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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Everybody’s Bats
When Karl Schwartz lived in Florida, folks knew him as the “snake king” because he raised Burmese Pythons for extra cash — $200 wholesale…
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Watch Your Backstory
As legend goes, Missy Mae Lively and Billy Joe Tate of rural Fruitland didn’t heed the bad blood between their two families. Mindless of…
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Security Measure
The newest way to calm pre-flight jitters isn’t dabbing on essential oil or assuming the Shavasana pose in the TSA lane. It’s Grace — an…
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The Shape of Harmony
It’s 1906, and the air inside Etowah Methodist Church probably smells of a recent church supper: cornbread and pickled okra. Families are settled in…
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