Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – Back in the late 20th century, when the written word and truth still seemed to matter, I was hanging out in the Great Smoky Mountains and came up with a cool title for a travel-nature column for The Southerner magazine, something I still use from time to time…
Secret Vistas
Shenandoah One More Time in the Summer of Our Discontent
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – LOFT MOUNTAIN, SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, Va. (Sunday, July 12, 2020) — In this summer of our discontent, with the coronavirus still spreading into every corner of the world and the economy teetering on the brink of collapse, it is hard to totally escape the anxiety and stress of…
There’s Not Much Time Left to Plan if We’re Going to Survive
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS, N.C. — We don’t have much time. It’s addicting in our newly evolved human condition to stay focused on the fast breaking news of the moment, the sensational clickbait. From day to day, we bounce back and forth from one crisis story to another.…
Hell Hath No Fury, Like Mother Nature Provoked
Secret Vistas: Retreat from New York
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – “If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” – George Washington NEW YORK, N.Y. – As Commander of the Continental Army, General George Washington became known not for winning battles against the British so much,…
Lessons for Progressive Democrats on Theodore Roosevelt Island
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – Lurking on a wooded little island in the Potomac River just across the water from Georgetown, there lie important lessons for progressive Democrats from the most progressive president in American history. In continuing our exploration of the U.S. capital region, not just the partisan politics,…
Rare White Fawn Spotted in Greenbelt National Park
Secret Vistas- By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – In late 2016, on the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service in the United States, a rare white fawn was born in the woods of Greenbelt National Park, where visitors come from all over the country and the world to see the the neo-classical architecture,…
Experiencing Wild Yellowstone Would Make the World a Better Place
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wy. – Standing still in a mountain meadow as snowflakes begin to fall on a herd of bison along Beartooth Pass, you get the feeling of arriving in an ancient and distant land before human civilization began to eat away at nature and churn the…
The Ghost of Hungry Mother Creek
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – MARION, Va. – Listening to a babbling brook running behind the campground in this state park just as the sun went down on Halloween, I could have sworn I heard a small female child crying off in the distance, moaning “hungry mother, hungry mother.” Back during the pioneer…
My Year as a Volunteer VIP Campground Host Comes to an End
Herbert Hoover’s Camp Rapidan Tour, Shenandoah National Park
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – Who knew Herbert Hoover was such a great guy? About the only thing most Americans know about former President Hoover is that he was in office when the stock market crashed in 1929, leading to the worst Great Depression in U.S. history. He was defeated when seeking reelection…
Oh Shenandoah in Spring: How the Fawns Escape the Bears
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…
Full Corn Planting Moon in Maryland
Spring Comes to Patapsco Valley State Park
PATAPSCO VALLEY STATE PARK, Md. – The earth has turned on its axis to just the right angle for spring to start breaking out in Maryland, finally, although there are more April showers and cool nights on the way. A screech owl made a special appearance in the campground Saturday night from the Maryland Department…
Spring Has Been Ordered, But Like Everything Else, You Have to Wait for It
Tannehill State Park Flash Flood of December 2014
Secret Vistas: Christmas on Display at Tannehill State Park
Ducks on the Pond at Tannehill State Park
A Photo Essay in Progress – Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – We pulled into Tannehill State Park on a cloudy, drizzly Friday the week before Christmas and stumbled onto perhaps the best deal on a campsite we’ve seen after three months of camping all over Maryland, Virginia and the Gulf Coast. There’s a…