mystery
Published: 2010-10-26 20:53:02The unusually dry, warm days this month have resulted in a delayed color season as well as an abundance of fall wildflowers. During recent field trips conducted for the North Carolina Arboretum along the Blue Ridge Parkway and for the Smoky Mountain Fiel...
Read MoreEvil cat proves you get what you pay for
Published: 2010-10-26 20:22:41Every column should have a point, and here’s mine, right in the first paragraph (this to save you from having to read through to the end if you are in a hurry, or if you are a dog person and not a cat person) — nothing will come of nothing. Admit it....
Read MoreRegion’s kaolin history is nearly forgotten
Published: 2010-10-19 20:34:00One of the more interesting stories concerning this region is that of the kaolin mining industry. It began more than 200 years ago in Macon County when Thomas Griffith, a representative of the noted English pottery firm headed by Josiah Wedgwood, journey...
Read MoreThe smells of autumn
Published: 2010-10-12 20:35:53Fall is the odiferous time of the year. I don’t possess a very discriminating sense of smell, but certain fragrances arise in the natural world this time of the year that even I can detect. Have you ever been walking a mountain trail in October when yo...
Read MoreDialect of the southern highlands
Published: 2010-10-05 20:37:18I’m no expert on regional linguistics, but through the years I have delighted in the dialect English still spoken here in the Smokies region. One sometimes hears or reads that it dates back to the Elizabethan era; that is, to the second half of the 16t...
Read More‘Jack of all trades’ common in Appalachia
Published: 2010-09-29 12:57:09Here in the Smokies region “making do” isn’t a lost art. Most “country” men and women can still “get along” because they grew up doing so. And the “jack-of-all-trades” era isn’t ancient history — it lasted on mountain farms until no...
Read MoreMica — from art to technology
Published: 2010-09-21 20:01:22“Oh, what is that shiny stuff in the rocks?” someone will ask during any sort of outing. And invariably, someone in the group will reply, “Oh, that’s just mica.” I think to myself, “How could anything so pretty be ‘just mica?’” Mica liv...
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