Yearly Archives: 2015

Landing at Newark airport, approaching from the south, I flew right over the southern part of Staten Island. This is both the southernmost point of New York City and New York State. Bounded in the foreground and background by New Jersey, the southern part of the island is bordered by […]

I spent my early summers in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, where I fell in love with nature. I climbed all the 46 high peaks there in my childhood and teens, enjoying the vast forests where I could camp alone and not see anyone for days. With over […]

I have several of these shrubs in my yard in assorted colors, so I think of them as Rose of Ruth, though actually they aren’t a rose at all but a kind of mallow. There are a profusion of flowers over the summer, often blooming through heat that wilts lesser […]

Stick insects, known locally in North Carolina as walking sticks, belong to the order Phasmidae, derived from the Greek phasma, meaning phantom. This is because they blend like apparitions with the leaves and sticks where they rest. Though not as adaptable as chameleons, they can slightly adjust their colors to […]

With the end of August fast approaching, summer is drawing to a close in the mountains. There will still be hot days, but cool nights and the gradual fading of the insect chorus signals the end of a season. Baked by summer sun, these tawny grasses are slowly turning brown. […]

These flowers have recently started to bloom along my creek, where they attract butterflies and especially hummingbirds to their brilliant red blossoms. In Peterson’s classic Field Guide to Wildflowers he said it was “America’s favorite” and it has a foreign audience as well, having been exported from Canada to France […]

Driving from North Carolina to Tennessee the highway goes over several high mountain passes. In places the road is so steep there is an illusion of the road traveling straight up to the sky. Though most of my days I am in the forest and get little view beyond the […]

As opposed to divine light, this is a sun worshipping vine reaching toward the rays of the sun. I shot for a backlit look and played with a variety of angles, finally settling for this one which gave a tiny bit of the sun shooting into the picture. I think […]

Okay so if you are waiting for great suggestions on how to be the best you, I’d suggest asking the person in the mirror. If you want to know more about the amazing plant Salvia, commonly known as sage, here are a few facts. They like sun, and fairly dry […]