The thousands of trees felled by Hurricane Helene left their giant trunks and branches on the ground across trails and roads and buildings all through North Carolina and Tennessee. In addition to all this firewood-to-be is each tree’s “root ball” – a collection of dirt and roots and rocks and even boulders that once held…
Read More Roots and rocks and Helene damageI got to stare, in person, at two paintings by Claude Monet. I even tried to draw one. The art museum in Columbia, SC has an exhibit called “French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850 – 1950.” I visited it this week. I didn’t fully understand the theme behind the exhibit. I figure it was along…
Read More What a privilege…It’s a gorgeous morning in my Charlotte neighborhood. The sun is shining, wind is still. Hard to believe we got hit by Helene yesterday. Not everyone got through unscathed. Just 2 1/2 miles northwest, residents were evacuated as the Catawba River swelled past its banks. Three miles west of my house, the road into Mount…
Read More After the stormIt was way too hot in the afternoon. But it was pleasant under the trees at our campsite. It’s fun to hang out with my hiker pals. They’re smart, strong and always interesting. The forecast for the evening was light rain, maybe. Suddenly, that changed to severe thunderstorms. I decided to climb into my hammock…
Read More Mother Nature’s sense of humorUPDATE: Jeez, I typed the year wrong. I have corrected that… In 1977, I was attending college and working part-time at the local newspaper. Besides writing a weekly music column, I used their typewriters for my class assignments (hey, I’m old) and took care of stuff no one else wanted to do (“Club Calendar,” calling…
Read More How Elvis helped my career