Peonies, with their extravagant blooms, are in their prime right now. Today, my friend Melissa and I, along with my niece Hannah, and her friend Kendra visited Styer's Peonies in Chadds Ford— twenty-five acres of the queenly flowers. Styer's calls the event "Festival of the Peony" but really it's just an opportune time to visit. The only festivities not happening on the stems are in a small tent with flowers and gifts for sale. But we had come for peonies, not merch and music. The peony … [Read more...] about Visiting Styer’s Peony Farm In Chadds Ford
Nature
Totality at Lake Ozonia
My road to the Great American Eclipse began in Atlanta in 2023, when I met a salesman from American Paper Optics at a trade show. He gave me a stack of free eclipse glasses. "There's a big eclipse coming in 2024," he explained. "You should order eclipse glasses now." I ordered 2,000 pairs. About six months later, I ordered again... and again. Late last week we finally sold out. The final count: 19,000 pairs sold between all four stores. Knowing how much to order had been threading the … [Read more...] about Totality at Lake Ozonia
From Glaciers to the Sea: An Alaskan Road Trip
Jackets zipped, hoods up, cameras clenched in cold fingers, we stared at the waters as our boat chugged into the cold July wind blowing over Resurrection Bay. The boat captain had announced a pod of humpback whales ahead, and we weren't going to miss this. Whale watching wasn't high on the list when my family members and I started talking in January about visiting my nephew in Alaska. Sean, age 22, has been spending every summer for the past five years in Healy, Alaska, volunteering his … [Read more...] about From Glaciers to the Sea: An Alaskan Road Trip
Return to the River
Crayfish, turtles, and snakes— they were as much a part of our camping weekend as the campfires, tents, and trains. For the second June in a row, our family camped on the banks of the Juanita river for a weekend. This year, because of the dry spring, the river was much lower than last year. My nieces and nephew spent hours wading and swimming in the shallow water. Cordell said, "Almost every big rock has a crayfish under it if you turn the rock over." Several of us were standing … [Read more...] about Return to the River
Alexander Caverns
We stood in the thick darkness deep in the earth, only feet away from an underground river. We knew the water was flowing, but the surface was still and there was no sound. Normally, I don't descend into the depths of the earth any deeper than the cellar. But earlier this month, when my friend Regina arranged for us to visit Alexander Caverns in the Kishacoquillas Valley, I was an enthusiastic proponent. "It's on a Nebraska Amish farm," Regina told us. "They don't have phones, but I … [Read more...] about Alexander Caverns