Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, Va. — You don’t have to travel to some high mountain pass to find insight in this mixed up world. But maybe it helps. It seemed to help Moses, George Mallory and Elisha Mitchell, as I’ve written in the past. Climbing Mountains For Inspiration: What’s…
“The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency.” – Theodore Roosevelt The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — For how long must we endure the end of decency in public and private life in America? Is it possible that the historically critical election of 2024 is as much…
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…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — In one sure sign that traditional press and media outlets have been influenced, for good or ill, by the rise of social media, look no further than the end of the year review stories. For a couple of centuries, newspapers filled space between the…
Editor’s Note: It has long been claimed by nature writers, scientists, psychologists and even the National Park Service that spending time outdoors in nature is good for human physical and mental health. My good friend Edward O. Wilson (no relation) put forward the theory of Biophilia in a book by that name in 1984. The…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — A distinct population of the North American wolverine is set to be listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is seeking public comments on the proposal indicating the species faces increasing threats from habitat degradation and…
From the Editors of E – The Environmental Magazine – Dear EarthTalk: What is the status of California’s giant sequoias trees and what’s being done to save them from extinction? — M.L., Sacramento, CA Giant sequoias, which can grow upwards of 300 feet tall with circumferences of 90+ feet around at ground level, are among…
By Alonso Abugattas – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The wild turkey has made an incredible comeback. Not that long ago, wild turkeys were all but wiped out by a combination of overhunting and habitat loss. By the early 1900s, none remained in the District of Columbia and very few remained in the woods of Maryland, Virginia,…
“We are all captives of the picture in our head – our belief that the world we have experienced is the world that really exists.” – Walter Lippmann The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — What image pops into your head when you see or hear someone say, “That’s cool, man?”…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — As wars continue to rage in Israel-Gaza and Russia-Ukraine, and the Republicans still can’t seem to find a Speaker of the House they can get behind, what is the American public paying attention to and concerned about these days? Judging by what people seem to be interested in…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the world watches the devastating crisis of war in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas on 24-hour cable news and social media, the federal government in Washington is still operating without a 2024 budget on a temporary continuing resolution that will expire on Nov. 17, the…
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…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — While every federal agency was going through contingency plans preparing for a catastrophic government shutdown, including National Park Service rangers getting ready to close most national parks and campgrounds at the beginning of the busy Autumn color season, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy failed to obtain an agreement from…
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — A major fall bird migration will begin on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 12, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology bird cast. “Bird migration forecasts show predicted nocturnal migration 3 hours after local sunset,” they say in an email blast. Their forecasts come from models trained on the…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s understandably difficult for the American public to get excited very often about legislation proposed in Congress, especially considering all the crazy crap coming out of the House since the extremist Republicans took over this year, like a new plan to cut Social Security that is dead on…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — When we visited the Grand Canyon on a big swing through the American west in 2016, local activists tipped us off that there were plans to allow for uranium mining by the Colorado River near the Grand Canyon. That came as a shocker, and after Trump won the…
“Deep in the heart of Summer, sweet is life to me still, But my heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill.” – Scottish poet William Sharp, who used the pseudonym Fiona MacLeod The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Southern writer Carson McCullers took that line from…
Superorganism: Toward a New Social Contract for Our Endangered Species – Published online by Cambridge University Press – June 23, 2023 – Editor’s Note: As I’ve been writing for many years, the future of humanity on planet Earth is in jeopardy and there is no guarantee we will survive for much longer. Like many naysayers,…
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…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON WEEK IN REVIEW – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Thank Lady Justice that the Supreme Court has adjourned for the summer — before they do any further damage to American Democracy. No doubt Justice Sam Alito is off on an all expenses paid fishing trip somewhere, maybe Alaska,…
