Helping the Underdog
Some might think dragons exist only in medieval folklore, but ask any Western North Carolina native and they’ll tell you different. The Hellbender, a…
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If the Glass Slipper Fits
Growing up in San Francisco’s arts scene, Caroline Hewitt took piano lessons, but not because she wanted to. “Music started as a chore,” admits…
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“The Reward of a Living Wage” — 100 Years Later
“If a country is justified in rewarding its heroic pioneers,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumna Ellen Swallow Richards wrote in her 1907 report, Desirable…
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Embroidering on a Theme
Since 1996, the number of North Carolina textile and apparel plants has decreased by 40 percent, per a Duke University study. Made in WNC,…
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Art of the Horse steps up to acknowledge a banner equestrian year
Since 1947, Polk County has hosted the Block House Steeplechase — a sterling series of races first organized by legendary horseman Austin Brown. This…
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Nature photographer gives her heart, talent, and voice to the world’s trees
The Lorax, a Seussian children’s-book character, defended his native Truffula forests by speaking for the trees. Shutterbug and bonafide dendrophile Ruthie Rosauer of Flat…
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A Couple Turns to Farming After Financial Ruin
From the outset, Jennifer McGaha’s memoir, Flat Broke with Two Goats, is a no-frills amble through backyard animal husbandry, soap-making, and living with less…
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Real life for a hometown groundhog
Emily Walker, education manager at Chimney Rock State Park, doesn’t mince her words when it comes to Greta, the park’s 14-pound woodchuck. “Greta is…
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Day-long program helps shape the plans of future homesteaders
In the winter, when nothing is really growing, the would-be homesteader’s thoughts turn to squeezing sorghum and raising laying hens. Urbanites might consider installing…
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Taking Aim at Mistletoe
Darlings have smooched under its verdant branches since British servants popularized the notion in the 18th century. Spurning a kiss was bad luck, after…
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