A tree with a very appropriate name, the red maple is red all year long. Depending on the season, they have their red displayed in buds, twigs, flowers and seeds. But they are best known for their dramatic scarlet fall colors. It is the most common tree species in America, […]

The French Broad River flows from North Carolina, just west of the Continental Divide, into Tennessee. The headwaters are located in the very wet Appalachian temperate rainforest. Warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico is funneled between mountain ranges until the air grows too cold to hold the moisture […]

Quilting was a way of life in much of America, but today the southern Appalachians are one of the few places where it is still done. Beyond providing warmth on cold nights, patterns are passed down through families and stitched together in quilting bees that are an amazing example of […]

When I was young I spent summers in Lake Placid, where my mom played in the Sinfonietta. Sometimes we would go back in the fall for a weekend to enjoy what was known in the Adirondacks as the month of flaming leaves, from mid September to mid October. It was […]

I’m spending spare moments lately exploring the Blue Ridge Parkway. Since there is so much elevation gain within just a few miles of Asheville, it is possible to find some colors by adjusting my altitude, and also my attitude since it takes slowing down and really looking to find the […]

Today was another cloudy and rainy day, so it seemed appropriate to chase waterfalls. Just last month I visited Looking Glass Falls, near Brevard in western North Carolina. At that time there were still some summer flowers, but in little more than a month it had been transformed by fall. […]

As autumn approaches peak near Asheville, the Blue Ridge Parkway at times becomes a very long and narrow parking lot. Drivers jockey for spots in the turnouts offering views down into the valleys, or find their own precarious perches in non-official parking ledges to capture the hopefully not literal to […]

I am back home and chasing fall. October is the peak of color somewhere every day in the southern Appalachian mountains, and part of the fun is looking for it. Some years it is like hide and seek, with only single fiery trees in hidden forests. Other years there is […]

While in NY I visited an old friend who lives in Yorktown Heights. I grew up in Westchester, and it was fun to explore some of my old stomping grounds with her. We stopped by Lasdon Park and Arboretum in Katonah. A three acre stand of American chestnuts was discovered […]