Author: Dee
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National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month. Launched by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month marks the importance of poets and poetry in our culture. Over the years, it has become the largest literary celebration in the world, with millions of teachers, students, librarians, booksellers, and, of course, poets recognizing the impact of… Read more
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Signs of Spring
This year, March 20th marked the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and the fall equinox in the Southern Hemisphere. The word equinox comes from the Latin words for “equal night.” On the equinox, the lengths of day and night are nearly equal in all parts of the world. In our Northern Hemisphere, we consider… Read more
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Sun Dog
Sunsets can be one of the most beautiful sights of the day, especially here in the Roanoke Valley with the Blue Ridge Mountains cradling the setting sun. Walter and I have photographed hundreds of red, orange, and yellow sunsets, but last Friday brought us a special treat. Walter captured a “second sun” in the sky… Read more
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Camouflage
Camouflage clothing is currently a stylish trend. Camo hats, shirts, and pants are the rage for people of all ages. But this muted green, tan, and brown patterned apparel is not new for hunters, wildlife observers, and the military. Camouflage provides the necessary concealment to move unseen in their environment. The term itself is derived… Read more
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Mardi Gras
I never thought much about Mardi Gras until I met a gal who lived in New Orleans. When I lived in Oklahoma City, I worked as a traveling marketing representative for a nationwide insurance company, and she was the company’s marketing rep in Louisiana. Quarterly, we had to fly to San Antonio, Texas, for meetings.… Read more
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Maple Festival
We know the Highland County Maple Festival is just around the corner when we see the yellow-bellied sapsucker drilling sapwells in the maple trees in our backyard. These woodpeckers spend hours making holes in a horizontal pattern to find sap and insects. They migrate south during the coldest months of winter, but they come back… Read more
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Shopping
I’ll show my age in this blog, but you already know I’m retired, so I’m obviously old. As a child growing up in Wisconsin, my mom would dress my sister and me in our Sunday best to go shopping in Milwaukee. Mom didn’t drive, so we took the city bus from the suburbs where we… Read more
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Valentine Pandas
Giant pandas Bao Li [BOW-lee] and Qing Bao [ching-BOW] are at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC. They made their public debut on January 24, 2025, after a nineteen-hour flight to the United States from China in October of 2024. Admission to the Smithsonian National Zoo is free, but entry passes are required. It… Read more
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The Magic Moon
My Walter was born in July, and his zodiac sign is Cancer. I don’t claim to know much about astrology, and I don’t read our horoscopes every day, but I do know that the moon is Cancer’s ruling planet, and Cancerians are guided by the moon’s glow. Moon children, as they are called, light up… Read more
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Hiking and Biking
With frigid winter weather keeping us indoors, I thought it might be uplifting to start making plans for some fair-weather activities. The Roanoke Region in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains is the place to visit if you love the outdoors. The area offers more than 700 miles of trails for hikers and bikers, including the Appalachian… Read more