Photo Essays

The News Suffers from Mad Cow Disease: Just Call Me a Peacenik Please

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The Big Picture –  By Glynn Wilson –  WASHINGTON, D.C. — There is a desperation coming through over the airwaves that is making people sick. It’s no wonder so many people in the United States have stopped paying attention to news, and that includes me. It’s all just too much. Too much sensationalism. Too much…

Secret Vistas: A Day Trip to Shenandoah to Focus the Mind

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Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — So in between everything else that’s going on in the news and my life at this time, which has been pretty busy and productive of late, I had a chance on Thursday to get out on the road for a day trip to Shenandoah National…

If A Tree Falls in the Forest, Will it Ever Be Heard From Again?

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Under the Microscope – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it really make a sound? This, of course, is an age old thought experiment that is tinged with the stink of Anthropocentrism, homocentricism, or if you like, human…

National Park Service Announces Free Days for 2024

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Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Park Service announced Saturday that there will be six holidays in 2024 when entry fees will be waved. On these dates, the public is invited to experience the wonder of national parks for free. “National parks are places that awaken senses, inspire curiosity, encourage reflection, and foster…

Best Places to View and Photograph Autumn Foliage

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By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s October, perhaps my favorite month of the year, when the leaves start falling from the trees and begin to changes colors. Studies show that fall is one of the busiest travel seasons of the year, and many people are motivated to visit national parks and other beautiful…

American Ambivalence About the State of Freedom on the Fourth of July

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The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — It is understandable why many Americans are having mixed feelings about celebrating Independence Day this year. So many things seem conflicted in our divergent feelings about what freedom, liberty and independence mean in these trying times when the vox populi seems so divided. Many…

Senator Angus King of Maine Presses Biden Administration on ‘Inadequate’ Maintenance Budget and Staff Shortages at National Parks

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Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. – Anyone who works in national parks, volunteers with the National Park Service or visits the parks can attest to the fact that staff shortages and maintenance backlogs have plagued the parks for years, through the administrations of Republicans and Democrats. If there is any truth to documentary filmmaker Ken…

Feed Your Biophilia by Tracking the Art of Rich Autumn Color

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Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – CATOCTIN MOUNTAINS, Md. — Many years ago in a land far away, I proposed a way to test E.O. Wilson’s Biophilia hypothesis by adding a few questions to annual surveys of visitors in the most visited national park in the United States, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park…

Ranger Program: Welcome to Washington

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Endeaver to Persevere – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — From humble beginnings in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama, where I was not even expected to live after my premature birth in a Southside hospital, I’ve climbed and clawed my way out of what seemed destined to be a mundane…

Somehow We Made It to the First Day of Spring 2022: Get Outside

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Senate Sherpa Doug Jones Says He’s Confident of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Confirmation – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — At 11:33 a.m. Sunday, we cross the vernal equinox from winter into spring, and it feels like it’s about time, y’all. The Japanese cherry blossoms are blooming along the Tidal…

Photo Essay: A Day Trip to the Maryland State Capital of Annapolis

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By Glynn Wilson – ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Jan. 12) — Two days before Christmas in 1783, George Washington appeared in the old Senate chamber here to submit his resignation as commander in chief to the Continental Congress. “Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of Action; and bidding an Affectionate…

Sunday Reader and Photo Essay: What If Wildlife Could Vote?

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The Big Picture -  By Glynn Wilson -  WASHINGTON, D.C. – What if the wildlife could vote? I don’t know if the white-tailed deer would be Republicans, Democrats or independents. Would the bucks be conservatives and the does and fawns liberals? Would the male and female Northern cardinals argue about whether the federal government should…