Fifteen minutes is a short slice of time. It is the increment used in Britain’s Big Butterfly Count, held in 2018 for its ninth year. People are encouraged to sit in a sunny spot (as in their garden), Continue reading
Fifteen minutes
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From the clouds
We had anticipated a rainy week of camping and hiking, and were fortunate to get our camp set up before the rains came. This occasion was our annual Smokies hiking trip for Mike, Jim, and me. We found the site for our base camp at Deep Creek Campground in GSMNP Continue reading
Wildlife at the apex
On our passage to Bull Island, we swept through the marshes at thirty knots. Our craft was my friend Brantley’s Pathfinder 22. It was an exhilarating ride on a crisp and clear morning, Continue reading
Scenic Forest
The shift to daylight savings brought an early Lowcountry glimpse of spring; in contrast nor’easters continued to pummel the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. My hiking buddy Brantley Arnau and I headed off to walk the Awendaw Passage in Francis Marion National Forest (FMNF). And we had lots of company: Continue reading
Determined to know pines
The walk down the forest road passed between pine forest on the left, and pines mixing with hardwoods grading down to swampland on the right. Continue reading
Nor’easter of another name
There was a name for it – the rapidly developing snowstorm that brought the southeast a rare winter event, one more common for the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. My family and friends to the north Continue reading
River of many names
There were four crossings along the twenty miles of county highway between Greenville and Spartanburg. Enoree, South Tyger, Middle Tyger, and North Tyger: all rivers flowing together to form one. Continue reading
Helping hands
Kingfisher had been neglected for several months, displaced from her protected shelter under my house by a mitering workstation, and ignored by the arbitrary demands of home improvement. Plans for a sail were disrupted Continue reading
A nature observation
The opposition of the paths was striking. The center of the solar eclipse’s path of totality, heading to the southeast out to sea across Bulls Bay. And almost 28 years ago, Continue reading
Inverted moment
I had been speaking the previous day at a party about the assets of my chosen sailing craft, the Sunfish. Simplicity and stability were at the top of the list. In preparing for the sail out to the Northeast Point of Bull Island, I was aware of the long interlude Continue reading
Elkmont revisited
The trail shrunk to a single-width path, one seeing limited foot traffic. The place had a familiar aura, and it seemed that I had walked here many years before. The memory unfolded – it was a solo hike in my days of family camping back in the ’90’s. My friend Jim Smolen and I had set out for a loop hike after erecting our base camp Continue reading
A youthful request
Prior to leaving Garris Landing via ferry for the auto tour on Bull Island during the fourth annual Bulls Bay Nature Festival, I had been alerted by the volunteer coordinator, Jennifer Heisler, about one of the participants I would be guiding. The girl, a pre-teen, had been talking with Jennifer about fiddler crabs Continue reading
