“Oh-skan-ohn-doh in Oneida.” – Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – BIG MEADOWS, Va. – Finally. It’s 1:47 on a Sunday afternoon. Me and my loyal dog Jefferson are taking a break in the camper van, aided by a little afternoon air conditioning — and an April shower on the mountain in May. It’s been…
Monthly Archives: May 2015
Post Post 9/11: Memorial Day Reflections on Maturing in These Times
By Carrie Louise Nutt – The America I grew up in is not the America of today. This is always true. Life is constantly changing. The world is constantly changing. Nothing stays the same. It’s one big ball of organic aliveness. But the difference is that the America of today is not an improvement over…
Yearling Bear Named ‘Boo Boo’ Chooses Awkward Glade at Big Meadows in Shenandoah National Park
Elementary Finances at Berry Elementary
Education Matters — By Larry Lee — Debbie Deavours has spent 33 years in the Fayette County school system, the last eight as principal at Berry Elementary in the little town of Berry with its 1,250 people. Debbie has 300 students in pre-K-6. Some 65 percent of whom get free or reduced price lunches. And…
Factoring in Bernie Sanders as a Democrat in the Presidential Race of 2016
Eschew Obfuscation – By Michael Douglass – What I hate about Americans is our notion of what is presidential. Tall, calm and graying at the temples. Bill Clinton, Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan etc., all very presidential. The cult of political celebrity. Whatever. Bernie Sanders is not presidential but Iâd like to have a…
An Awesome Responsibility: Respect and Protect Shenandoah
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, Virg. — It’s an incredible feeling sitting here at 3,500 feet above sea level on the hill looking out over the Big Meadows campground, watching a spring shower roll through the mountains. I can’t think of a spot east of the Mississippi where I…
Blinded by the Delight: Missing the Baltimore Grit and the Gulf Oil Escape
By David Underhill – MOBILE, Ala. – Thoroughbreds charging around the final turn and down the homestretch. Blinders strapped on the sides of their faces to keep their attention on the finish line straight ahead. Preakness Stakes at Pimlico racetrack in Baltimore. Second leg of the Triple Crown later this week. Delegations of civic leaders…
Patapsco Valley State Park: An Urban Oasis
Secret Vistas by Glynn Wilson PATAPSCO VALLEY STATE PARK, Md. — America is rich in secret vistas â little-known places that touch the heart and stir the spirit. Like quiet Gulf of Mexico beaches in the off season. Deserted Appalachian hiking trails and glistening streams thick with trout. Hidden forests with trees dating back to…
Plans Move Forward for Removing Bloede’s Dam from the Patapsco River
Trans Pacific Trickle-Down Economics
By Robert Reich – Have we learned nothing from thirty years of failed trickle-down economics? By now we should know that when big corporations, Wall Street, and the wealthy get special goodies, the rest of us get shafted. The Reagan and George W. Bush tax cuts of 1981, 2001, and 2003, respectively, were sold to…
Full Corn Planting Moon in Maryland
The Alabama Legislature’s Strange Idea of a ‘Lean’ Budget
Alabama Legislators Want ‘Blood on the Floor’: Especially the Blood of Children and Grandparents
The Trade Warp, Again?
Eschew Obfuscation – By Michael Douglass – International trade deals are always notorious in the rear view mirror of globalization. Bill Clintonâs legacy will forever be jaundiced by two things, a blow job and NAFTA. That blow job didnât usher in the atrophy of the American middle class. So exactly why is this president deliberately…