Time to pack my bags—again! I’m off to that most magical of places—the John C Campbell Folk School nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. My friends rib me about going to adult summer camp and they’re not wrong!
It’s comforting to watch the inevitable, calming fade of autumn after the exuberance of summer. Seedheads and berries replace summer flowers. Leaves lose their greenness and drift to the ground. The temperature cools, the air clears, the light softens and the days shorten. It’s the perfect time to be outdoors in the garden. It’s also the perfect time to address those little garden projects I’ve been putting off all season.
A gentle breeze was whirling and spinning all the things to be whirled and spun! There were massive, colorful sculptures in every direction. The sound of rhythmic buzzing and clanging filled the air. The Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park in Wilson, North Carolina was alive with kinetic energy!
Long before we were able to tap a weather app on our phones, our ancestors relied on rudimentary tools and common knowledge to predict the weather. One of the earliest tools, over 2000 years old, is the weather vane. A weather vane indicates the direction of the wind which, in turn, helps predict the weather.
To inspire, discover, enrich, learn, broaden, deepen, see, experience—there are many compelling reasons to travel. But not every trip delivers on these promises. So how can we make the most of our time away from home? Careful planning and realistic expectations are the key.
High-speed internet, walk-in shower, in-room coffeemaker, line-dried linens… wait, what? Line-dried linens? Listed as an amenity? That was a first! But, sure enough, more than one Newfoundland accommodation promised fresh, crisp, line-dried sheets.
Images of picturesque clotheslines sprung to mind… rows of pure, white sheets flapping in the breeze against clear, blue skies. The quest for the quintessential clothesline had begun!