Stone cabins were less common than log buildings in early Appalachian life, but families made do with what was readily at hand — and there was no shortage of rock. So I wasn’t surprised when I discovered the remains of a stone cabin in the woods off the road leading to the mountain-top radio towers … Read more
The first hummingbird of spring visited my deck on Thursday, two days ago, and today, Saturday, April 11, I finally got a photo of one. The visitor I got a blurry photo of traveled to Cherokee County, North Carolina, from Central America. Like most of his fellow travelers, he is a ruby-throated hummingbird — the … Read more
Birds called from the woods, and I put my hand on Hazel’s head to calm her while I squatted on the edge of the ravine and listened. Apart from the birds, the only other sound was the wind breathing through the trees and moving the first green shoots of spring. All else was quiet atop … Read more
Five New York newspapers gave birth to The Associated Press in 1846 when they pooled their resources to share the cost of reporting on the Mexican-American War. And for the 180 years since then, the wire service has served newspapers all over the world. No more, at least not as a core part of its … Read more
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP.” Thus spoke U.S. President Donald Trump on his Truth … Read more
Before he died, he wrote songs. Good ones. He wrote “No Deeper Blue,” “I’ll be Here in the Morning,” “Be Here to Love Me,” “If I Needed You,” Pancho & Lefty,” and a whole lot more. He wrote “Rex’s Blues.” Haunted throughout his life, he wrote songs to help keep the visitants at bay. He … Read more
The man we know today as Turkana Boy was almost certainly smiling when he picked up his new stone knife, gently rubbed his finger along the freshly flinted edge, and uttered a satisfied, “Ah, yea,” — or its equivalent in the lingo of Homo erectus. We humans, beginning with our early ancestors, have been using … Read more
Georgia State Road 197 intersects U.S. 76 between Hiawassee and Clayton, Georgia, plunging south through Moccasin Creek State Park and the mountains of the Chattahoochee National Forest until it dumps Helen-bound motorcyclists onto Georgia State Road 356. From there you’ll follow the scenic, twisting two-lane through the valleys and mountains, past Unicoi State Park, and … Read more
Two days of cloudy cold weather packed up, bundled up, and trundled up the mountain paths and out of western North Carolina just in time for spring, 2026, which arrived today with sunshine and temperatures that stretched to 72 degrees. Tomorrow, the weather god, Freyr, promises even more sunny warmth. Word is he’ll push the … Read more
News arrived this morning that Trump’s misshapen Department of Justice has dropped the prosecution of an Arden, North Carolina, man who pointed out the illegality of a Trump so-called executive order designed to make it illegal to burn an American flag. Flag-burning as a form of protest has been settled U.S. law for more than … Read more