July 27-29, 2022, Judy and I, along with Alabama grandsons Jack (14) and Sam (8), spent two nights at Cave City, Kentucky to visit one of my bucket list National Parks, Mammoth Cave. Although the world’s most extensive cave (420 miles of mapped passageways) provides lots of fodder on Nature-Inspired Life and Living, that is […]
Along with our two Alabama grandsons (Jack and Sam), Judy and I spent the nights of July 27 and 28, 2022 in Cave City, Kentucky. Our primary purpose was to visit Mammoth Cave National Park, just ten miles from our hotel. Because Dinosaur World is right there at the Cave City interstate exchange, we could […]
I returned to Alabama’s DeSoto State Park July 20 and 21, 2022 for an Alabama State Parks Foundation Board meeting. Arriving too late for an extensive hike the first afternoon, I managed only to hike down to the Azalea Cascade Boardwalk the next morning before the meeting and to stop by DeSoto Falls the second […]
This Post serves as my retrospection on two recent serious health issues affecting my life and elevating my relationship with and reliance upon Nature: November 8, 2021 left shoulder replacement surgery and March 24, 2022 stroke. This Post represents the evolution of what I call Nature-Inspired Aging and Healing! Shoulder Replacement Surgery I began […]
July 17, 2022, I hiked the Rainbow Mountain Loop Trail at Madison, Alabama’s Rainbow Mountain Nature Preserve. My intent was not to rush from start to finish, but to proceed slowly and deliberately…with eyes wide open, searching for what lay hidden in plain sight. This Post offers observations, reflections, and photographs from my three-hour stroll. […]
June 21-24, 2022, Judy and I celebrated our 50th anniversary staying at the Village Hotel on the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. This Post offers observations, reflections, and photographs on the grand intersection of human and natural history on the Estate. Rather than recount the full story behind the Biltmore Estate, allow me to offer […]
This Post launches the 12-minute land legacy video tale for the Wells Memorial Trail at Alabama’s Monte Sano State Park. The Post chronicles and presents the year-long video production. Bill Heslip, retired videographer, and I conceived and co-led the effort…Bill Directed; I Produced. Bill dubbed our two-person team Two Guys & A Camera. We enjoyed […]
Every forest…nay, each stand in every forest…contains rich stories of ecosystem life and living. Plants, animals, fungi, microorganisms, water, sunlight, soils…all dancing in evershifting patterns, choreographed by 3.8 billion years of evolution. The book’s type is not set, its stories and characters change minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, year, decade, century, […]
Thursday June 23, 2022, Judy and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary at the North Carolina Arboretum, where I served on the Board 2001-2004, in my capacity as NC State University Vice Chancellor for Extension, Engagement, and Economic Development. Our dear friend, founding (1987) and still current Executive Director George Briggs, hosted us. This Post […]
May 27, 2022, my wife Judy and I, along with our two Alabama grandsons Jack and Sam, visited the Blackwell Swamp area of nearby Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. We stopped to look at the January 1, 2022 tornado swath; hiked along HGH Road at the northern edge of an extensive riparian forest; and viewed the […]