My first Ponderosa Pine

My first Ponderosa Pine tree.

I took a train trip up Pikes Peak yesterday  with my sister and niece and great niece. The conductor, Ricky, led me on a short hike to my first Ponderosa Pine.  

He told me it would smell like butterscotch or vanilla.  I smelled butterscotch.  I have got to find out about this!

More later...from Colorado 

To Walk among the trees on a Winter's Day

A Winter's Day Walk

To Walk Among the Trees on a Winter's Day can bring such peace and joy to the human heart.

Fall on the Blue Ridge Parkway

American Beech, Blue Ridge Pky.

Yellow Birch, Blue Ridge Pky.

Yellow Buckeye, BlueRidge Pky.

Striped Maple, BlueRidge Pky.

My NW Adventure

While in the Pacific Northwest, I am getting aquainted with some trees that are familiar but slightly different.  I am thinking these are very close to the Sweetgum and Mountain Ash back home in North Carolina.

Elk in Cataloochee by a lone tree in the field

This weekend I went on a trip to the Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  I joined the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences for this trip.  NC Museum of Natural Sciences

I was fascinated by the elk in this grass field with the lone tree standing as a sentinel on this cool, fall foggy morning.  Most of the elk were eating the grass or resting; however, the bull elks went at it antler to antler.  The sounds, the smells and what we witnessed in this male elk ritual, created a sense of awe in all of us as we stood spell bound in silence.   To see nature in all it's majesty instilled a feeling of reverence in our group that is still with me.  I have such a feeling of gratitude and respect for the Great Smoky Mountain National Park for preserving the land and bringing back the elk to this habitat for us any others to be witness to a day in the life of such a magnificent species.

You can read more about the elk in Cataloochee at Smoky Mountain National Park Elk.

Cataloochee valley in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park

Elk mating behavior in Cataloochee Valley 

Apples are one amazing fall treat from nature!

North Georgia Apples in October

I have been eating so many apples this time of year.  If you have not gone to a local apple orchard, I encourage you to do so soon if you live near one.  I visited the Mercier orchard this year in Blue Ridge, Georgia.  Each year I visit a different orchard.  Here is the website for the Mercier orchard.

Mercier Orchard

Here is link with some orchards that are near me.

Apple orchards near Asheville

Enjoy!  Crunch!!!!

Pumpkins everywhere I look...

I like to envision the people I know and meet in a unique way.  I liken my friends and family and coworkers, well everyone I know actually, as a vegetable, a fruit, or a tree...I liken my own self as a pumpkin in the fall.  Yep, I am a pumpkin type of human.  This time of year is such fun for me.  I love to look at pumpkins.  I decided to share my pumpkin findings with you, here on my blog.  Enjoy your fall!  Get outside, take your shoes off, and feel the grass under your feet.

Fall leaf changes in North Carolina

Acer saccharum, Sugar Maple

Cornus florida, Flowering Dogwood

Carya Glabra, Pignut Hickory

Fall color is in North Carolina and is showing in the Hickories, the Dogwoods, and the Maples.  On the Blue Ridge Parkway the reds of the Black gum, the Red maples, and the Sourwoods are coloring the mountains.  Get outside and enjoy!!!

The Trees of the Botanical Gardens at Asheville - A GPS Guide

The Trees of the Botanical Gardens at Asheville - A GPS Guide 

This is my Community Action Partnership project that I have have completed with the North Carolina Environmental Education Certification Program.  You can click on the above link to access my booklet entitled, The Trees of the Botanical Gardens at Asheville.

This booklet (to quote from the booklet itself):

"contains a list of 32 Native trees* of the Southern Appalachian Mountains.  All 32 of these trees live at the Botanical Gardens at Asheville, located at 151 W.T. Weaver Boulevard in Asheville, North Carolina.  These 32 species of trees are members of 12 different families of trees.

This booklet has been written as a guide to challenge you to find all the trees listed;  and then, to get to know the trees by observing them.  You can get to know the trees by visiting the Botanical Gardens in every season to observe the many changes that the trees go through."

You will be able to locate the tree using GPS coordinates.  A GPS coordinate is given for each species as well as a leaf drawing.

Tree 31 is Tilia americana, Basswood.

GPS Coordinates are:

N 35° 36.777

W 082° 33.976

The Trees of the Botanical Gardens at Asheville - A GPS Guide

You can read more about the NC Environmental Education Certification Program by visiting
http://www.eenorthcarolina.org/certification--about-the-program.html

If you are in the Asheville area take time to visit the Botanical Gardens at Asheville.  You can print out my booklet and challenge yourself to locate all 32 tree species.

Have fun and enjoy learning about the trees,

Rebecca

Nature/Fitness Walks

Walking in nature

Tuesday, July 3rd join me for a walk starting at 9am.

I am walking about 3 miles an hour.  We will walk for about 75-90 minutes and then get out our journals and record what we saw.  Meet at 9am at Weaver Park on Murdock Ave. in Asheville.

Today, I saw:

Queen Anne's Lace
echinacea
Butterfly bush
Lavender
Chickory
Mullein
Coreopsis
Dandelion
Mountain Mint
Bee Balm


Beautiful day.  I walked with Seymour today in West Asheville.