Yearly Archives: 2017

I have always loved dogs, but my parents had convinced themselves they were not dog people so it took years of begging before I finally got one. My first dog was the only puppy I have owned, a charming sheltie who lived to almost 20. She totally converted my dad, […]

The news has been shouting all about the solar eclipse for weeks. I’ve been looking forward to it for months, eager to see the unusual optical show. Where I live in Tennessee the eclipse was at 97%, allowing a good view of the sun coming and going. When it first […]

It is the height of summer here, and my yard is like a miniature safari jungle. My houseplants are outside until the first frost and window boxes on my porch are filled with flowers, attracting an endless flutter and buzz of visiting pollinators. When I explore with a macro lens, […]

This is a koi living in the Italian garden pools of the Biltmore Estate, still filtered with the technology originally developed for them in 1895. The koi have been there a long time, and at least one is around 50 years old. I posted this photo to show the elegant […]

Mountains create their own weather. I have seen this on many mountains around the world over the years, but never so dramatically as on a recent evening exploring Roan Mountain, a series of peaks stretching between North Carolina and Tennessee. When I arrived a recent storm was clearing, a rainbow […]

Many years ago in graduate school I got a grant to study golden monkeys in China, rare primates living in the same area as the iconic pandas. I chose instead to accept a Fulbright for research on West African monkeys, and never got to China. But I really love pandas, […]

The Atlanta Botanical Garden currently has an exhibit inspiring visitors to see nature in new ways. The Curious Garden is a series of installations created by Adam Schwerner, director of horticulture for Disneyland Resorts. His work combines art and horticulture, drawing attention to nature in the garden. On display to […]

For a few weeks in early summer, Gray’s lily brightens mountains in North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. They grow on grassy balds, open meadows without trees near tall summits in the southern Appalachians. There are many theories on their origins, with the current favorite that they originated in the most […]

Leafcutter ants have one of the most complex and largest animal societies, living in groups of up to 10 million individuals. They may have been the earliest farmers on earth, creating elaborate underground gardens. The colonies can go down 26 feet below the ground, stretching out as much as 260 […]